ACTION ALERT

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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

Action Needed to Protect Nicaragua's Imperiled Forests

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Forest Networking a Project of forests.org

http://forests.org/ -- Forest Conservation Archives

http://forests.org/web/ -- Discuss Forest Conservation

9/12/99

OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by EE

Between 1950 and 1990 Nicaragua's "forest cover was reduced by half,

and today deforestation is spiraling out of control." Despite this,

the largest intact rainforests in Central America still have a chance

if the bloody world gets its priorities together, and provides the

means to conserve them for local, regional and global benefits.

Respond to this action alert and it may make a difference. The piece

also provides a good backgrounder and update on the forest

conservation situation in Nicaragua.

g.b.

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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

Title: Action Needed to Help Protect Nicaragua's Imperiled Forests

Source: Nicaragua Network

For more information, contact at nicanet@igc.org

or (202) 544-5355

Status: Distribute freely with credit given to source

Date: September 10, 1999

A Special Alert from the Environmental Task Force of the Nicaragua

Network

President Arnoldo Aleman's recent decision to cancel the moratorium

on the cutting and exporting of mahogany and other threatened

tropical hardwood species has been cause for great alarm among

Nicaraguan environmentalists. Your letters are urgently needed to

encourage the protection of Nicaragua's threatened forests.

Background

The fate of Nicaragua's people and its forests are inextricably

intertwined. Although deforestation is not often prioritized as an

urgent social issue, its results include climatic changes, droughts,

drinking water shortages, crop losses and malnutrition, soil erosion,

flooding, sedimentation that destroys marine resources, fuelwood

shortages, and ultimately, increased poverty and potential for

military conflicts. These connections were made painfully clear

during Hurricane Mitch, when landslides on the deforested slopes of

Nicaragua and Honduras led to great losses of crops, fertile soils,

and human life.

Despite rampant deforestation in recent decades, Nicaragua still

retains the largest extent of rainforest in any of the Central

American nations. This rainforest supports an incredible amount of

biological diversity, and includes some of Central America's best

remaining habitat for tapir, jaguar and four other cat species, three

types of monkeys, peccaries, agoutis, pacas, anteaters, sloths, and a

great variety of birds. Nicaragua's rainforest also contains the most

coveted of Central America's endangered precious hardwoods, including

mahogany and royal cedar.

Yet Nicaragua's forest cover is being diminished at an alarming rate.

Between 1950 and 1990 the nation's forest cover was reduced by half,

and today deforestation is spiraling out of control. Even Nicaragua's

largest natural areas, the BOSAWAS Biosphere Reserve and the Indio-

Maiz Biological Reserve, are threatened by illegal logging. The claim

is frequently cited that if current rates of deforestation are

allowed to continue, Nicaragua's remaining broadleaf forests will be

all but gone within ten to twenty years. Ten to twenty years.

Responding to Nicaragua's rapid deforestation, in 1997 President

Aleman instituted a ban on the export of the nation's most lucrative

timber species, the precious hardwoods mahogany, royal cedar, and

pochote. In 1998 this ban was extended to include not just the

export, but also the overall cutting of the precious hardwoods for a

period of at least five years. At the time, critics questioned the

logic of the ban, considering that it was being initiated at the same

time that cuts in government spending on environmental enforcement

would render the ban difficult to enforce.

As predicted, the logging moratorium has been poorly enforced and

highly ineffective. In fact, illegal logging has only become more

widespread since the ban was instituted. This August, in response to

widespread criticism for the government's inability to control

deforestation, President Aleman unilaterally cancelled the ban on

cutting and exporting the endangered tree species, and is instead

attempting to impose a 7.5% tax on the trade in precious woods. Many

observers claim that the problem was not with the ban itself, but

with its lack of enforcement, and that the ban's cancellation will

only accelerate the destruction of Nicaragua's remaining forests.

Rather than curtailing deforestation, the new tax is likely to be

passed along to landowners by timber exporters, or to result in

expanded logging operations in order to make up for profits lost to

the tax. In addition, the new tax on precious woods is being

challenged as unconstitutional, on the basis that the President

failed to obtain approval from the National Assembly.

The Prize: Mahogany

Mahogany is one of the tallest trees in the Nicaraguan rainforest,

its umbrella-shaped crown reaching to over 200 feet high and emerging

above the surrounding canopy. Use of mahogany dates back to pre-

Columbian times, when indigenous peoples of the Americas used the

durable and beautiful wood for dugout canoes. European ship builders

and cabinet makers quickly discovered the virtues of trees in the

mahogany family, and up to the present day the most important of

Nicaragua's timber exports are mahogany (caoba) and royal cedar

(cedro royal). Throughout its natural range, from Mexico to Brazil

and Bolivia, mahogany has been highly exploited, and today the

species is threatened not only by outright elimination, but also by

genetic degradation, after centuries of having the largest most

robust individuals harvested. In addition, as with many tropical

trees, mahogany occurs at a very low density in the rainforest, with

mature trees rarely averaging more than one per hectare (one hectare

is 100 meters by 100 meters, or about 2.5 acres). Mahogany also has a

low rate of natural regeneration, requiring from 60-100 years to

reach commercial maturity, and has been highly susceptible to pests

when cultivated in plantations.

But this goes beyond mahogany.

Since mahogany and related precious woods are the main impetus behind

most tropical logging operations, the controversy about the

moratorium and its cancellation extends in significance far beyond

the potential extinction of a few more tropical rainforest species.

Nearly all mahogany is harvested from intact old-growth forests, and

even though logging companies espouse the rhetoric that their logging

is highly selective and leaves the rest of the forest unharmed, this

is not the case. Not only does the removal of a forest's mature

mahogany trees eliminate the seed sources necessary for the species'

regeneration, but logging operations leave behind the seed of

destruction for the remaining forest - roads. Much of the

colonization of rainforest by agriculturalists and ranchers is

facilitated by the transportation arteries carved out by mechanized

logging operations. Thus the exploitation of one species can lead to

the extinction of untold numbers of other species. Logging companies

also often build sawmills that encourage cutting of other species

after the precious woods are gone, and initiate an unsustainable

cycle of short-term economic orientation that ultimately leaves a

region impoverished. Nicaragua's Atlantic Coast has a long history of

this type of boom-and-bust economic activity. The bulk of the Coast's

rich resources have been exported, with little lasting benefit to the

region's communities.

Since most of Nicaragua's remaining natural forest lies within

indigenous territories of the Miskito, Mayangna, and Rama, the

mahogany ban is also an indigenous rights issue. Although the

region's indigenous communities have historically practiced communal

rather than private land ownership, most communities have never been

granted official titles to their lands. In the absence of these

titles, the central government has often treated the communal lands

as "national land" and granted resource extraction concessions to

foreign companies. (An example of this was the huge logging

concession granted to the Korean company SOLCARSA that was opposed by

the Nicaragua Network's Environmental Task Force and other

organizations and eventually terminated in 1998.) In the wake of the

controversy surrounding the SOLCARSA concession and others, the

government has been reluctant to grant concessions, and logging has

been proceeding along other lines. Yet the lack of land demarcation

and titling remains the issue of foremost concern for Nicaragua's

indigenous communities and until resolved will be potentially

explosive.

The ban in practice: A "lumber Mafia"

As was predicted, the logging moratorium was hampered by a lack of

enforcement and served only to increase large-scale corruption and

the development of a "lumber Mafia" that is currently operating

within Nicaragua.

In addition to the shortage of MARENA (Nicaragua's environmental

ministry) officials available to enforce the logging moratorium, the

fine established for extraction of the precious hardwoods was so low

that illegal logging remained quite lucrative. While the fine for

cutting the hardwoods was set at $40 per cubic meter of wood, the

woods can sell for more than $400 per cubic meter on the

international market. As a result, the absurd situation was created

in which not only did the illegal trade remain profitable, but some

loggers even paid the $40 per cubic meter fines to MARENA officials

up-front, before the cutting commenced. As the salaries of MARENA

staff are so low, these quasi-legal activities provided them with a

clear financial incentive.

In light of the allegation that during the ban's short life

government officials actually gave permission to several companies to

export the precious woods, the moratorium's failure was especially

predictable. According to the Nicaraguan NGO Centro Humboldt, 96

businesses have been "legally" exploiting the precious woods,

including 35 companies involved in exports. The largest of these

companies is said to be the Dominican company, MADENSA, which has

reportedly been "logging indiscriminately" on indigenous lands along

the Rio Prinzapolka and elsewhere, and exporting millions of dollars

of mahogany annually.

Another mode under which the lumber Mafia is reported to operate is

by simple intimidation and theft of lumber, especially from the

communal lands of indigenous people. As described in a 1999 newspaper

account, loggers will often trespass on the lands of others with "a

chainsaw in one hand and an AK-47 rifle in the other". The widespread

poverty and lack of enforcement has created an atmosphere of

lawlessness, in which those with the most guns prevail.

Unfortunately, illegal logging is becoming more prevalent on

Nicaragua's Atlantic Coast. Given the complications that have made it

more difficult for logging companies to receive legal forestry

concessions, such as unresolved indigenous land claims and opposition

by environmental organizations, many logging operations are simply

evading the law. The result of these trends is that logging activity

in the Atlantic Coast region is widespread, largely unrecorded, and

simply out of control. The situation in Nicaragua's forests could

easily escalate to the level of Brazil's forests, where members of

several indigenous groups such as the Ticuna Indians have been killed

for confronting lumber pirates.

What can be done?

The threats to Nicaragua's forests are complex, abundant, and as

previously described, urgent. To truly address these problems will

require concerted effort on a variety of levels, including promotion

of economic alternatives to deforestation (both in Nicaragua and in

the U.S.), reform of the global economic order (combating initiatives

such as the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas and the WTO's

proposed "global free logging agreement"), and extensive

reforestation. In the immediate sense, letters are needed in response

to the current crises facing Nicaragua's forests and the cancellation

of the ban on logging mahogany and other precious woods.

Letters should address the following points:

1. The need to settle indigenous land demarcation and promote

sustainable resource management. Both the World Bank and Nicaragua's

central government need to be pressured by the international

solidarity and environmental movements into enacting a land

demarcation and titling process that reflects the interests of

Nicaragua's indigenous peoples and forests. Beyond land demarcation

and titling, Nicaragua's indigenous peoples will need long-term

technical and economic assistance in sustainable resource management.

Decades of imperialism, war, isolation, and natural disasters have

left indigenous communities among the poorest in all of Nicaragua.

Even if land titles are secured, unless indigenous communities are

provided with technical assistance, access to markets, and financial

incentives to protect forests, there is a great risk that the

familiar pattern of unsustainable plunder of natural resources for

short-term survival will prevail.

2. The need to reinstate the logging ban, but with effective

enforcement this time. The Nicaraguan government and lending and

development agencies need to financially support a commitment to

enforcing the logging ban. As long as "austerity measures" aimed at

shrinking the public sector result in weakened environmental

monitoring and enforcement, the destruction of Nicaragua's forests

will continue unchecked. The logging ban should stay in place until

indigenous land demarcation has been resolved, so that indigenous

communities can truly control the use of resources on their

traditional lands. Certain types of international aid should be

contingent on the Nicaraguan government's demonstrated commitment to

resolve land demarcation issues and enforce forestry regulations.

3. The need to create a workable forest policy, with input from

civil society. A sustainable forestry policy is needed that is based

on input from NGOs, community and indigenous organizations, and all

other parties that have a role in the forest industry. Any policy

that ignores these players is unlikely to succeed. The only

sustainable forest policy for Nicaragua will be one that prioritizes

local control over control by large corporations, especially those

that are foreign-owned.

Copy this letter or write a letter in your own words and send it to

President Aleman either by airmail or by fax. Put $1.00 postage on

your letter if it weighs one ounce.

President Arnoldo Aleman

Casa Presidencial

Avenida Bolivar

Managua, Nicaragua

Fax: 011 (505) 228-7911

Dear President Aleman,

I am deeply concerned about your recent decision to cancel the

moratorium on the logging and export of mahogany and other precious

woods. Although I know that the logging ban was ineffective, I fear

that the ban's cancellation at this point will only accelerate the

destruction of Nicaragua's forests. In the absence of any sustainable

forestry policy or effective enforcement of existing laws,

cancellation of the ban will likely have negative effects such as

depleting Nicaragua's rich biological diversity, violating indigenous

rights to control of natural resources, and exacerbating the existing

problems of land degradation and rural poverty.

Apparently the recent increase in Nicaragua's uncontrolled illegal

logging has been due not to the moratorium itself, but to blatant

corruption and the lack of effective enforcement. In light of the

recent reports in the Nicaraguan press that the central government

has been granting permission to several logging companies to cut and

export the very hardwoods that have been banned, it is no surprise

that the moratorium has not been working. The lack of resources

devoted to training and employing a sufficient number of forest

guards, and to earnestly enforcing a strict code of ethics amongst

these guards is also certainly a factor in the ban's failure up to

now.

As a concerned citizen of planet Earth, I encourage you to reinstate

the ban on the logging and export of mahogany and other precious

woods, but to truly enforce the law. The ban should be kept in place

and strictly enforced at least until the matters of indigenous land

demarcation are satisfactorily settled. The Autonomy Law and

Nicaraguan constitution recognize the rights of the nation's

indigenous communities to communal land ownership and natural

resource use. The central government's procrastination on the

issuance of communal land titles, while simultaneously permitting

illegal logging on traditional indigenous lands is a violation of

both the nation's environmental regulations and basic human rights.

I encourage you further to accept the offers of civil society to work

together with the Nicaraguan government to design and implement a

truly sustainable forest policy. Any sound long-term policy would be

oriented toward maximizing the value placed on living forests in

Nicaragua. This might include carbon-offset programs and programs

that provide incentives for small enterprises such as furniture

making that add value to forest products before they are shipped

abroad. These approaches stand in sharp contrast with the current

irrational policy that allows foreign owned companies such as MADENSA

to indiscriminately exploit and export the nation's biological

riches.

As a citizen of the United States, I am also imploring my own

government and international lending agencies to provide assistance

to Nicaragua that will allow for better enforcement of environmental

standards at all levels of government. Furthermore, I am requesting

that the lending institutions and development agencies limit funding

for Nicaragua until your central government demonstrates a sincere

commitment to protecting the nation's forests and indigenous rights.

It is my hope that the people of Nicaragua and other nations can work

together in order to both improve the living standards of the

Nicaraguan people and to protect the nation's remaining forests.

Sincerely,

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