7th May 2011 - Demo, occupation and much more in Nantes (France)

We invite you to a moment of collective action on the 7th may, a
gathering, and a festival. we propose that you stay for the following
days to help set up the project.

This initiative is the fruit of the connections between Reclaim the
Fields, network of European farmers and landless peasants, and squatters
in the ZAD. It is a call to all those who fight for the future of
agriculture, those who have been giving life to the local resistance for
so long, and who will not give in to resignation and all those who today
want to join this struggle.

The demo-action of the 7th may aims to set up a collective agricultural
project in abandoned fields to defend these lands, live in them and
contribute to feeding the zad and the surrounding areas. The initiative
of the 7th May is a step in the construction of a wider movement to
liberate land.

Come with your clearing tools !

To know more about this action, see the text below, calling for the
demo, or download the flyer announcing this action :
 http://reclaimthezad.potager.org/7th_may-Notre-Dame-english.pdf

Of course, if you wish to help us to disseminate the news of the event,
you can print the flyers or foward this mail.

WE WILL NOT BE PART OF THEIR PLAN !
See you there!

#### PRACTICAL INFO:

- LEAVING LA PAQUELAIS (44) AT 10h
- There will be action, but also food, dance, speeches and exchanges.
- For those of you coming from far away who would like to help with the
preparation in the days before, or stay to support the work setting up
the project after the 7th May, there will be the possibility to camp.
- Come, if you can, with tools, gloves, pruning shears, hoes, pitchforks,...
- All for the farming project is also welcome: agricultural material,
seedlings, seeds, financial support,...

CONTACT: reclaimthezad****AT***riseup.net

Informations :

www.reclaimthefields.org
 http://zad.nadir.org/

\\\\ Reclaim the Fields and the Squats of the ZAD ////

#### FOR A FIGHTING FARM, LET'S SQUAT THE LAND!

For forty years, those who decide and those who tarmac have been
salivating over a new airport near to Nantes to feed their voracious
dreams of a metropolis and of economic expansion. This project would
cover 1650 of agricultural land and rural hamlets: the ZAD (« zone of
recorded planning » in French administrative language, in other words,
the «Zone About to be Destroyed»). The Notre-Dame-des-Landes airport
project, which could have been shelved as a inopportune anachronism, has
been adapted over time, becoming a flagrant symbol of the con and the
ideological arrogance of «Green Capitalism».

The struggle has reached a critical stage with the signing, this
January, of the construction and exploitation contract with the Vinci
group, world leader in planning territories. The colossal propaganda
offensive is being reinforced to justify the project, as it's promoters
must feel they are walking a tightrope. Although they aim to start work
in the coming years, we know we can still win this fight and we are
prepared to ensure that any attempt to tarmac these lands will cost them
dear. The examples of victories won in this region in the past,
including the defeat of the nuclear projects in Plogoff, Carnet or
Pellerin, show that even the most megalomaniac companies can be
paralyzed with enough determination and the right tools.

As well as the many actions in support of the farmers and residents
resisting around the affected area, over the past two years, more and
more people have begun to reclaim, bit by bit, the houses and lands that
have bee bought up by the promoters of the airport. A living base is
being constructed in the so called “ZAD”: tree houses and cabins,
vegetable gardens, restored farmhouses, meeting spaces and workshops, a
bakers, a library, a graphics workshop. There are currently more than
sixty new inhabitants in the ZAD spread over more than fifteen sites.

AS PART OF THIS DYNAMIC, THE DEMO-ACTION OF THE 7TH MAY AIMS TO SET UP A
COLLECTIVE AGRICULTURAL PROJECT IN ABANDONED FIELDS TO DEFEND THESE
LANDS, LIVE IN THEM AND CONTRIBUTE TO FEEDING THE ZAD AND THE
SURROUNDING AREAS.

This initiative is the fruit of the connections between Reclaim the
Fields, network of European farmers and landless peasants, and squatters
in the ZAD. It is a call to all those who fight for the future of
agriculture, those who have been giving life to the local resistance for
so long, and who will not give in to resignation and all those who today
want to join this struggle.

WE INVITE YOU TO A MOMENT OF COLLECTIVE ACTION ON THE 7TH MAY, A
GATHERING, AND A FESTIVAL. WE PROPOSE THAT YOU STAY FOR THE FOLLOWING
DAYS TO HELP SET UP THE PROJECT.

#### FOR ACCESS TO LAND !

Many men and women want to cultivate the land in ways that defy the the
agro-foods industry, synonym of global economic exploitation,
environmental destruction, and of society's managerialism. They face
many obstacles. One of the major problems faced is access to land,
constantly disappearing under asphalt, or controlled by the dominant
land owners, gobbled up by policies of constant expansion of the massive
monoculture plots.

More and more people and collectives, particularly in the cities, are
seeking ways to feed themselves with local produce based on direct
exchange or producing to meet part of their own food needs. This process
is also hitting barriers put up by agricultural policy and the current
trends in urbanization and land grabbing.

There is a lot of agricultural land in the ZAD. Despite the initiatives
that have sought to maintain their use over the past decades, some are
now abandoned and others are facing expropriation. Existing rental
contracts will cease to be renewed as the works advance. All the lands
will be lost if the airport projects reaches completion.

The initiative of the 7th May is a step in the construction of a wider
movement to liberate land.

#### AGAINST THE AIRPORT AND THE WORLD IT REPRESENTS!

The fight against Notre-Dame-des-Landes Airport is at the crux of the
problems that motivate us to unite, reflect and seek collective
strategies. Through this struggle we are fighting against low quality
long distance food, industrial society and the climate change that goes
with it, policies of economic development and control of land, the
megapolis and the normalization of its ways of life, the privatization
of common goods, the myth of growth and the illusion of democratic
participation...

Now, as preparations for the works intensify, the challenge is to give
new energy to the struggle. That could involve directly opposing the
geological and land surveys, public consultations, and possible
evictions, or upping the pressure against the promoters of the project
and the companies involved, or it could mean building moments of
collective mass action. The squatting of the ZAD is an important
foundation on which to build the fight against the airport. Squatting
the affected area enables us to unite our creativity and construction
with our resistance. It connects our experiences of life and production
with an offensive dynamic that aims to stop any construction work before
it begins.

\\\\\ THE AIRPORT SHALL NOT PASS ! WE WILL NOT BE PART OF THEIR PLAN ! /////