Urgent Action Needed to Protest Extension of Forest Lands
5/28/97
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Date: Wed, 28 May 1997
Subject: URGENT ACTION FOR GUYANA
URGENT*URGENT*URGENT*URGENT*URGENT*URGENT*URGENT*
THIS ACTION ALERT REQUIRES IMMEDIATE ACTION
IMMINENT GUYANESE LAW WILL JUSTIFY ALLOCATING FURTHER VAST CONCESSIONS IN
BREACH OF THE LICENSE MORATORIUM
A draft law legalising exploratory leases is scheduled to be before the
Guyanese Parliament in the next TWO DAYS! These exploratory leases will
allow logging companies to begin development of vast new concessions on an
"exploratory" basis on the understanding that they will receive a license
to log when the current moratorium is lifted. These leases are therefore
postdated logging licenses and are being drawn up with NO consultation or
participation. The Guyana Human Rights Association and the Amerindian
Peoples Association are requesting international support to protest the
extension of state forest lands and the deals with the timber companies.
Background
In the past 5 years Guyana has opened its forests and the ancestral lands
of Indigenous peoples at an alarming rate to multinational mining and
logging companies. The latest phase of this much criticised policy is the
proposed extension of state forest lands to incorporate the Southern third
of the country and the signing of Memoranda of Understanding (MOU) for
exploratory leases with Malaysian loggers to inventory and, subsequently
log the newly opened up areas. The first MOU was signed with Malaysian-
Guyanese company, Kwitaro, and the second with the infamous Malaysian
company, Berjaya Berhad. At least two other MOUs are to be signed in the
near future with Buchanan Forest Products Ltd. of Canada and Solid Timbers
Berhad of Malaysia.
Each of these companies will be given rights to 750,000 acres in the newly
extended state forest lands, despite the fact that there is no legal basis
yet for granting exploratory licenses under Guyanese law. The Government
intends to remedy this legal vacuum by pushing through legislation in the
coming two weeks legalising exploratory licenses and extending state
forest lands to accommodate the areas covered by the MOUs. The price per
acre of rainforest and savannah for these exploratory leases is US0.20.
These exploratory licenses are being granted in order to circumvent a 3
year moratorium on new logging concessions that was negotiated between the
Government and donor organizations in 1995. Although not technically
logging concessions at this point, the exploratory leases clearly violate
the spirit and intent of the moratorium. The moratorium was put in place
in order to provide time to strengthen the capacity of Guyana's monitoring
and administrative capacity with regard to the forestry sector. In other
words, it was acknowledged by all concerned that the Government and its
Forestry Commission were incapable of monitoring existing logging
operations. Although some progress has been made in strengthening
institutional monitoring capacity, it remains inadequate and untested,
particularly in remote areas like those covered by the exploratory leases.
Serious questions about Guyana's ability to monitor the operations of the
companies involved are therefore still applicable.
Serious questions have also been raised about whether Guyana has any
commitment whatsoever to the environment and Indigenous rights or whether
environmental initiatives are being used to placate international donors
and criticism while it continues to turn over the majority of the country
to multinational loggers and miners. The Guyana Human Rights Association,
for instance, points out that while plans have been set in place to
develop a National Protected Areas System (NPAS), a Select Parliamentary
Committee to review the outdated Amerindian Act has been established and
an Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has been created, in the
preceding four years no action has been taken on the NPAS, the Review
Committee is defunct and while environmental legislation has been
approved, the EPA has not been made fully operational.
Also, the areas targeted for incorporation into the State Forests are some
of the most pristine forests in the world, with fauna and flora diversity
among the richest in the Americas. Scientific exploration and studies,
carried out by Conservation International and the European Community both
attest to the bio-diverse richness of this area. Of the 24 recommended
Protected Area Schemes only one has been legally designated and no further
steps either to demarcate or protect it have been taken. According to
inside sources, World Bank staff working on the NPAS project are also
alarmed by the granting of the exploratory leases, frustrated by the lack
of concrete action by the Guyana Government and are seriously re-
evaluating their future role, both as donor and technical staff on the
project, and the Government's commitment to Indigenous rights and
environmental protection.
On the issue of Indigenous rights no progress has been made and Indigenous
peoples in Guyana continue to suffer the full force of the negative
social, cultural and health effects on unrestrained resource development.
The area covered by the exploratory leases contains lands identified by
the Indigenous Macusi people as theirs. These assertions of Indigenous
ownership have been ignored and remain unresolved. Also, Indigenous lands
in the area have not been demarcated despite repeated calls from
Indigenous communities and organizations to do so and other issues related
to Indigenous land rights, such as extensions of titled areas and granting
titles to those communities without them have yet to be addressed. The
Amerindian Peoples Association has also expressed concern about the Wai
Wai people who live in the area, who they consider to be extremely
vulnerable to external pressures.
The signing of the exploratory leases and the extension of state forest
lands was undertaken without consulting affected Indigenous communities.
Ignoring the existence of Indigenous communities when granting permission
to multinational loggers and miners is a routine practice in Guyana. This
is even the case when Indigenous villages themselves are located in
logging or mining concessions. Predictably, when Indigenous communities
complain they are ignored.
Request for Support
The Guyana Human Rights Association and the Amerindian Peoples Association
are calling for concerted action to petition the Government to postpone
the passage of the impending legislation before Parliament, namely, the
Forest Exploratory Permits Bill 1997, until the following outstanding
issues have been resolved:
*outstanding Amerindian land rights issues, such as demarcation, legal
recognition for communities without titles and extension of titles for
those communities that have requested them;
* protected Areas legislation is in place and Protected Areas designated;
* review and replacement of the Amerindian Act in accordance with
international standards is completed.
* the Environmental Protection Agency is operational and monitoring
capacity is demonstrable.
Please send polite but firm faxes NOW requesting the Guyana Government to
postpone the passage of the Forest Exploratory Permits Bill 1997 until the
issues noted above have been resolved.
Please fax letters to:
His Excellency,
President Sam Hinds,
Office of the President Fax No: 592 2 63395
New Garden Street
Georgetown
Please send copies to : GHRA/ APA, Fax No: 592 2 74948;
EMail: ghra.guy@solutions2000.net