***********************************************
WORLDWIDE
FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS
World
Rainforest Movement Bulletin #12
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Forest
Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises
http://forests.org/
6/1/98
OVERVIEW
& COMMENTARY by EE
Attached
is the renowned World Rainforest Movement's most recent
electronic
digest of happenings in the rainforest conservation
movement. These updates have been coming out for about
a year now and
are an
excellent source of the latest news.
Please take the
opportunity
to sign up for their list server.
g.b.
*******************************
RELAYED
TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: WRM Bulletin #12
Source: World Rainforest Movement WRMfriends list server
Status: Distribute freely with credit given to
source
Date: May 29, 1998
*************************************************
WORLD
RAINFOREST MOVEMENT
MOVIMIENTO
MUNDIAL POR LOS BOSQUES
International
Secretariat Oxford Office
Instituto
del Tercer Mundo 1c Fosseway Business
Centre
Jackson
1136
Stratford Road
Montevideo Moreton-in-Marsh
Uruguay GL56 9NQ United Kingdom
Ph +598
2 409 61 92 Ph.
+44.1608.652.893
Fax
+598 2 401 92 22 Fax
+44.1608.652.878
EMail:
rcarrere@chasque.apc.org EMail:
wrm@gn.apc.org
http://www.wrm.org.uy
*************************************************
=================================
W R
M B U L L E T I N #
12
MAY
1998
=================================
*************************************************
In this
issue:
* WRM
GENERAL ACTIVITIES
* News
from the International Secretariat
-
Underlying Causes meeting in Bratislava
-
Action for the "yungas"
-
Action for Imataca Forest Reserve in Venezuela
* WRM
Campaigns
-
Plantations campaign meeting in Uruguay
*
INTERNATIONAL
-
Indigenous peoples excluded at COP IV
-
Message from Bratislava to Kyoto on tree plantations
-
Forest Policy: Letter to the World Bank
* LOCAL
STRUGGLES AND NEWS
AFRICA
-
Tanzania: mangroves menaced by aquaculture project
-
Nigeria: NGO nominated for the Sophie Prize
ASIA
-
Villagers arbitrarily arrested in Thailand
- The
truth about Rio Tinto
-
Indonesia: local people burn oil palm plantation company's
base
camp
NORTH
AMERICA
-
Canada: Victory of indigenous peoples in court
SOUTH
AMERICA
-
Ecuador: Sign-on letter to protect UNESCO reserve from
oil
exploitation.
-
Suriname: gold, coke and malaria
-
Indigenous communities against logging company in
Bolivia
-
Venezuela: National Meeting in Defence of the Gran
Sabana
and Sierra de Imataca
-
Uruguay: anti-pulpwood plantation movement on the rise
*************************************************
WRM
GENERAL ACTIVITIES
*************************************************
- News
from the International Secretariat
-
Underlying Causes meeting in Bratislava
The WRM
international coordinator went to Bratislava,
where
the Organizing and Steering Committees of the Joint
Initiative
to Address the Underlying Causes of Deforestation
and
Forest Degradation met in parallel to the meeting of the
Biodiversity
Convention's COP4. Committee members
received
full reports from the Global Secretariat (integrated
by WRM
and the Netherlands Committee for IUCN) and
from
the regional coordinators on the activies carried out
until
present. A decision was made as respects to moving the
date of
the Global Workshop in Costa Rica to 18-22 January
1999. A
presentation of the initiative was attended by an
important
number of government delegates, many of
which
expressed
their willingness to participate in the process
and/or
to support it through different means. For more
information
on this initiative, please consult the relevant area
in our
web page (http://www.wrm.org.uy).
*************************************************
-
Action for the "yungas"
On May
12th we addressed the President of ENARGAS -the
Argentinian
national authority on gas energy- to express our
concern
regarding a pipeline projected by the company
Norgas,
that is expected to produce a negative environmental
impact
on the "yungas" ecosystem in the northern region of
San
Andres in the province of Salta. The
yungas are a
mountain
ecosystem, holding high levels of endemism and
biodiversity,
and inhabited by the Kolla indigenous peoples.
They
strongly oppose the project. The WRM International
Secretariat
has asked ENARGAS not to allow the
construction
of the controversial pipeline.
*************************************************
-
Action for Imataca Forest Reserve in Venezuela
Joining
a campaign launched by Global Response, a message
was
sent on May 27th to the Presidency of the Supreme Court
of
Justice of Venezuela, requesting the revocation of
controversial
Decree 1850 that permits mining activities in
the
area of the Imataca Forest Reserve, in Venezuela. The
Decree
has been severely questioned by environmental and
academic
Venezuelan organizations (see WRM Bulletins 4, 6
and 7)
*************************************************
WRM
CAMPAIGNS
*************************************************
-
Plantations campaign meeting in Uruguay
The
World Rainforest Movement is organizing a plantations
campaign
meeting which will be held in Montevideo on 20-
22
June. The aim of the meeting is to discuss and decide a
common
strategy for the campaign and to agree on a plan of
action.
The campaign will be officially launched at the end of
the
meeting.
The
agenda includes presentations on countries such as
Brazil,
Indonesia, South Africa and Chile, which contain
some of
the more extensive plantations in the South. It will
also
include presentations on major actors, such as the
Finnish
forestry consultancy firm Jaakko Poyry, the World
Bank
and the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests.
For
more information about the meeting, please contact us.
On the
plantations issue itself, you can access more
information
in our web page (http://www.wrm.org.uy).
*************************************************
INTERNATIONAL
*************************************************
-
Indigenous peoples excluded at COP IV
Representatives
of the indigenous and local communities
present
at the meeting room of the Contact Group on Article
8j (*)
of the Convention of Biological Diversity at the IV
Conference
of the Parties, that took place recently in
Bratislava,
Slovakia, declared their total disapproval with a
decision
of the Presidency of the Group on May 12th, that
excluded
them from the negotiation round. After the
declaration
they left the room.
Senator
Lorenzo Muelas, that was representing the
indigenous
peoples of Colombia, accused the Presidency of
ignoring
indigenous communities' rights and acting in favour
of the
big biotechnology holdings, that are supported by
Northern
governments. The Presidencys decision was also
severely
criticised by most of the governments represented at
the
Group.
As a
consequence of this arbitrary decision, most of the
indigenous
delegates at COP IV decided to leave the
Conference.
They sealed their lips with plastic tape to
demonstrate
that they had been forced to remain silent.
According
to the Brazilian government, that promoted the
idea of
excluding the indigenous representatives, they were
authorized
to attend the plenary discussions but not the
negotiations
round. On the contrary Brazilian
environmentalist
organizations considered that the rules had
been
modified and that what the Brazilian Foreign Office
really
wants is to avoid transparency in the discussions.
Sources:
Diana Pombo, 13/5/98; Fabio Schivartche, 14/5/98
(*)
Article 8 (j) "Subject to its national legislation, respect,
preserve
and maintain knowledge, innovations and practices
of
indigenous and local communities embodying traditional
lifestyles
relevant for the conservation and sustainable use of
biological
diversity and promote their wider application with
the
approval and involvement of the holders of such
knowledge,
innovations and practices and encourage the
equitable
sharing of the benefits arising from the utilization
of such
knowledge, innovations and practices;"
*************************************************
-
Message from Bratislava to Kyoto on tree plantations
The
fourth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the
Convention
on Biological Diversity took place in Bratislava
from 4-15
May. Among its many decisions, we wish to
highlight
one related to forest biological diversity which
"Notes
the potential impact of afforestation, reforestation,
forest
degradation and deforestation on forest biological
diversity
and on other ecosystems, and, accordingly, requests
the
Executive Secretary to liaise and cooperate with the
Secretariat
of the United Nations Framework Convention on
Climate
Change . to achieve the objectives of the Convention
on
Biological Diversity."
What is
the coded message behind such apparently obscure
phrasing?
The Climate Change Convention process is
actively
promoting tree plantations as one of the major
mechanisms
to act as carbon sinks to counteract fossil fuel
emissions.
Article 2 of the Kyoto Protocol states that:
"1.
Each Party included in Annex I [those responsible for
major
fossil fuel emissions], in achieving its quantified
emission
limitation and reduction commitments under Article
3, in
order to promote sustainable development, shall:
(a)
Implement and/or further elaborate policies and measures
in
accordance with its national circumstances, such as:
(ii)
Protection and enhancement of sinks and reservoirs of
greenhouse
gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol,
taking
into account its commitments under relevant
international
environmental agreements; promotion of
sustainable
forest management practices, afforestation and
reforestation;"
The
terms "afforestation and reforestation" in fact mean
millions
of hectares of monoculture tree plantations of fast
growing
species, particularly eucalyptus. Under this light, the
Bratislava
meeting's message becomes clear: if
such plans
are
implemented, this will certainly affect forest biodiversity.
Forests
will be substituted by efficient "carbon sinks"
composed
of few fast growing species and there is therefore
an
antagonism between the aims of the Convention on
Biological
Diversity and the mechanism put forward by the
Climate
Change Convention. We share, welcome and support
such
concern.
*************************************************
-
Forest Policy: Letter to the World Bank
The
Forest Peoples Programme addressed on May 12th the
following
letter to Mr. Wolfensohn, President of the World
Bank,
concerning the forest policy of the Bank:
"Dear
Mr . Wolfensohn,
We have
been following with interest the correspondence
between
the World Bank and NGOs about the evolution of
the
World Bank's forest policy and the setting up of the 'ad
hoc
working group', titled the 'Forest Industry and
Conservation
CEOs Forum'. We share many of the concerns
already
expressed by NGOs about the nature of this group
and its
connection to the forest policy implementation review
but
will not recapitulate these points here. We understand that
the
meetings are to continue and that a second meeting is
scheduled
for June 9th; we hope this will be more inclusive
and in
particular that serious efforts are made to include
southern
NGOs and forest peoples' representative
organisations
in the process.
Having
now had a chance to examine the minutes of the
January
9th meeting, we are writing to express serious
concern
about the content of the January discussions and of
the
proposed follow up themes to be covered by the six
'working
groups' established at the first meeting. We note that
at no
point in the minutes of the first meeting is there any
mention
of the social dimensions of forests, forestry or of the
Bank's
forest policy nor any reference to the World Bank's
principal
mandate of poverty alleviation.
It
should not need restating that the world's forests are all
inhabited
and provide homes and livelihoods to tens of
millions
of indigenous peoples and provide goods and
services
crucial to the welfare of billions of other human
beings.
The World Bank, as an international development
agency
set up to combat poverty and secure the futures of
poor
and marginalised peoples, should ensure that their
interests
and rights are central to all forest policy discussions.
By
contrast, the minutes of the January meeting suggest that
forests
are only valued by the group as reserves of timber, for
biodiversity
conservation, watershed protection and
recreation.
The importance of forests for local communities
appears
to have been wholly omitted from discussion and
from
the topics to be covered by the working groups. This
gives
the unhappy impression that the group is intentionally
set on
marginalising the interests of the poor and the
powerless
in favour of large businesses and corporations,
which
is quite at odds with the World Bank's expressed
mandate.
We are
sure that you will agree that this is a serious oversight.
We urge
that special measures are taken to ensure that, at the
next
meeting, priority is given to a discussion of the social
values
of forests and to alternative models of forest
management,
which respect the rights of local communities
and
which involve them centrally in forest ownership, control
and
management.
We look
forward to learning how you plan to address this
matter.
Yours
sincerely
Dr.
Marcus Colchester
Director
"
*************************************************
LOCAL
STRUGGLES AND NEWS
*************************************************
AFRICA
-
Tanzania: mangroves menaced by aquaculture project
The
Rufiji Delta in South Eastern Tanzania is one of the
largest
blocks of mangrove forests in East and Southern
Africa.
It covers an area of about 53,255 hectares of
unspoiled
mangrove forest, that support a large number of
people,
and is rich in aquatic as well as terrestrial
biodiversity.
The delta is linked to the interior of the river
system
by an extensive flood plain covering about 130 km
long
and up to 20 km wide. It is also linked to a system of
ocean
currents and coral reefs surrounding Mafia island in the
East
and it influences fisheries production in the island
through
the northerly flow of marine currents.
Mangrove
forests of the Rufiji Delta also stabilise the
coastline
by preventing coastal erosion, build land through
accumulation
of silt and the production of detritus, preserve
the
purity of water by absorbing pollutants from upstream
sources
and serve as windbreaks for the hinterland.
The
Rufiji communities that rely on fish, mangrove poles and
rice
farming have made an ancestral sustainable use of this
area. A
proposed industrial prawn project by the African
Fishing
Company purported to use semi-intensive production
methods
would privatise one third of the Rufiji Delta. From
experiences
in other parts of the world, on average, semi-
intensive
prawn farms fail after about ten years.
This
eventually
will therefore threaten the lives of thousands of
local
farmers and fishermen living in the delta; with severe
environmental
implications to the ecology and irreparable
damage.
A
proposal to establish the same by Coastal Aquaculture at
the
Tana delta in Kenya -an area with ecological features
similar
to those of Rufiji Delta- is still unresolved since mid
1992.
The company purchased 10,000 hectares of land for
this
purpose. Later the land allocation was nullified by the
Kenyan
government through a presidential directive declaring
the
Tana Delta a wetland of international importance.
However
the Coastal Aquaculture company challenged this
decision
in court after which the high court ruled in their
favour
in 1996, meaning that the company may proceed to
develop
the 10,000 hectares for prawn farming.
In
spite of their sustainable use of natural resources and
adequate
management of the environment, local communities
are
usually left out when resource management plans are
being
made. That is why more than 2000 Rufiji delta
residents
filed a chamber application with the Tanzanian
High
Court seeking for permission to sue the government for
endorsing
the prawn farm project which will affect their
economic
well being. They argue that this aquaculture project
will
deny them access; through plans that are underway to
fence
off the prawn project area; to the natural resources
including
prawns, fish and other marine resources with which
they
have coexisted from time immemorial. They further state
that
the decision to allow the project to go ahead was taken
without
taking into account the environmental hazards the
project
will cause to the area. Furthermore the decision to
undertake
this "development" project was taken without their
consent
and involvement.
Local
NGOs JET and LEAT, have been and still are the
mainstay
NGOs in Tanzania openly opposing this project.
There
was recently a meeting between EAWLS, JET, and
other
NGOs in Tanzania regarding the Rufiji Delta. Plans are
being
made to hold a 2nd East African Regional Workshop
which
will highlight present concerns regarding both Rufiji
Delta
in Tanzania and Tana Delta in Kenya.
Source:
Patricia Nzioka, East African Wild Life Society
(EAWLS);
Environment Tanzania (JET), 23/5/1998.
*************************************************
-
Nigeria: NGO nominated for the Sophie Prize
The
Sophie Foundation, an organization based in Norway,
has
nominated the Nigerian NGO Environmental Rights
Action,
for the Sophie Prize 1998. The main purpose of the
Sophie
Foundation, is to award an annual international
environment
and development prize of US $ 100,000. This is
an
initiative of the Norwegian author and philosopher Mr.
Jostein
Gaarder -worldwide known by his book
"Sophie's
world",
one of the world's best-selling novels- who donated a
large
sum of his private fortune, earned by selling his books,
to this
goal.
The
nomination is a recognition to ERA's restless struggle for
the
Ogoni people and the environment, oppresed by the
Nigerian
dictatorship. "This nomination indicates to us that
we are
right to fight for our rights!" stated Nnimmo Basey,
Director
of ERA, who has repeatedly suffered threats and
arbitrary
arrests for his activities (see WRM Bulletin nr. 6).
Source:
ERA, 30/4/1998
ASIA
-
Villagers arbitrarily arrested in Thailand
For the
past five years, the small community of the village of
Pang
Daeng, in the mountainous northern province of Chiang
Mai,
Thailand, has been visited by lots of tourists seeking an
exotic
experience among exotic people. But now the hilltribes
people
in this picturesque hamlet want to keep as low a
profile
as possible. Why?
On the
evening of March 26, Pang Daeng residents, which
were
going about their usual routine, were surprised to see an
army of
forestry officers and police burst into their village
and
begin to arrest people. The villagers showed no resistance
thinking
they had nothing to fear as they hadn't committed
any
crime. Besides, they were told by the officers that they
just
wanted to take them for a short briefing in town. Some
reported
overhearing talk of a donation of blankets.
Once
inside the local police station the 56 villagers that were
taken
from their homes, ranging in age from 13 to 66,
realized
that they were all charged with encroachment on a
national
forest reserve and forest arson. They did get the
blankets,
but in prison!
Local
villagers deny any responsiblity on this regard. Naloh
Poosu,
whose husband is one of the arrested people, says:
"Some
rich men offered to hire us to cut down trees before,
but we
turned them down. Why don't they catch the big
guys?"
Academics have also denounced this new case of
imprisonment
of members of the ethnic minority in Thailand.
"The
Royal Forestry Department may also want to show the
public
that it is concerned for the environment," says Sombat
Khamboonyueng,
a researcher at Chiangmai University's
Ethnic
Studies Network. And he adds: "But they must find
some
justification for why their reafforestation project in the
area
for the past 20 years is still lagging behind the target". Dr
Chalardchai
Ramittanond, an anthropologist at Chiang Mai
University
states that this incident "is simply a ploy for the
government
to support the idea that villagers are to be
blamed,
that they should not be allowed to live in the forest."
This
piece of news, reported by a Thai newspaper, shows us
another
case of arbitrary detention of innocent and peaceful
people,
blamed for illegally occupying and damaging the
forests.
Meanwhile Thai authorities ignore the logging and
plantation
activities that are in reality responsible for the
deforestation
that affects the country.
Source:
Vasana Chinvarakorn, Bangkok Post 19/5/1998.
Comments:
WRM Secretariat.
*************************************************
- The
truth about Rio Tinto
At a
meeting held last February in Johannesburg, South
Africa, a group of trade unionists from 14 countries
announced
the launch of an international campaign against
the
international mining company Rio Tinto. During the
meeting
Bob Hawke, former Australian Prime Minister,
accused
the company of "monumental hypocrisy".
Meanwhile,
51 Members of the House of Commons, in
London,
supported a motion that "condems the activities of
Rio
Tinto Corporation . . . probably the most uncaring and
ruthless
company in the world judged by its appalling record
of
human rights violations, community destruction,
environmental
damage and disregard for the lives of
indigenous
peoples."
A
report titled "Undermined", prepared by OXFAM-
Australia,
documents the loss of land and income, forced
evictions
by the military, arbitrary arrests, pollution and
social
upheaval suffered by the Indonesian communities
affected
by PT KEM, in East Kalimantan, and PT Freeport in
West
Papua. Both companies are owned -90% and 11,8%
respectively-
by Rio Tinto (see WRM Bulletins 5 and 8).
As
informed in WRM Bulletin nr. 10, a group of Dayaks
recently
toured Australia seeking support for their struggle for
land
rights and compensation for the social and
environmental
damage caused by Australian-based mining
companies,
among which Rio Tinto.
Source:
Down to Earth 37, May 1998
*************************************************
-
Indonesia: local people burn oil palm plantation company's
base
camp
A land
dispute between local farmers from Kuala Batee and
the oil
palm plantation company PT Cemerlang Abdi has
erupted
into violent conflict. After several months of attempts
to
negotiate over land rights, hundreds of angry villagers went
to PT
Cemerlang Abdi's base camp and told the staff to leave.
They
took away vehicles, heavy machinery and a generator
before
burning the base camp to the ground. A security police
post
was also burnt down.. No-one was killed, but six people
were
shot and injured (two seriously) and 49 were held in
custody
after security forces moved in.
The
villagers claim that the company has violated their land
rights.
The Government of South Aceh, where the conflict is
taking
place, is seemingly moving to find a solution to the
controversy.
According to the local administrator, the
government
has settled a fair compensation to the farmers,
which
would also be given 1,000 hectares of land to make up
for
that taken from them by the company.
Source:
Down to Earth, 37, May 1998.
NORTH
AMERICA
-
Canada: Victory of indigenous peoples in court
Daishowa
Inc. is a Canadian corporation with
business
premises in the provinces of Quebec,
Ontario
and Manitoba, that operates in the paper,
packaging
and sawmilling sectors. Daishowa is a
subsidiary
of Daishowa Paper Manufacturing Co.
Ltd., a
Japanese corporation. Daishowa Canada
Company
Ltd, another subsidiary of the Japanese
holding,
negotiated a Forest Management Agreement
("FMA")
with the Government of Alberta in 1988
and.
built a large pulp mill in Peace River, that would
be
supplied with wood harvested from an area
ancestrally
occupied by the Lubicon Cree First Nation
in
northern Alberta. In 1992, Daishowa Canada
Company
Ltd. transferred its interest in the pulp mill
and
related logging rights to the Japanese owned
Daishowa-Marubeni
International Ltd.
The
Lubicon Cree took steps to protect their interests.
After
two years of useless negotiations with the
company
, the indigenous peoples contacted the
Toronto
based NGO "Friends of the Lubicon". In
1991
they started a consumer boycott against
paper
bags
sold by Daishowa, stating that the company's
logging
rights threatened the Lubicon's way of life.
This
measure was addressed to put pressure to the
company
and make it cease logging activities in the
contested
area.
As a
response, in 1997 the company sued Friends of
the
Lubicon for damages caused by the boycott
action.
In April 1998 the Ontario Court decided that
the
consumer boycott lauched by Friends of the
Lubicon
was not merely legal, but "a model of how
such
activities should be conducted in a democratic
society".
Dismissing the claims of the forestry
multinational
for a permanent injunction, the Ontario
Court
also observed that the protection of the
Canadian
Charter of Rights and Freedoms must be
extended
to protect political expression on issues of
public
importance. "The plight of the Lubicon is
precisely
the type of issue that should generate
widespread
public discussion", said Mr MacPherson,
member
of the Court.
In
Japan, a newly formed Lubicon support group met
with
Daishowa and Marubeni executives in their head
office
in Tokyo immediately after theOntario Court
decision
and handed over a petition demanding
them
not to
appeal to the Higher Court. Canadian activists
have
shown a cautious optimism and are considering
an end
to the boycott. The company promised to stay
out of
the area claimed by the Lubicon Cree First
Nation.
Source:
Yoichi Kuroda, May 1998.
- SOUTH
AMERICA
-
Ecuador: Sign-on letter to protect UNESCO reserve from
oil
exploitation.
The
following includes a description of the situation facing
Yasuni
National Park, a sign-on letter and an appeal to
remain
in contact with the campaign. If you or your
organisation
can sign on to the letter please respond to
amazonia@hoy.net.
A copy of the letter will be delivered to
the
President of Ecuador, the President of Petroecuador, the
President
of UNESCO and to interested oil companies. If you
would
like to send your own version please send a copy to us
at the
same e-mail address or at the following Fax Number
593-2-527-583
Sincerely,
Gloria
Chicaiza, Area de Petroleo, Accion Ecologica
Ecuador's
Yasuni National Park once again under threat from
oil
exploration
Despite
the world's growing preoccupation about the burning
of
fossil fuels and resulting climate change, the Ecuadorian
government
is pressing ahead with plans to develop a field of
heavy
crude in a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in the
country's Amazon region. Ecuador is not alone in its
rush to
pump
more oil. Most Latin American countries are planning
to
increase production when conditions are favourable. But
increasing
Ecuadorian production involves more than
production
of CO2.
The
major new project is the Ishpingo Tambococha Tiputini
field
located within Yasuni National Park, a UNESCO
biosphere
reserve. The 900,000 hectare park, located in the
far
Northwest of the country close to the border with Peru and
Colombia,
is renowned worldwide for its high levels of
biodiversity.
Over 200 species of trees have been identified
inside
Yasuni and a recent scientific expedition has identified
over
825 species of woody plants in only a two hectare area.
The
park also contains over 500 species of fish, over 500
species
of birds and more than 100 species of mammals.
While
the park is legally protected from exploitation of any
kind,
two companies, Perez Compac of Argentina and Elf of
France
are already drilling for, and/or producing oil, and
causing
impacts within its boundaries. The Argentinean
company
YPF is also producing in an area which was
originally
within the park before its boundaries were changed
in
order to facilitate oil production. Meanwhile, the new
project
is expected to bring in another large oil company
(possibly
Shell) together with Petroecuador.
Pressure
to develop the field is high. Ecuador's overwhelming
external
debt (45% of the state budget goes to debt interest
payments)
plus pressure from international organisations such
the
Multilateral Development Banks and the International
Monetary
Fund, means that politicians are not receptive to
calls
to protect the environment at the expense of the
economy. In fact, the ITT project, which will also be
linked
to a
smaller field in the neighbouring Cuyabeno animal
reserve,
is being hailed as a way to save Petroecuador. The
state
oil company is virtually bankrupt due to use of its
internal
resources for other government priorities.
Drilling
in the middle of the park will undoubtedly cause
extensive
damage in all phases of exploration and production.
Apart
from the almost inevitable spills and other types of
accidents,
even the most "ecologically sound" production
methods
still produces a barrel of liquid toxic waste for every
barrel
of oil produced. Other impacts include the
deforestation
associated with construction of pipelines,
heliports
and drilling platforms, not to mention roads and the
inevitable
colonisation that they bring.
But damage
to the flora and fauna is not the only issue in
Yasuni. The park is also home to the Huaorani, an
ethnic
minority
which has already fallen victim to the impacts of
intrusion
into their lands, their population having fallen from
over
25,000 when contact was first made, to around 3,000
today.
If the field, which already has
undergone
approximately
1,750 kms of seismic exploration, is
developed,
the Huaorani will suffer further intrusions and
damage
to their already threatened culture.
SIGN ON
LETTER:
Dr.
Fabian Alarcon
President
Republic
of Ecuador
Dear
Mr. President,
The
undersigned organisations would like to make known
their
opposition to the development of the Ishpingo
Tambococha
Tiputini field and to the operation of other new
or
existing oil wells in Yasuni National Park.
Yasuni
contains biological treasures which the world can ill
afford
to lose, and we must not allow this jewel of the natural
world
to be affected by oil activity. The parks' boundaries
have
already been changed in order to allow oil extraction,
and
roads have been built through the northern wing of the
newly
defined park, bringing colonisation and damage to the
inhabitants
and biodiversity of the area. Any further assaults
on the
integrity of the park will simply compound the already
serious
damage done.
It is
not sufficient to state that that any new oil activity will be
of the
"environmentally sound" type,
or carried out with state
of the
art technology. Any form of oil activity produces
impacts,
both in the exploration and extraction stages. Apart
from
the almost inevitable spills and production of toxic
wastes,
the construction of pipelines, the construction of the
drilling
platforms, and the construction of helicopter landing
sites
will all have a dramatic impact on the physical integrity
of the
park and its diversity.
It is
interesting to note that despite a discourse to the contrary,
damage
has in fact already occurred in the drilling of
Petroecuadors
exploratory wells in the area.
In
recognition of its value to humanity, and in order to protect
it from
exploitation, Yasuni has in fact been designated as
both a
biosphere reserve by UNESCO, and as a National Park
by the
Ecuadorian authorities. In the latter case the area is
legally
protected under the 1981 Law of Forests and the
Conservation
of Natural Areas and Wildlife, which
states in
its
definition of a national park that,
"
the areas will be maintained in their natural condition in
order
to preserve their ecological, aesthetic and cultural
features,
prohibiting any form of exploitation or occupation"
[translation].
The
political constitution of the Republic of Ecuador
guarantees
state responsibility for maintaining the
environment
free of contamination and for preserving the
natural
environment.
However,
the protection of the natural environment in Yasuni
is not
the only concern. The park is home to ethnic cultures
such as
the Huaorani. The survival of these peoples and their
culture
has already been seriously compromised by existing
oil
activity in and around the park and must therefore not be
subjected
to any further oil exploration even on the most
"ecologically
sound" basis.
The
park and its inhabitants must not be affected by short
term
economic demands which will compromise both the
integrity
of this area and threaten the lives of
hundreds of
Indigenous
Ecuadorians.
We
therefore demand that you, and the Ecuadorian Congress:
Respect
the designation of Yasuni National Park as a
UNESCO Biosphere Reserve and as a National Park
Respect
the protection provided to the park by Ecuadorian
Law.
Reject
any pressure to exploit this area.
Stop
all other oil activity in this park.
Sincerely,
the undersigned
*************************************************
-
Suriname: gold, coke and malaria
by Iwan
Brave
The
Venetiaan administration sold the rainforest bit by bit.
But the
current Bouterse minded NDP government is having
a
sell-off. Over half the territory of Suriname is already in
concession.
A few people are getting very rich from this. The
inhabitants
of the interior are being ignored. Time to get
together.
Like in a village by the name of Pikin Slee.
PIKIN
SLEE. Both English and Saramaccan is heard in the
open
meeting hall of the Maroon village Pikin Slee on the
upper
Suriname river. There is a blackboard on the platform,
showing
a wavy line with little circles on both sides. They
represent
the river and small villages in the river valley.
Symbols
designate hunting areas and cultivated fields. Just
like a
school lesson in geography. But the attentive
representatives
of the villages know better.
It's a
workshop "know your land rights" by Fergus Mackay,
human
rights lawyer from London, working for the Forest
Peoples
Programme. The workshop is a warming up for the
Krutu
(tribal council) that will be held the next day. The
existance
of the villages is threatened by new timber and gold
concessions,
that are violating the rights of the population of
the
interior.
The
rainforest is of vital importance for the Surinamese
descendents
of escaped slaves. Not just culturally or
religiously,
but every village needs an area with a radius of 30
km for
hunting, fishing, medicinal plants and construction
materials,
as well as for agricultural fields. People wash
themselves
in the rivers. Drinking water comes from
attributary
creeks. And then there are places in the forest
where
the dead are buried and where holy rites are performed.
Five
thousand inhabitants counts Pikin Slee, beautifully
situated
in a wide bend of the murmuring Upper Suriname
river,
the second largest village of the Saramaccaner
Maroons.
It can only be reached by canoe. A stranger will
easily
loose his way between all these similar huts, with roofs
made of
palm leaves. The other side of the river now has an
inviting
sandy beach, due to the low waterlevel. Where the
shore
is meters high, there is a stone staircase to the 'wash
place'
where the women -often half naked- wash their clothes
or
cooking gear, or catch fish. Children play there, completely
naked.
Peanuts
and vegetables are planted inside the village, but the
real
agricultural fields (kostgrond) are miles away. Pikin Slee
is a
pagan village. There is no church, the people practice
obia
and winti rituals. At the entrance of the village is an azan
pau, a
sort of gate made of dry, young leaves of the palm tree.
Who
comes from the outside, must pass underneath it, 'to
brush
off evil'. Goats are not welcome, they could bring bad
luck.
During its history Pikin Slee has been moved several
times,
because a kunu (curse) became attached to the village,
as a
result of manslaughter. The seketi is popular here, a
ceremony
of women who sing about their disappointment or
their
joy, while others stand around, clap hands rhythmicly
and
dance with small paces. Short: Pikin Slee is full of
authentic
culture and religion.
All
this might be lost, if the issuing of further logging and
mining
concessions is not put to a stop. A handful of top-
politicians
and their friends are getting enormously rich from
this.
Bouterse and some other military chiefs like Boerenveen
and
Linscheer collected concessions for themselves and
others.
Harvey Naarendorp, minister of Foreign Affairs
during
the military government in the 80's and today
ambassador
in Trinidad, owns, together with his cousin Henk,