ACTION ALERT

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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

Help Save Venezuelan Imataca Reserve

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

http://forests.org/

6/4/98

OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by EE

The ludicrous nature of calling any area in the world a "reserve" is

made abundantly clear as gold and diamonds discovered under the

Imataca Reserve in Venezuela leads to a jettisoning of protected

status for this important forest reserve. Maintenance of forest

ecological systems and constituent biodiversity will require

widespread intact and managed natural forests, not small set asides

which are "preserved" until the next deal rolls into town. Conserving

(comprised of both preserving and benignly managing forest landscapes)

and restoring forests across their natural range will be a task for

the next millennia--and the future of the Earth will depend upon it.

g.b.

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Title: VENEZUELA: Help Save Imataca Reserve

Source: Julio Cesar Centeno, PhD

Status: Distribute freely credited to source

Date: May 9, 1998

Byline: Julio Cesar Centeno, PhD

VENEZUELA

Help Save Imataca Reserve

A huge area of protected rainforest in South America could soon be

destroyed by mining and logging - with government approval. But it's

not too late to stop it from happening.

Nearly half of Venezuela is swathed in pristine tropical rainforest.

The Imataca Forest Reserve in the northeast of the country - a vast

and beautiful area of forest the size of the Netherlands - is home to

five Indian tribes and an infinite variety of wildlife. Imataca has

been a protected reserve for over 30 years, in recognition of its

fragility and environmental importance.

But now this unique area of rainforest is under threat - from the very

government that has been charged with protecting it for future

generations. For the natural wealth of Imataca's forests are matched

by their potential wealth below the ground. Imataca sits on enormous

underground reserves of gold and diamonds that the government wants to

tap, to help pay off the country's huge foreign debt and promote

economic development.

For years the reserve has been invaded by illegal gold miners, seeking

their fortunes by invading indigenous lands, and destroying areas of

forest in their search for gold. But now, under pressure from the

mining lobby, the government wants to vastly extend legal mining in

the reserve. It wants to open up the area to international mining

companies, who want to see Venezuela become one of the world's largest

gold-producing nations.

In May last year, the Venezuelan government decided - with no

consultation - to divide most of the reserve up between mining firms

and logging companies. They ignored the protected status of the

forest, ignored the rights of the indigenous peoples who live there,

and ignored national and international agreements on indigenous rights

and environmental protection.

Presidential Decree 1850, issued in May last year, gave almost half of

the entire reserve over to mining, and left less than 4% of the forest

as protected. But there were nationwide protests by indigenous groups,

environmentalists, social groups and many others at the government's

actions. At the end of last year, Venezuala's Supreme Court suspended

the implementation of Decree 1850, and ordered the Government not to

issue any more mining concessions, while it investigated claims that

the Decree was illegal.

The Supreme Court is currently investigating legal cases brought by

environmental and indigenous groups, and by the Congressional

Commission on the Environment, which claim that Decree 1850 is illegal

under Venezuelan law. While the Court deliberates, an array of

organizations across the country are asking for international support

for their campaign to protect Imataca. If loggers and miners are

allowed free rein in this supposedly protected area, it will set a

disastrous precedent for the rest of the country's protected areas.

WHAT YOU CAN DO

You can show your support for the calls to protect Imataca by writing

to the Venezuelan Congressional Committee on the Environment, at the

address below. The Committee has asked to have Decree 1850 repealed -

the more support they receive from the outside world, the more notice

the government will have to take.

Please write and tell the Committee that you support calls by

environmental and indigenous groups within Venezuela, to:

ú Revoke Presidential Decree 1850.

ú Recognise the ancestral rights of Imataca's indigenous peoples.

ú Set aside a significant part of the reserve as a totally protected

area.

ú Begin a process of genuine public consultation to decide on the

future management of Imataca.

Write to:

Senadora Lucia Antillano

Presidente

Comisi¢n de Ambiente y Ordenaci¢n del Territorio del Senado

Congreso Nacional

Caracas

Email: 104721.36@compuserve.com

Fax: +58-2-4848134

SAMPLE LETTER

Dear Senadora Antillano,

I am writing because I am concerned by what I have heard about the

threat to the Imataca forest reserve from mining, logging and other

commercial activities, following the government's introduction last

year of Presidential Decree 1850.

I am informed by environmental, social and indigenous organisations in

Venezuela, that Imataca has been a protected area for over 30 years,

and is furthermore home to five indigenous peoples, whose lives would

be negatively affected by further commercial activities. Imataca is

also a haven for valuable wildlife, genetic resources and many rare

and unique species.

The government's decision last May, when it issued Decree 1850, to

dedicate almost half of the entire reserve to mining activities, makes

little sense. It contravenes parts of your own Organic Law on

Territorial Ordinance and your own Forestry Law, as well as the

Washington Convention and the Convention on Biodiversity, both of

which Venezuela is party to. Furthermore, it was made with no

consultation with the indigenous groups who have lived in Imataca for

centuries. It leaves barely 4% of the entire reserve relatively

protected.

The Imataca reserve surely belongs to the people of Venezuela, and to

future generations, not to large multinational companies and short-

term commercial interests. I strongly support calls from Venezuelan

organisations for the repeal of Decree 1850.

Furthermore, the ancestral rights of the peoples of Imataca should be

recognised and respected, and a significant area of the reserve should

be set aside for total protection from exploitation. Lastly, the calls

within Venezuela for a transparent, public process to decide on the

future management of Imataca should be heeded.

I hope you will forgive my interest in what may seem like an internal

matter, but the fate of the world's forests, and the rights of

indigenous peoples, are issues of international concern.

Yours sincerely,

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

The Imataca Forest Reserve

Imataca is one of the four largest forest reserves in Venezuela. Its

total area is 3.6 million hectares - nearly as large as Switzerland.

It is located in the Northeast of Venezuela, on the border with

Guyana. The reserve is covered with rich, pristine tropical forests.

Its wealth of ecosystems and biodiversity is rivaled by few places on

Earth. In recognition of this, Imataca was made a Forest Reserve and a

Protected Area in the early 1960s.

Part of this territory is also home to five indigenous groups - the

Warao, Arawako, Kari¤a, Akawaio and Pemon- who have inhabited the area

for centuries, and whose survival literally depends on the surrounding

natural environment.

The Exploitation of Imataca

Imataca's protected status is intended to strike a balance between

conservation and economics. Long-term logging, harvesting and other

industries have been allowed in parts of the reserve since its

creation But the ground beneath Imataca is rich in gold, diamonds,

iron-ore, bauxite, manganese, and other minerals, and in recent years,

mining interests have tried their best to exploit them. During the

1980s and 1990s, parts of the region were invaded by thousands of

small miners, looking mainly for gold and diamonds. Their digging and

smuggling activities exacted a heavy toll on the environment. By the

end of 1996, almost 10% of Imataca was subject to mining in this way.

But Imataca's large deposits of gold and diamonds also called the

attention of international mining companies. Gold deposits beneath

Imataca are estimated at 10,000 metric tons. If production increased

from 15 to 50 tons per year, as the government proposes, Venezuela

would become one of the world's major gold-exporting nations.

But the fact that Imataca is a Forest Reserve and a Protected Area

meant that such full-scale mining could not take place. The big mining

companies' response was simple: they pressured the Venezuelan

government to change the law.

Imataca betrayed

Early in 1997, in response to this pressure, the government acted.

They hastily prepared a new 'management plan' for Imataca, without any

consultation with the public, or with the indigenous peoples who live

there. This management plan allowed a massive extension of large-scale

mining throughout the reserve. In an unprecedented decision taken by

the Cabinet on May 14, 1997, the Government put this plan into action,

and distributed much of Imataca among loggers and miners. Presidential

Decree 1850, issued a few days later, passed the new management plan

into law. Immediately, the government began issuing mining concessions

to companies to operate in previously protected areas of the Imataca

reserve. Today, 40% of the entire reserve is scheduled to be mined,

and only 5% of Imataca is set aside as 'protection zones', free from

exploitation.

An Illegal Move?

The government's shock decision to allow massive exploitation of

Imataca contravenes many of Venezuela's existing laws. For example,

'The Organic Law on Territorial Ordinance' dictates that any change in

use of the national territory must be decided upon by the Congress,

not the government. In the case of Imataca, the Congress was not even

consulted.

Article 57 of Venezuela's Forestry Law also outlaws the change of use

of the whole or part of a Forest Reserve without previous

authorization from Congress. Presidential Decree 1850 also violates

the Washington Convention of 1941 on the protection of flora, fauna

and the scenic beauties of America, and the UN Convention on

Biological Diversity, which Venezuela signed at the Earth Summit in

1992. It violates Convention 107 of the International Labour

Organisation on the rights of indigenous peoples, and it even

contravenes one of Venezuela's previous Presidential Decrees, number

2214, intended to protect forest reserves.

The Campaign to Save Imataca

Opposition to the destruction of Imataca has been growing across the

country. Indigenous groups, whose very future is threatened by the

government's actions, have protested strongly. In a recent speech at

the Central Universisty of Venezuela, the coordinator of the

Federation of Indigenous People of the State of Bolivar proclaimed:

"The forest is our home, our laboratory, our hospital, our university.

It is the source of the knowledge we need to survive. Our fight

against the Decree is a fight in defence of life."

Environmental and social groups have also been fighting to get Decree

1850 overturned. There have been public marches and demonstrations,

letter-writing campaigns and media attention on the issue. Many

opposition political parties have protested to the government, and

even the Catholic Church has urged the government to repeal the

Decree. In November last year, in response to three separate cases

brought before it by both NGOs and the Congressional Commission on the

Environment, Venezuela's Supreme Court announced an investigation into

the legality of Decree 1850. It immediately suspended the issuing of

any new mining concessions while it did so.

Campaigners in Venezuela are urging people around the world who are

concerned at the fate of Imataca to help them in their campaign, by

writing to the Congressional Commission on the Environment expressing

support for the overturning of Decree 1850. There is still time to

save Imataca, but action is needed now.

For further details, see:

http://www.ciens.ula.ve/~jcenteno/assault

or contact:

Julio Cesar Centeno, PhD

Las Tapias, Edif. Carreto

Pent House

PO Box 750

Merida - Venezuela

Tel: +58-74-714576

Fax: +58-74-714576 / 713814

JCenteno@telcel.net.ve

http://www.ciens.ula.ve/~jcenteno/

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