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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

Last Remaining Ecuadorian Coast Forests to Be Logged

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

5/25/96

OVERVIEW & SOURCE

The following information from the Global Response Network and the Native

Forest Network details the logging of the last remaining Coastal Rainforest

remnant in Ecuador. In April, 1996, Ecuador's government approved plans to

allow logging in the remaining 1% of Ecuador's primary coastal tropical

rainforest. The 180,000 acre area provides a home to many rare plant

species, the mantled howler monkey and the endangered jaguar. The logging

may start at any time. The enclosed action alert provides fax, e-mail and

snail mail addresses to protest such short sighted development policy.

g.b.

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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

/* Written 8:29 AM May 14, 1996 by nfnena in igc:nfn.tempforest */

/* ---------- "Ecuador Emergency" ---------- */

From: Native Forest Network-ENA <nfnena@igc.apc.org>

Date: Sun, 12 May 1996 19:43:17 +0000

From: "malcolm campbell" <globresponse@igc.apc.org>

"Without a park designation, this leaves us with the situation we faced in

both 1994 and 1995; where we are in direct competition with the Setrafor

Lumber Company for the last remaining coastal tropical rainforest in

Ecuador."-Fundacion Jatun Sacha

GRAction #2/96 Coastal Rainforest Destruction / Ecuador

May 13, 1996

This past April the Government of Ecuador granted a private company

permission to pursue logging the remaining 1% of Ecuador's primary coastal

tropical rainforest. The logging may start as early as May 29, 1996. This

GRAction requires an urgent response. Please send your faxes, e-mail

messages, or letters immediately.

Global Response members are asked to take action to help environmentalists

in Ecuador preserve the coastal tropical rainforests of the Mache-Chindul

mountains in northwestern Ecuador.

Covering an area of approximately 180,000 acres, Mache-Chindul contains

many rare plant species as well as providing a home for the mantled howler

monkey and the endangered jaguar. The headwaters of the Dogola, Cube, and

Aguacotal rivers arise in the Mache-Chindul mountains.

Fundacion Jatun Sacha, a prominent Ecuadorian forest conservation group,

has asked that INEFAN (the Parks Department of Ecuador) set aside 50,000

acres of the Mache-Chindul region as a National Park-Ecological Reserve.

INEFAN has been conducting a "data-gathering" survey of Mache-Chindul's

flora and fauna in response to Jatun Sacha's 1994 request that the area be

protected. INEFAN director Jorge Barba shocked Ecuador's environmental

community with his April 19, 1996 decision designating only a very small

section of Mache-Chindul for protection and opening the remaining forests

for logging by the Setrafor Logging Company.

Requested Action - faxes/letters/e-mail to:

{} Ing. Jorge Barba / Executive Director INEFAN

- Remind Sr. Barba that 99% of Ecuador's primary coastal rainforests have

been destroyed;

- Stress that the short-term economic gains from logging the Mache-Chindul

region do not justify the loss of its rainforests;

- Ask Sr. Barba to reverse his April 19, 1996 decision that allows Setrafor

to pursue logging in the Mache-Chindul Mountains on May 29, 1996;

- Urge Sr. Barba and INEFAN to join with the Bilsa Project and explore all

the available options for preserving the Mache-Chindul region as a Reserve

or National Park; and,

- Encourage Sr. Barba to guarantee that the property rights of indigenous

communities and legal landowners in the protected areas will be respected.

Background:

Effects of coastal logging in Ecuador - For more than 30 years the

coastal rainforests of Ecuador have been selectively logged. As in other

rainforest environments, the construction of logging roads into undeveloped

areas has immediately attracted colonists. Once having migrated into the

newly accessible areas, the colonists cut down or burn the remaining trees

in order to create farm and pasture lands. It is estimated that 97% of all

coastal forests (categorized in Ecuador as dry, moist, wet [rain], and

pluvial) have been destroyed in this manner.

Bidding war: Fundacion Jatun Sacha and the Setrafor Logging Company have

been involved for several years in bidding wars that are determining the

destiny of Mache-Chindul's forests. Indigenous communities and individual

landowners with title to their lands have been approached by both Jatun

Sacha and Setrafor with offers to purchase the rights to the forests on

their properties. (The land is not sold, only the forest resources

covering the land.) Whereas Setrafor is bidding for the opportunity to log

these rainforests, Jatun Sacha's strategy is to outbid Setrafor and

maintain the forests in their natural state. In 1994 and 1995 Jatun Sacha

was able to raise enough money to outbid Setrafor for 3,500 acres in Mache-

Chindul. The Bilsa Biological Station was established on this land.

* Bilsa: The Bilsa Biological Station conservation project is located in

the heart of the Mache-Chindul region. One of Bilsa's projects is the

Center for the Conservation of Western Foreign Plants. The center houses

more than 25,000 tree saplings representing more than 60 local native tree

species. These saplings will be used for reforestation and community fruit

tree gardens. Bilsa has contributed to the neighboring communities by

filling staff positions with local people, initiating the tree-planting

project, and educating the community members on environmental issues and

the benefits of forest preservation. Jatun Sacha estimates that it may

cost as much as $100,000 to outbid Setrafor for the unprotected rainforests

of Mache-Chindul.

Address: Global Response members are asked to send letters/faxes/e-mail

messages to the Executive Director of the Parks Department of Ecuador.

Fundacion Jatun Sacha has requested that we send our correspondence in care

of their offices. They will then present your expressions of concern in

person to Ing. Jorge Barba. A one-page airmail letter from the United

States to Ecuador costs 60 cents.

Ing. Jorge Barba

Executive Director INEFAN

c/o Fundacion Jatun Sacha

Casilla 17-12-867

Avenida Rio Coca 1734

Quito, ECUADOR

Fax numbers: 59-32-441-592 or 59-32-253-966

These are phone/fax lines, if a Jatun Sacha staffperson answers, please ask

for their fax-tone by saying: "Me puede dar tono de fax por favor"

E-mail address: McColm@jsacha.ecx.ec

The Jatun Sacha Foundation is trying to raise funds for the purchase of the

forest resources surrounding the Bilsa Biological Station. For information

on making a donation please contact: GAEA CENTER for Healing and Serving

the Earth, P.O. Box 652, Santa Cruz, CA 95061. For additional information

contact Donna Runnalls at (408)-475-7006. or LVbridges@aol.com

This Global Response Action was issued in support of and with information

provided by Fundacion Jatun Sacha and The Tropical Rainforest Coalition

###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 Conservation Archives at URL=

http://forests.org/gaia.html

Networked by:

Ecological Enterprises

Email (best way to contact)-> gbarry@forests.org