ACTION ALERT

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

WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

Nicaragua's Tropical Rainforest in Peril

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

Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

http://forests.org/

1/5/98

OVERVIEW, SOURCE & COMMENTARY by EE

Despite being ruled unconstitutional by the Nicaraguan Supreme Court,

logging in the North Atlantic Autonomous Region by the Korean company

Kumkyng continues. This area is the largest intact rainforest

ecosystem in the Western hemispere, outside of the Amazon. An urgent

appeal for letters is made in Rainforest Action Network's action alert

regarding the matter.

g.b.

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

RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

Title: LARGEST TROPICAL RAINFOREST OUTSIDE AMAZON IN PERIL

Source: Rainforest Action Network, Action Alert #134, January, 1998

Status: Distribute freely with proper credit given to source

Date: January 5, 1998

OUTSIDE OF THE AMAZON, Nicaragua's East coast features the largest

intact tropical rainforest in the Western Hemisphere. The lush

territory has a dispassionate name, the North Atlantic Autonomous

Region; but it is home to everything we are passionate about. The

region is a vast, old growth rainforest ecosystem with mahogany trees,

medicinal plants and countless species of animals and insects. It is

the traditional homeland of Miskito, Sumu, and Rama Indians.

The Nicaraguan Constitution recognizes the Indian populations in the

coastal rainforest as autonomous nations; however, despite their

opposition, Nicaragua's Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources

recently granted extensive logging concessions there to Solcarsa, a

subsidiary of the Korean-based transnational company Kumkyng.

This past February, however, Nicaragua's Supreme Court ruled the

concession unconstitutional. Nicaraguan law requires companies to

consult regional advisory councils in assessing the environmental

impact of logging operations. Solcarsa took a shortcut: the company

obtained endorsements only from the regional governor and the council

president.

Despite these sanctions Solcarsa is still building roads, and is still

cutting down old growth rainforest trees. Nicaragua is one of the

poorest countries in Central America, and the influx of foreign

capital gives a temporary boost to the economy. For now, neither the

government of President Arnoldo Aleman nor the Ministry of Environment

has made any efforts to enforce the Supreme Court's ruling against

Solcarsa - but when the timber is gone the logging company will move

on, leaving the economy in ruins, and the ecosystem too degraded to

provide a livelihood for its inhabitants.

According to sources in Nicaragua, the wood treatment plants Solcarsa

operates in the coastal rainforest use toxic chemicals that have been

banned in most countries. These chemicals run directly into the

rivers and streams that supply drinking water for local traditional

communities. Solcarsa has demonstrated no respect for community

interests or needs, has built logging facilities without approval, and

has relocated entire indigenous settlements that were in the path of

the company's chainsaws.

The international community is taking notice of Nicaragua's rainforest

crisis. In early October, The Human Rights Commission of the

Organization of American States ruled that the Nicaraguan government

violated international law by ignoring its own Supreme Court ruling.

On November 10 this year, a worldwide day of solidarity, activists in

communities across the U.S. and in Nicaragua called on Nicaruagua's

President Aleman to uphold his Constitution, stand up for indigenous

rights, and put an immediate end to logging concessions in the coastal

old growth rainforest.

Now is the time to let Nicaragua's government know that it must

protect the integrity of its environment and indigenous cultures.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

Let President Aleman know that you want Nicaragua to maintain

indigenous rights, and save the largest old growth tropical rainforest

north of the Amazon. Postage is U.S. 60 cents. Here is a sample

letter:

President Arnoldo Aleman

Casa de Presidente

Managua, Nicaragua

Dear President Aleman, Nicaragua recognizes the self-determination of

its indigenous peoples, yet despite their opposition the logging

company Solcarsa is cutting down old growth rainforests in the North

Atlantic Autonomous Region. Although ruled unconstitutional by the

Nicaraguan Surpreme Court, Solcarsa's operations have continued to

destroy ancient trees and poison local rivers.

I am asking you to make protecting your old growth rainforests a

priority, and to require that the company compensate the indigenous

community for the damage it has done to their homeland.

###

For more information: Patricia Awerbuch, Rainforest Action Group of

Delaware Valley, P.O. Box 134 Newtown Square, PA 19073; or: Orin

Langelle, Native Forest Network, P.O. Box 57 Burlington, VT 05402, or

E-mail: nfnena@sover.net. Contributors include: Patricia

Awerbuch; Mary Brook Finley, Environmental Task Force; and Marika

Holmgren, RAN.

###RELAYED TEXT ENDS###

This document is for general distribution. 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/

Networked by Ecological Enterprises, gbarry@forests.org