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

WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

More Scandal in the Extraction of Brazilian Mahogany

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

Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

8/7/96

OVERVIEW & SOURCE by EE

Following is an update on the Brazilian rainforest situation by the

Indianist Missionary Council - Cimi in Brazil. The report on disclosure of

huge amounts of corruption in the mahogany trade, and counter efforts from

those benefitting to try to derail the recently announced mahogany

moratorium. They also make reference to a half-billion-dollor timber

project that Malaysian timber companies have been negotiating with Brazil's

government. I have seen several brief mentions of Asian style industrial

forest clearing coming to the Amazon, but have few details. Do any list

recipients know more?

g.b.

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

RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

/* Written 10:42 AM Aug 7, 1996 by ax:cimi in igc:rainfor.genera */

/* ---------- "ANOTHER SCANDAL IN THE EXTRACTION O" ---------- */

Newsletter n. 221

ANOTHER SCANDAL IN THE EXTRACTION OF BRAZILIAN MAHOGANY

One week after president Fernando Henrique Cardoso signed a decree

suspending the granting of licenses to exploit mahogany and virola (a

hardwood similar to mahogany) in Brazil for two years, the Brazilian press

denounced the existence of a half-billion-dollar timber project for

Malaysian timber companies and the payment of bribes to staff members of

the Brazilian Institute for Environment and Renewable Natural Resources

(Ibama). In the wake of the controversy, some people are saying that the

decree is aimed at suspending new contracts only, while other people say it

applies to all new and existing contracts. The aim of the government was to

prevent the degradation of the environment in the region, but the decree

ended up exposing a corrupted scheme of the mahogany mafia.

The bribe scandal was denounced by an entity called Friends of the Earth

International. The 500-page dossier prepared by the group and delivered to

the Brazilian government is based on a study on 10,000 documents kept in

the files of Ibama, the Brazilian Agriculture/Livestock Research Company

(Embrapa), and Funai. It denounces that, in 1995, Ibama staff members were

receiving bribes of US$ 5,000 a month from timber companies and charging

US$ 20-40 thousand to issue licenses to cut down mahogany trees. The

president of Ibama, Eduardo Martins, admits there were irregularities

indeed. This year, 100,000 cubic meters of mahogany were illegally traded

in Brazil and abroad. Between 1982 and 1992, indigenous lands lost over 2

billion cubic meters of that hardwood, equivalent to 250 truckloads a

month. In 1987, half of the mahogany that was traded came from the

reservation of the Xikrin Indians, located in the state of Para'. More than

3.5 thousand timber companies operate in that state.

About 470 square kilometers have been deforested in Amazonia, or 11.8% of

the whole region. According to Embrapa officials, if the deforesting

continues at its present pace, mahogany may become extinct in 30 years.

There are 3,040 timber projects in course in Amazonia. Ibama intends to

visit 1,010 of them to check whether the new rules are being complied with.

INDIANS REPRESENT BRAZIL AT CONTINENTAL MEETING

Indians Amilton Lopes, from the Guarani-Kaiowa people, and Antonio Pessoa

Gomes (Caboquinho), from the Potiguara people, will represent Brazil at the

1st Continental Indigenous Meeting "Visiones Abya Yala", which will be held

in Copenhagen, Denmark, from the 4th until the 10th of August (Abya Yala

means mature, flourishing land in the dialect of the Kuna people from Costa

Rica). The entities which organized the meeting expect it to be attended by

60 Indians representing indigenous organizations from the three Americas to

discuss issues such as Self-Determination, Indigenous lands and

territories, Industrial property rights, indigenous women, international

cooperation, indigenous religion and medicine, and the continental

articulation of indigenous peoples. Representing the Council for the

Articulation of Indigenous Peoples and Organizations of Brazil (Capoib),

Caboquinho Potiguara will deliver a document at the meeting reporting how

the indigenous policy of the Fernando Henrique Cardoso administration

violates indigenous rights in Brazil in some regards. The document

denounces that Decree 1,775/96 delayed the demarcation of indigenous lands

in Brazil, the decision of the government to "restudy" the demarcation of

certain territories, both existing and in course, the lack of assistance to

indigenous communities and the illegal establishment of the Open Discovery

Museum (MAD) in Bahia.

Brasilia, 5 August 1996

Indianist Missionary Council - Cimi

###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