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WORLDWIDE
FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS
Suriname
Maroons Say No to Multinational Logging
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Forest
Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises
http://forests.org/
5/3/98
OVERVIEW
& COMMENTARY by EE
"Suriname's
rainforests are high in biological diversity and endemic
species
and are the ancestral homelands of tens of thousands of
Indigenous
peoples and Maroons." The
country's forests continue to be
targeted
for very intensive industrial forest harvests.
Local peoples
who
lack land rights are resisting.
g.b.
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TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: SURINAME: SARAMACCA MAROONS SAY NO TO
MULTINATIONAL LOGGING
Source: Forest Peoples Programme of World Rainforest
Movement
Status: Distribute freely, credited to source
Date: April 20, 1998
/**
rainfor.genera: 81.0 **/
**
Topic: SURINAME: SARAMACCA MAROONS SAY NO TO MULTINATIONAL LOGGING
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** Written 4:07 AM
Apr 23, 1998 by gn:wrm in cdp:rainfor.genera **
FOREST
PEOPLES PROGRAMME
Suriname
Information Update
20
April, 1998
Saramacca
Maroons Say No to Multinational Logging in Suriname
The
leaders of twenty-three Saramacca Maroon villages gathered in the
community
of Pikin Slee on 13-14 March, to discuss land rights and the
incursions
of a Chinese logging company. The
village leaders stated
unequivocally
that they were opposed to the operations of Chinese
company,
NV Tacoba (aka. Tacoba Forestry Consultants) in or near their
ancestral
lands. The leaders stated that they
want their rights to
own and
control their ancestral lands, as defined by international
human
rights law, recognized and respected.
Maroons
are the descendants of African slaves who fought for and won
their
freedom from the Dutch colonial regime that ruled Suriname
until
1975. Their rights to freedom from slavery and to self-
government
within their territories were recognized in treaties
concluded
with the Dutch in the 18th Century.
Since that time they
have
been living in Suriname's rainforests, concentrated along the
major
waterways. The Saramacca are one of the
six Maroon peoples of
Suriname. The present government of Suriname states
that it has no
legal
obligations under the treaties with the Maroons and does not
recognize
their rights to own their ancestral lands.
Furthermore, it
has or
is in the process of granting vast areas of the rainforest in
concession
to multinational logging and mining companies.
These
concessions
are granted without even notifying Indigenous and Maroon
communities,
let alone seeking their participation or approval, even
if
their villages fall within the concessions.
Presently, at least
two-thirds
of the Indigenous and Maroon communities are either in or
very
near to logging and mining concessions.
The
Saramacca leaders first became aware that a concession had been
granted
in their territory when a group of "English speaking Chinese"
arrived
in the communities of Nieuw Aroura and Goejaba. They informed
the
communities that they were about to begin logging operations. The
Chinese
were representing a company called NV Tacoba, a locally
incorporated
Surinamese company. The communities
later discovered
that
Tacoba and other logging companies had been granted multiple
logging
concessions in and near their territory. Indonesian company,
Barito
Pacific, is also rumoured to be acquiring a concession of
600,000
hectares covering Saramacca and Aucaner Maroon territories
from
central Suriname to the Marowijne River, that forms Suriname's
eastern
border. Barito representatives recently
visited the area
(JaiKreek)
accompanied by Surinamese national army troops and
helicopters
carrying a letter signed personally by the President of
Suriname. Apparently, a deal was signed with Barito
while the
President
of Suriname was in Indonesia last September.
In
Suriname, it is illegal for one person or company to hold more than
150,000
hectares of concessions without the approval of the National
Assembly
(art. 26 Forest Management Law 1992).
Tacoba clearly has
more
than 150,000 hectares, as do Malaysian company Berjaya Berhad and
Indonesian
company, NV MUSA. Barito Pacific also
looks certain to
acquire
more than the legal limit if they receive (if they have not
already
received) the 600,000 hectare concession sought in central-
east
Suriname. None of these concessions
have been approved by the
National
Assembly.
Little
is known about NV Tacoba, although it is suspected that they
are a
Chinese state-owned company, locally incorporated in Suriname.
Tacoba
representatives stated recently that Tacoba's parent company is
based
in Hong Kong. It subsidiaries are involved
in logging,
shipping,
road building and containers. The
representatives said that
Tacoba
has been working in Suriname since 1993, but it is clear that
it
present owners are different from the original ones. Tacoba is
also
known to have relations with the former military dictator, Desi
Bouterse,
himself active in the timber business as a third party buyer
and
other members of Suriname's ruling
party, the National Democratic
Party. Suriname recently opened an embassy in China
and has been
seeking
expanded trade and aid relations.
Tacoba seems to be the
first
major Chinese investment in Suriname.
One of
Tacoba's concessions encompasses the Maroon community of
Dowatra.
Reportedly, Tacoba representatives told the village leader of
Dowatra
that his community was not allowed to use the forest more than
one
kilometer from the village as the area was now a Tacoba
concession. They then stated that if he complained,
tried to take
the
company to court, he would lose and would be put in jail.
According
to community members, they use forest resources up to twenty
kilometers
from the village. These resources are
used for basic
subsistence
purposes. Tacoba has proceeded to
construct 15 logging
roads
off the main road in the area of Dowatra and is cutting a
substantial
amount of timber. This timber is
transported
approximately
one hundred kilometers north, where it is transported by
river
to the coast. Tacoba's logs are loaded into the river at MUSA's
loading
dock located at Kromenie. It is unknown
if Tacoba has
completed
an Environmental and Social Impact Assesment for its
operations:
if it has, it has not been made public.
The
Saramacca leaders have formed an Association to educate their
communities
about land rights and the environment and to oppose the
activities
of Tacoba. They have started to map
their lands with the
aim of
presenting a request for title to the government. However,
prospects
for legal recognition through negotiation or recourse to the
legal
system appear to be minimal. Suriname
is presently the only
country
in the western hemisphere that does not have legal,
constitutional
or other provisions that account in some way for
Indigenous
and Maroon rights to land.
The
government has made promises to address the issue, dating back to
1992,
but has failed to live up to these promises.
Presently, all
land in
the interior of the country (approximately 80%) is classified
as
state land and Indigenous peoples and Maroons are considered to be
permissive
occupiers of state land without rights or title thereto.
If
their subsistence activities conflict with logging or mining
operations,
the latter take precedence as a matter of law.
Furthermore,
Surinamese law does not provide any mechanism for
consulting
with communities about the granting of concessions on or
near
their territories.
International
human rights standards provide that Indigenous peoples
and
Maroons have the right to participate fully in decisions, before
they
are taken, about whether concessions are granted on their lands.
This
right includes the right to information concerning the proposed
activities,
companies involved and the nature of the risks posed by
the
activity.
Suriname
has or is in the process of granting multiple logging
concessions.
These concessions most likely amount to well over two
million
hectares in total and have been granted to companies with
dubious
records concerning the environment and human rights.
Moreover,
the government's capacity to monitor the operations of these
companies,
despite an infusion of aid aimed at strengthening forest
management
institutions, is minimal to non-existent.
Also, many in
Suriname
question the inclination of the government to monitor company
operations
and impose penalties for abusive practices.
MUSA, for
instance,
which has operated for many years in Suriname, has
persistently
violated the law and the terms of its operating permit -
this is
widely known in Suriname - has never been fined by the
Forestry
Service. In fact, there s never even
been an official
complaint
against a logging company filed by the government.
Suriname's
rainforests are high in biological diversity and endemic
species
and are the ancestral homelands of tens of thousands of
Indigenous
peoples and Maroons. If the government continues down its
present
course, these forests and the peoples dependent on them will
be
seriously, perhaps irrevocably affected.
For
further information please contact,
Forest
Peoples Programme
1c,
Fosseway Business Centre
Stratford
Road
Moreton
in Marsh, GL56 9NQ
United
Kingdom
Tel.
44. 1608. 652. 893.
Fax.
44. 1608. 652. 878
Email :
wrm@gn.apc.org
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