***********************************************

WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

Suriname: Forest Conflicts Reach Flashpoint

***********************************************

Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

September 22, 1995

OVERVIEW & SOURCE

The World Rainforest Movement reports, in econet's rainfor.general

conference, that indigenous peoples in Suriname have reached a

breaking point concerning their government's selling out of their

land to miners and loggers. Three 1,000,000 hectare timber

concessions are planned, falling partially on indigenous lands,

but against the wishes of forest peoples residing therein. And

the same Canadian company that recently had a massive cyanide

spill in nearby Guyana's largest river continues its mining

operations in Suriname, while restricting native people's access

to their land.

The abuse of indigenous peoples is often presented in the past

tense, as something we should be sorry for and regret, but not as

an ongoing problem. This piece is another reminder that the

dominant, overconsuming western culture continues its plunder of

peoples and resources; wherever the last vestiges of sacred,

sustaining cultures and ecological systems are found. How much

more wilderness destruction and cultural genocide can Gaia

withstand before collapsing to a lower level of societal and

ecological organization?

g.b.

*******************************

RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

/* Written 10:33 AM Sep 22, 1995 by ax:animax in

igc:rainfor.genera */

/* ---------- "Suriname: forest conflicts reach fl" ---------- */

From: Jones de Freitas <animax

Subject: Suriname: forest conflicts reach flashpoint

Date: Fri, 15 Sep 95 10:53:42 BST

From: Forest Peoples Programme <wrm@gn.apc.org

Subject: SURINAME: FOREST CONFLICTS REACH FLASHPOINT

______________________________________________________________

WORLD RAINFOREST MOVEMENT

______________________________________________________________

15 September 1995 PRESS RELEASE

SURINAME:

FOREST CONFLICTS WITH MINERS AND LOGGERS REACH FLASH POINT

CONFLICT BETWEEN FOREIGN LOGGING AND MINING COMPANIES IN SURINAME

HAS REACHED FLASHPOINT. ARMED POLICE GUARDING A CANADIAN GOLDMINE

HAVE BEEN SHOOTING AT VILLAGERS TRYING TO GAIN ACCESS TO THEIR

FORESTS, WHICH NOW FALL WITHIN THE COMPANY CONCESSION. IN

RESPONSE TO THE TAKEOVER OF THEIR LANDS, THE AMAZONIAN INDIANS

AND MAROON COMMUNITIES OF THE FORESTED INTERIOR HAVE DECLARED

REGIONAL AUTONOMY AND CALLED ON THE GOVERNMENT TO FREEZE THE

HANDOUT OF CONCESSIONS UNTIL THEIR LAND RIGHTS ARE RESPECTED.

Suriname has a population of only 400,000 people, 90% of whom

live in the capital and coastal centres. The rainforests of the

interior, covering an area the size of England and Wales, are

home to four Indian peoples and six tribes of Maroons -

descendants of escaped slaves who recreated forest societies in

the interior in the 17th and 18th centuries.

Denied land rights and marginalised by development, these peoples

have already been caught up in a vicious six year civil war which

devastated the country and brought its bauxite- and aid-dependent

economy to near ruin. A tenuous peace with the tribal

insurgencies, brokered by the Organisation of American States,

was established in 1992, in return for unkept promises to secure

land rights and community development. However, instead the

Government has embarked on a risky policy of handing out the

country's rich natural resources to foreign companies.

Under these arrangements the Canadian company Golden Star

Resources has gained access to rich auriferous reefs in the

interior of Suriname. The same company has recently been in the

headlines for causing a massive cyanide spill in neighbouring

Guyana, when over four million cubic metres of toxic slurry

cascaded into the country's main river. In Suriname, the

company's first operations at Gros Rosebel have already led to

the forced eviction of thousands of Maroons living within the

concession after being threatened by the Minister for Justice and

Police with airstrikes in June this year. In reaction to the

imposition of a pass system to regulate access to the forests and

farms in the concession area, the Maroons resorted to blockading

the road to the mining camp. Shots were fired by armed police on

28 July as they moved to forcibly dismantle the blockades. On 28

August another forced expulsion took place and, according to

Surinamese human rights workers, armed police and security guards

are now patrolling the area shooting indiscriminately at

community members trying to get access to their forests.

The Government is also in the process of handing out three one-

million hectare concessions to Malaysian and Indonesian loggers.

One contract for over one million hectares negotiated with the

Malaysian conglomerate Berjaya Sdn. Bhd. overlaps the lands of

several Maroon and indigenous peoples and is about to be

submitted to the National Assembly. The affected communities are

indignant that they have not been consulted.

In response to this growing pressure on their lands, indigenous

and Maroon leaders held a 'Gran Krutu' (Great Gathering) on 19-21

August at the Maroon village of Asindopo. The meeting ended with

the release to the press of a declaration by the leaders that

they had set up a 'Supreme Authority of the Interior' which

asserted the right to agree to or refuse development in the

hinterland. The 'Gran Krutu' demanded that the Government not

grant any further mining and logging concessions on their

territories and declared:

'We, the Indigenous People, descendants of those who have

lived in Surinam since the beginning, and we, descendants

of the Maroons, who fought for their freedom; We who have

lived for so many centuries in Surinam, where our umbilical

cord is buried; We speak now because we feel that the time

has come to exercise our right to self-determination, as

our ancestors did before us. The time has come for us to

feel: that we want other peoples know that we are here! We

want them to know that we have our own homes and places of

residence, our own chiefs, our own government, our own

songs, our own dances, our own stories, our own history, in

short our own culture, our own wisdom, our own thought and

our own customs, our own life, our own land, in particular

our own forests, where we must be able to live the way we

think right! This is why we are holding this large meeting,

to discuss together how we will apply our right to

self-determination to the development of our people. We

call on our people!'

The numerous resolutions passed at the meeting also included the

assertion that:

'We have the exclusive right to effectively use the natural

resources on and in our territories as applicable to our

own development. We have the right to determine when and

how these resources will be used for the purpose of our

development. The natural resources can only be exploited by

persons or organizations outside our communities if they

have the express and written permission of our authorities,

and that such things as the form and amount of fair

compensation for our community are laid down in

agreements.'

NEW BOOK 'Forest Politics in Suriname' by Marcus Colchester

exposes the background to this crisis. Published by International

Books, Utrecht. 96pp, maps, photos. 9.99 ppk. 75p UK Post &

Packaging. 2.50 overseas airmail.

Available from: World Rainforest Movement, 8 Chapel Row,

Chadlington, OX7 3NA, England Tel: 01608 676696 Fax: +44 1608

676743 Email: wrm@gn.apc.org.

______________________________________________________________

###RELAYED TEXT ENDS###

You are encouraged to utilize this information for personal

campaign use; including writing letters, organizing campaigns and

forwarding. All efforts are made to provide accurate, timely

pieces; though ultimate responsibility for verifying all

information rests with the reader. Check out our Gaia Forest

Archives at URL= http://gaia1.ies.wisc.edu/research/pngfores/

Networked by:

Ecological Enterprises/ 301K Eagle Heights/ Madison, WI 53705

USA/ Phone- (608) 233-2194/ Fax- (608) 233-2193/ Emails-

gbarry@forests.org or switpi@igc.apc.org