***********************************************
WORLDWIDE
FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS
World
Rainforest Movement Bulletin #30
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Forest Networking a Project of Forests.org
http://forests.org/ -- Forest
Conservation Archives
http://forests.org/web/ -- Discuss Forest
Conservation
1/29/00
OVERVIEW
& COMMENTARY
Following
is the latest World Rainforest Movement bulletin; chock
full of
news, information and action items. WRM
does an excellent
job of
compiling this bulletin.
g.b.
*******************************
RELAYED
TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: WRM Bulletin #30
Source: WORLD RAINFOREST MOVEMENT
MOVIMIENTO MUNDIAL POR LOS BOSQUES
International Secretariat
Maldonado 1858, CP 11200
Montevideo
Uruguay
Ph +598 2 403 2989Uruguay
Fax +598 2 408 0762
EMail: wrm@chasque.apc.org
Web page: http://www.wrm.org.uy
Oxford Office
1c Fosseway Business Centre
Stratford Road
Moreton-in-Marsh
GL56 9NQ United Kingdom
Ph. +44.1608.652.893
Fax +44.1608.652.878
EMail: wrm@gn.apc.org
Status: Copyright 2000, contact source for
permission to reprint
Date: January 25, 2000
=================================
W R
M B U L L E T I N 30
JANUARY
2000
=================================
In this
issue:
* OUR
VIEWPOINT
- After
IFF: deeds, not words!
* LOCAL
STRUGGLES AND NEWS
AFRICA
-
Liberia: the silent destruction of the forests - Malawi: forests,
health
and life
- South
Africa: just poetry and emotion?
-
Tanzania: local people benefit from forest products
ASIA
-
Cambodia: Cambodian forests menaced by logging concessions
-
India: an outdated approach to national parks and people
-
Indonesia: deforestation and forest degradation in Borneo's forests
-
Malaysia: why the Selangor Dam?
-
Thailand: Boycott the bulldozer movie!
CENTRAL
AMERICA
-
Honduras: fruitful efforts
-
Nicaragua: will Smartwood certify depredatory logging company?
SOUTH
AMERICA
-
Argentina: storing German carbon in forests?
-
Brazil: the struggle of the Pataxo-Ha-Ha-Hae
-
Brazil: joint government agency-Greenpeace action in the Amazon
-
Action for the U'wa people in Colombia
-
Colombia: "the life and dignity of the Embera people won't be
flooded"
-
Support requested to forest indigenous peoples in Peru
OCEANIA
- Good
news from New Zealand/Aotearoa
- Papua
New Guinea: moratorium on new logging announced
*
PLANTATIONS CAMPAIGN
-
WorldWatch Institute's new publication on the paper industry
- Dutch
carbon sink plantations: adding to the problem
- WRM
briefing on carbon sink plantations
*
GENERAL
-
"Undermining the forests": new publication on Canadian mining
industry
************************************************************
OUR
VIEWPOINT
************************************************************
- After
IFF: deeds, not words!
During
the last meeting of the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests
(IFF),
NGOs and IPOs made a statement (see complete statement at
http://www.wrm.org.uy/english/tropical_forests/iff3.html)
expressing
their
disappointment and frustration regarding the lack of
implementation
of measures agreed upon in the Intergovernmental Panel
on
Forests' (IPF) "proposals for action." The statement said that
"for
whatever
reasons, governments seem either unwilling or unable to take
substantive
action to solve the world's most pressing forest
problems."
The
situation regarding forests is truly unbelievable. All governments
agree
that the future of humanity depends on the conservation of the
remaining
forests. Governments have signed a number of agreements
committing
themselves to forest conservation. There is ample research
on the
direct and underlying causes of deforestation and forest
degradation.
Millions of dollars have been used -or wasted?- to
discuss
possible solutions. But almost nothing is being done at the
ground
level to address the problem and forest destruction continues
unabated.
This
Titanic-like scenario -where the band plays while the ship sinks-
is
where we are standing now. The music played by the
intergovernmental
processes (IFF, CBD, CCC, etc.) is good in some
cases
and bad in others, but the fact is that the ship continues
sinking,
while local people and supporting organizations try to save
their
lives and forests from the agents of destruction represented or
supported
in most cases by those same governments that play in the
Titanic's
band.
Stop
the music please! What's needed is action and participatory
monitoring
of implementation of agreed commitments. The IFF will be
meeting
in New York from January 30- February 11. Among other things,
the
meeting will have to decide on the continuation of the forest-
related
intergovernmental process, given that this will be its fourth
and
final session. There are certainly
several possible institutional
mechanisms
which will be put forward during the meeting, but what
matters
most is not the mechanism itself but what it will be supposed
to do.
As the NGO/IPO statement expressed: "Before we can decide
whether
to support any future new mechanism or mechanisms, we would
like to
make our expectations very clear. At a minimum, such
mechanisms
must:
1- Be
truly innovative and significantly different than the IPF/IFF
process;
2-
Focus on implementation of the IPF proposals for action at both
national
and international levels;
3-
Create an effective international monitoring and reporting
mechanism
for such implementation;
4-
Create enhanced means of participation for civil society and major
groups
in the intergovernmental process itself and in implementation
processes
at both national and international levels; 5- Address the
real
underlying causes and non-forest-sector sources of forest
mismanagement,
degradation and loss; and 6- Create a new form of
synergy
and cooperation among existing international forest-related
agreements
and institutions, clarifying their relationship with the
WTO,
ILO, and other non-forest-sector institutions and agreements, and
including
a revision of the existing ITFF structure and process to
ensure
transparency and strengthen participation by major groups."
The
above is not much asking ... if governments are truly committed to
forest
conservation. The time has come to demand governments to change
words
into deeds and to compare commitments with compliance. The
future
of forests and forest peoples, as well as that of humanity is
at
stake. Can we allow the band to continue playing?
************************************************************
LOCAL
STRUGGLES AND NEWS
************************************************************
AFRICA
-
Liberia: the silent destruction of the forests
Seldom
are there news arriving from Liberia. This country, located in
the
West African region, with shores on the Atlantic Ocean and bounded
in the
West by Sierra Leone, Guinea in the North and Ivory Coast in
the
East, ranks amongst the world's poorest countries and bears the
weight
of a huge foreign debt. An accelerated process of environmental
degradation
-including forests- is also affecting the country. Several
activities
-as mining, plantations and logging- are destroying the
dense
tropical rainforests.
Some of
the multinational companies involved in this destruction have
been
operating for long time, while others arrived during the last few
years.
Their subsequent onslaught has intensified the unsustainable
and reckless
exploitation of the country's natural resources, already
affected
by loss of biodiversity and soil erosion.
The
Liberian-American/Swedish Company (LAMCO) is a joint venture that
has
been mining and exporting iron ore from Liberia for more than
three
decades. The company suspended its operations in the '90s due to
civil
war. LAMCO is responsible for large-scale deforestation as a
result
of its opencast mining methods, railway construction for the
transportation
of the ores and setting up miners' camps.
Rubber
plantations are another direct cause of deforestation.
Firestone
Rubber Plantations, the world's largest rubber plantation
company,
originally owned by the American Firestone and now in the
hands
of the Japanese Bridgestone, has caused large-scale
deforestation
as well as the pollution of the Farmington River and
several
creeks relied upon by rural communities for drinking and
fishing.
Additionally, thousands of peasants were forced to migrate to
work in
these plantations and their communities condemned to poverty.
The
Liberia Agriculture Company (LAC), which is the second largest
rubber
plantation company in the country, operating in the Gran Bassa
county,
is also to be blamed for deforestation at a big scale (see WRM
Bulletin
29). Additionally, the company has been at the centre of
controversies
for years, with allegations ranging
from abuse of
workers'
rights -including child labour in hazardous tasks- to
tampering
with Justice. In January 1999 riots occurred when about one
thousand
angry workers who protested in front of their managers were
violently
repressed.
One of
the recent arrivals is the Malaysian-owned Oriental Timber
Company
(OTC), closely related to the President himself, which will
have
exclusive rights over the last remaining closed canopy tropical
rainforest
within the so called upper Guinea Forests. This region is
the
habitat of several endangered and some endemic species. These high
forests,
that are either sacred for local people, proposed for
game/forest
reserves or as national parks, still remain unprotected.
Additionally,
OTC will set up a timber processing plant, will manage
one of
the two major seaports in Liberia and will also be granted
governmental
contracts to build roads into its operational area. This
company
has also got a bad record abroad: it previously caused
environmental
damages in Guyana and in the Congo Democratic Republic,
while
was denied an operation license in Ghana before moving to
Liberia.
According to Mr. Eric Passawee, President of the Liberian
Loggers
Association, OTC " . . . makes the state and people vulnerable
to
environmental threats...". He also stated that the company operates
under
the protection of the country's President.
The
initiative "Action Now!" recently launched by the Save My Future
(SAMFU)
Foundation to counteract this dangerous state of affairs, aims
at
creating awareness and supporting the struggle of grassroots
organizations
and communities to protect the country's resources. For
more
information about this project, please contact: Silas Siakor at
ssiakor.unlirmon@server.unog.ch
Sources:
Action Now! December 1999 Edition; Action Now! January 2000
edition
************************************************************
-
Malawi: forests, health and life.
To the
reductionist viewpoint of Western silviculture, forests are
mainly
-if not exclusively- a source of roundwood for industrial
purposes.
Nevertheless, forests are not only the home for thousands of
indigenous
people in different regions of the world, but also a rich
source
of different goods -wood included- and services. Medicinal
plants
are one of such valuable products which indigenous people use
in
traditional medical practices. Unluckily, some of them -together
with
the associated traditional knowledge- are also coveted by
multinational
pharmaceutical companies, which are actively involved in
appropriating
them for profit-making.
The
accelerated process of deforestation that affects Malawi (see WRM
Bulletin
24) is also provoking the loss of botanical species with a
present
or potential medical use. Joseph Gangire, chairman of the
National
Herbalists Association of Malawi has recently denounced that
the
future of traditional medicine in the country was menaced by the
fast
rate of deforestation.
"Cutting
down trees aimlessly will make us lose our cultural beliefs
in
traditional healing" expressed Gangire during a national symposium
on
plant genetics celebrated in Lilongwe on January 14th. He also
said
that there are many diseases afflicting Malawians that cannot be
cured
by conventional medicine, adding that in many cases patients are
discharged
from conventional hospitals and referred to traditional
healers
who go deep into the forests to look for herbs, roots and
leaves
to cure them. But as forests disappear, the possibility to cure
or
alleviate the pain of many people in a non expensive and accepted
way
will also disappear.
There
is also the risk of a cultural loss, since, if the present
process
continues, the elders will not be able to pass on their
knowledge
to the younger, simply because there will be no more forests
and
herbs left to practice on.
Even if
the links between the health of the forests and human health
is not
always apparent, the case of Malawi shows that forest
conservation
is capital for the maintenance of the lives of many
people.
Source:
"Deforestation Threatens Malawi's Traditional Medicine" by
Raphael
Tenthani, PANA Correspondent, 17/1/2000
************************************************************
- South
Africa: just poetry and emotion?
The
expansion of the tree plantation model in South Africa has given
place
to a heated debate. Philip Owen, from SAWAC (South African Water
Crisis),
as well as several other concerned people, have repeatedly
argued
that the plantations scheme is detrimental to grassland and
water
conservation, thus negative with regard to rural communities.
Last
month Philip received a letter as a response to some comments he
had
made on an article entitled "Timber Farmers Praise Paper Giant",
related
to a tree plantation project by SAPPI -called Project Grow- in
Kwa-Zulu
Natal, which was published in The Citizen on November 18th
1999.
Among other things, the reply stated that plantations do not
make
the land useless for growing vegetables, and that cattle grazing
is to
be seen in the project area. According to the author of the
letter,
only incomes from sugar farming can exceed those obtained from
tree
planting in the region. "What is needed are science-based
practical
solutions for practical problems, not poetry and emotion!"
concluded
the letter.
This is
the core of Philip's answer, which counters such arguments:
"I
will go visit the area concerned. I would like to speak to the
tribal
authorities. Finances allowing, I will visit them again ten
years
down the line, I will visit them again twenty years down the
line, I
will visit them again thirty years down the line, and I will
see if
my fears are justified. If Mpumalanga
is anything to judge by,
well,
.... You can not argue, that animals find little nourishment
under
plantations. I saw the wild horses at Kaapsehoop the other day,
the way
their grazing areas have been affected by plantations in the
area
they are forced to graze next to the road.
I would like people
to
realize that the "derelict land" referred to in the article has
value,
and properly looked after and cared for, can provide
abundantly.
When you talk about plantations and sugar being the
industries
of "highest financial returns", for whom do you mean?
I
believe the plantation model is wrong for South Africa. I will try
to
enforce a moratorium on new plantations, and in the face of
reasonable
serious 'opposition', will use any means at my disposal.
For
myself, I don't need studies and books to be convinced as to the
negative
effects of tree farming. I just need to take a walk up the
mountain."
Source:
Philip Owen, 15/12/99, e-mail: owen@soft.co.za
************************************************************
-
Tanzania: local people benefit from forest products
Corruption
and incapacity among forestry officials, as well as the
activity
of illegal loggers, timber product dealers and sawmillers are
responsible
for the disappearance and degradation of Tanzania's
forests
(see WRM Bulletins 27 and 29). This not only means the
destruction
of a valuable ecosystem in a tropical region but also the
loss of
the source of resources and incomes for forest dwellers and
forest
dependent people.
A
recent research performed by G.C. Monela, G.C. Kajembe, A.R.S.
Kaoneka,
and G. Kowero of the Sokaine University of Agriculture shows
that
honey, charcoal, fuelwood, and wild fruits contribute with 58% of
farmers'
cash incomes in six villages from the Dodoma region, the
peri-urban
area near Morogoro, and the Kilosa District. Those results,
together
with findings from a rapid rural appraisal conducted in the
same
location, are presented in the book 'Household Livelihood
Strategies
in the Miombo Woodlands, Emerging Trends'.
Honey
alone accounted for one third of all cash income in those
villages.
Farmers in the peri-urban area, which had greater access to
markets,
produced more charcoal, which represented 38% of their total
cash
income. Women have increasingly become involved in many of these
activities,
particularly in the peri-urban area.
The
results from this study confirm the findings of a previous survey
of
seven administrative regions (conducted by Munishi et al.), that
found
that two thirds of all Tanzanian households obtained at least
15% of
their incomes from forest products. Both studies make clear how
important
traditional forest knowledge and practices are for the
survival
and well being of local communities. They also show once
again
that forests are not only a source of roundwood for a few
companies,
but a rich source of products that can benefit local
people.
Those
interested in receiving a free electronic copy of the above
referred
paper or who would like to send comments to the authors,
please
write to Godwin Kowero at g.kowero@cgiar.org.
Source:
David Kaimowitz, 15/12/99, e-mail: D.KAIMOWITZ@cgiar.org
************************************************************
ASIA
-
Cambodian forests menaced by logging concessions
Uncontrolled
logging threatens the future of Cambodian forests. A
review
of logging concessions in Cambodia was initiated last year,
with
the aim of identifying those concessions which should be
terminated
due to their repeated legal infringements, and those which
should
be continued under new contracts. The initiative, which was
funded
by the Asia Development Bank (ADB), has been crippled by time
and
financial constraints resulting from shortcomings in the ADB's
management
process.
In
fact, even if the concession review was scheduled for January 1999,
site
inspection started only last October. As a result, since such
inspections
were carried out in the wet season, when access to the
concession
sites was limited by weather and soil conditions, the
review
team could not witness any logging activities. Only 12 out of
the 21
concessions in existence in the country -covering a huge total
area of
4,739,153 hectares- were visited and the inspectors spent just
one day
in each concession area, with sizes ranging from 60,000 to
766,000
hectares. Concessionaires' forest management practices were
judged
purely on the basis of these one-day inspections. This, coupled
with
the fact that none of the concessionaires' historical records -
including
illegal activities and poor forest management practices-
were
taken into account by the review, means that concessionaires who
have
severely depleted the forests are likely to enjoy impunity for
their
actions.
In
spite of the above mentioned shortcomings, the conclusions of the
review
team are extremely worrying: all of Cambodia's concession land
would
be exhausted within seven years and the current logging levels
are
considered unsustainable. Additionally, the review concluded that
every
single concessionaire breached their contract for failing to
achieve
the required investment targets.
The
results of this research have been published by Global Witness in
a
briefing document entitled "The Untouchables. Forest crimes and the
concessionaires
- can Cambodia afford to keep them?". Detailed
information
on twelve companies involved in significant and prolonged
illegal
logging activities -with the open or hidden protection of the
authorities-
is provided. The referred companies are not only
national,
but also from China, Taiwan, Malaysia and Japan. Recent and
shocking
photographs about illegal logging and transport in the
coastal
and eastern regions of the country are also published.
Those
interested in obtaining a copy of the report, please contact
Global
Witness.
Source:
Global Witness, 2/12/99; e-mail:
mail@globalwitness.demon.co.uk
************************************************************
-
India: an outdated approach to national parks and people
The
preservationist approach to forest protection, which considers
people
as a threat to nature, ignores the human and territorial rights
of
rural communities and indigenous peoples living in the forests, who
in fact
usually contribute to their conservation. The view of nature
as a
void space, at the same time beautiful landscape and store of
biodiversity
for humanity, is not only unrealistic -since practically
all the
Earth is nowadays a geographic space modified by human
intervention-
but also leads to social and environmental conflicts.
Even if
this approach has been largely superseded, it is still being
enforced
in some cases, such as in India.
Since
the 1960's, the designation of an area as a National Park by the
government
of India has implied the forced removal of its indigenous
inhabitants,
perceived as detrimental to nature. A 'fence, guard and
protect'
policy has been promoted by both government and some
conservationists,
as reflected during the IUCN meeting in New Delhi
held in
1969. The then adopted guidelines for protected areas only
slowly
changed during the late 1970's, when indigenous knowledge and
its
usefulness for resource management began to receive recognition.
The
obligation to allow indigenous people to remain within their
territories
and have them participate in the management of protected
areas
now applies to all nations, including India, that signed the
Biodiversity
Convention of 1992. However, the following case from
North
India shows that the old policy is still alive:
"We,
the Van Gujjars, are an indigenous forest dwelling people and
have
been living in the foothills of the Himalayas for centuries. We
spend
the winter months in the forests of the Shivalik mountain range
at an
average height of 1,500 feet above sea level, and the summer
months
in the high altitude pasture lands of the Himalayas at heights
between
8,000 - 12,000 feet. For centuries we have reared our
buffaloes
in these forests and pasture lands and that is all we know
to make
our living.
Our
buffaloes are a mixture of the indigenous breeds Nili and Ravi.
These
small and tough animals have been with us for generations with
very
little mixture of outside blood. These buffaloes are forest
buffaloes
so they are very well adapted to the tough life of the
forest
and the long treks of nomadic life. No other buffalo are
capable
of walking from heights of 1,500-12,000 feet, facing all
hardships
of very scarce fodder during transhumance. Our buffaloes are
part of
our family and have individual personalities and names of
their
own like Bhuri, Makheri, Nukra, Lali, etc. Our women also own
buffaloes
in their own name and they have full rights to the milk and
milk
products. These buffaloes are very efficient converters of
roughage
into milk. Their milk is rich and has a very high fat content
(as
high as 10-12%). During the summer months millions of tourists and
pilgrims
come to visit these parts of the Himalayas. It is only our
buffalo
that supply the milk to these people and if we did not do so,
the
mountains would become garbage dumps of packets and tins. In this
way we
are supporting 'eco-tourism' in the Himalayas. During the
winter
months our buffaloes give thousands of litres of milk daily to
the
cities that are close to our forests.
Our
buffaloes start migrating on their own when the weather gets hot
in the
month of March or April or when it becomes cold in the month of
September
(close to the snow line). At times if we are not ready to
move,
we have to physically stop them. If they are not disturbed they
can
reach their destinations even on their own. They are like any
other
wild animal of the forests and know how to protect themselves
against
attacks from carnivorous animals. They have their own warning
sounds
and all of them gather together in a circle with the calves
inside
and can fend off any attack. This behaviour you will not see in
dairy
buffaloes.
Our
buffaloes forage mainly on leafodder during the winter months and
on the
rich grass of the Himalayan pasture land during the summers. In
winter
we lop off branches from selected fodder trees making sure that
enough
nodal branches and leaves are left so that the tree may
regenerate
during the remaining period of the year. Also, we lop the
branches
just before the time of leaf fall of the particular species
and in
this way we ensure that the tree gets the full benefit of its
foliage
for growth. The herbivorous wildlife of the forests joins our
buffalo
in foraging on these lopped leaves. Buffalo manure provides a
very rich
fertiliser for the forests. On the one hand we take leaves
from
the forests but in return we provide it fertiliser. Also, it is
in our
interest to remove the weeds so that young saplings of fodder
trees
can grow since these would provide food for our buffaloes in the
years
to come. Anybody can see that wherever we Van Gujjars live in
the
forest, the wildlife thrives. In this way we live in complete
harmony
with the forests and their wildlife and that is the only
reason
that our way of life has survived through the centuries.
We are
vegetarians and our diet is largely based on milk and milk
products.
Also, we believe in the Ghandian principle that the 'Earth
provides
enough to satisfy every man's need, but not every man's
greed'
and we own only so many possessions that we can carry with us
on our
transhumance. We see the outside world today in a vice-like
grip of
consumerism and we have consciously kept away from this. No
one in
our community drinks alcohol or gambles. We do not dance and
play
drums like other communities. We believe that the drum is the
symbol
of the hunt and this is against our ethics and morals.
We do
not and cannot harm the forest in any way because our very
survival
depends upon it. The degradation of our natural resources,
forests
and wildlife has come about because of indiscriminate and
unsustainable
use of these resources. We protect and conserve our
forests
and wildlife. We know every species of tree, every animal and
every
bird, we note every fallen branch and tree, we recognise every
sound
in the forest and its meaning.
These
forests have been our home for centuries and we feel safe and
secure
in them. We know that women and children can be left in the
care of
the forests, but this is not so in the cities. You will not
find a
single Van Gujjar's 'dera' (large circular thatched hut) with a
covered
doorway because we feel that if our doorways are covered then
we are
excluding the forest from our lives. After all we are a part of
the
same 'Kudrat' (nature) that provides for the forests, for their
wildlife
and for us. It is this compulsion that has kept us as
vegetarians.
If we do not live in harmony with our surroundings then
we
would suffer. Except for a few stray incidents of elephant attacks
no wild
animal has ever harmed any of us. We also understand that the
protection
of our forests' flora, fauna and wildlife is critical for
the
conservation of biological diversity in the country. Isn't this
what
our foresters, environmentalists, government and other people
want?
In 1983
the State Government declared its intentions of converting our
forests
into a National Park. This is when our troubles began. The
forest
department told us that we would have to leave the forests and
settle
outside the new park boundaries. This we cannot do because we
know
that this would be the end of our buffaloes and without them it
would
be our end too. For centuries we have lived freely in these
forests
and have always considered them to be our own. We have never
wanted
to exploit the forests for money or any other consideration,
which
the forest department has previously done and now the tree
smugglers
and animal poachers are doing. We only take fodder leaves
from
the forest and return it through other benefits in ample measure.
We have
always ensured that no harm comes to these forests which are a
part of
'Kudrat'. But today the forest department chooses to call us
trespassers
and tries to lay the blame of its own bad management at
our
doors.
We hear
stories of other forest dwelling people in our country who
also
have similar problems like ours and note that this developing
conflict
between parks and people can only be harmful to both. This,
we are
told, is also happening in other countries around the world.
These
struggles are certainly the manifestation of the assertion of
rights,
but the initiative is to protect the ecosystem and wildlife of
the
Shivalik range of mountains and our, the Van Gujiars', and local
villagers'
traditional rights. We should have the choice to
permanently
live in and around the protected area in an
environmentally
and economically sustainable manner."
Source:
"Old-style forest protection in India" by Noud van Seters
Rainforest
Medical Bulletin, Vol. 6, no. 1, June 1999
http://www.xs4all.nl/~rainmed/bulletin/vol0601/gujjar-e.html
***********************************************************
-
Indonesia: deforestation and forest degradation in Borneo's forests
Borneo,
one of the biggest islands of the Malaysian archipelago in
South
East Asia, is under the sovereignty of three states: Malaysia,
Indonesia
and Brunei. Originally this big island was completely
covered
by dense tropical forests. The expansion of the lumber-
exporting
industry, together with oil palm and pulpwood plantations
both in
Malaysia and Indonesia have nearly completely destroyed the
Bornean
forests. Consumers of tropical timbers in the North, such as
buyers
of plywood for home building in the USA are ultimately
responsible
for this ecological disaster. Timber exports contribute $8
billion
annually to the Indonesian economy and provide 80% of the
plywood
used in the US home building industry.
New
scientific research provides persuasive evidence that forest
sustainability
is primarily determined by conditions over large scale
biogeographical
territories and that ongoing human-induced climate
disorders
at the global level are severely jeopardizing tropical
forests.
In
fact, Borneo's rare tropical rainforest -where reproduction of the
trees
is intricately linked to the arrival of the El Nino-Southern
Oscillation
(ENSO) phenomenon- face imminent death due to increased
logging
and human-intensified climate change. ENSO is a combined
phenomenon
of variation of temperature and atmospheric pressure
respectively
at the ocean and the air levels. The trees synchronize
their
reproduction -called masting- to the onset of ENSO, which occurs
about
once every four years. Climatic conditions created by El Nino
trigger
simultaneous fruiting in dipterocarps and are essential for
seed
production, which the abundant fauna use as food. Local villagers
collect
seeds to eat and to sell as a cash crop.
According
to a research in ecology recently performed at the
University
of Michigan, the degradation of dipterocarp forests will
have
repercussions both in Bornean terrestrial ecosystems and in
regional
economies, with global implications in the near future. The
problem,
the researchers discovered, is that intensive logging on the
island
around the Gunung Palung National Park over the past decade has
drastically
reduced seed production from 175 pounds per acre in 1991
to 16.5
pounds per acre in 1998. As intensive logging reduces the
local
density and biomass of mature trees, the spatial extent of
masting
is affected. As a consequence, the entire ecosystem -included
flora,
fauna and human beings- is menaced.
As this
disaster goes on, the Indonesian government continues to turn
a deaf
ear to the demands of its people -exemplified by the long
struggle
of the indigenous people- and to the evidences provided by
good
science. Its unbridled race to increase more and more incomes
generated
by wood exports will quickly destroy the remaining Borneo
forests.
Increased support to the Borneo peoples' resistance is for
the
time being the main means to counteract such destructive policy.
Source:
Glen Barry, 16/12/99; e-mail: gbarry@forests.org
************************************************************
-
Malaysia: why the Selangor Dam?
The
Selangor dam project is being strongly resisted by local
communities,
indigenous peoples and environmental NGOs, since it means
the destruction
of 600 hectares of rainforest, the eviction of the
native
Temuan from their ancestral homelands, and the destruction of
the
green sanctuary of Pertak in Ulu Selangor. It is also feared that
the
wetlands near Kuala Selangor, as well as the montane forest of
Pertak
will be adversely affected. Additionally, safety matters
regarding
the dam structure have not been adequately addressed. With
well
founded arguments the Consumers' Association of Penang (CAP) has
severely
questioned the Environmental Impact Assessment study (EIA)
prepared
by SMHB Sdn. Bhd for the project proponent, Konsortium TSWA-
Gamuda-KDEB
(see WRM Bulletin 22).
The
opposition to the project is increasing. SOS Selangor (Save Sungai
Selangor),
a group of concerned citizens whose aim is to protect the
environment
in the region, has denounced that the EIA contract was
given
to a component of the consortium involved in the building of the
dam,
without an open competitive tender. This document contradicts
itself
in a number of topics and does not even follow the guidelines
set by
the Department of the Environment (DOE) on information that the
assessment
should contain. Considering that the EIA has been
conditionally
accepted by the environmental authority, SOS Selangor is
claiming
that the conditions placed on the dam consortium as a result
of the
EIA are made public. This means that the DOE must ensure that
the
monitoring and enforcement of the project is completely credible
by
informing about important issues related to it, for example how
many
qualified personnel will be dispatched to the site, how the
environmental
authority is going to enforce the EIA conditions that
logging
must be confined within the 600 hectare reservoir area, if
this
area will be thoroughly cleared before flooding, if wildlife must
be
given adequate berth to escape from the area before flooding, etc.
According
to precedents that have ended in environmental disaster,
monitoring
and enforcement of EIA conditions by the DOE and municipal
authorities
do not really take place in Malaysia.
As an
immediate measure, SOS Selangor is demanding that the illegal
logging
activities performed by Gamuda in the catchment area of the
Selangor
River be immediately stopped, since no permits or contracts
have
yet been signed. In the meantime, a capital question remains with
no
answer: why going ahead with the Selangor dam project in a country
where
three dam projects - Bakun, Sabah and Kelantan- have recently
failed,
and where forests are quickly being destroyed?
Sources:
SOS Selangor, 14/12/99; e-mail:sos_selangor@mail.com;
http://www.rayma.com.my/pahlawanthots.html
;
http://www.savesungaiselangor.org
************************************************************
-
Thailand: Boycott the bulldozer movie!
Democracy
and environmental groups in Thailand and beyond are shocked
and
outraged at the way Twentieth Century Fox used the force of power
and big
money to produce the movie 'The Beach', starring Leonardo
DiCaprio.
In late
1998, the US company, which belongs to Rupert Murdoch's News
Corp
empire, bulldozed and reshaped Maya Beach, part of Phi Phi
Islands
National Park, for just two weeks of filming because its
natural
scenery was considered not good enough to project Hollywood's
ideal
of a "tropical paradise". The film-makers not only committed
gross
eco-crimes to be prosecuted by law, they also need to be
condemned
for their contempt of local people who revere Maya as a
sacred
ground.
To
avoid conflicts, the film-makers could have made 'The Beach' scenes
as a
composite of two different sites or used special effects to
achieve
their desired vision. But they insisted on going ahead on Phi
Phi Leh
Island, secure in the knowledge they could count on the
support
of Thai bureaucrats and politicians who are more preoccupied
in
using the law to serve their own interests rather than protecting
the
integrity of the legal system for public good.
Not
surprisingly, local residents and national civic groups made all-
out
efforts to protest at the sale of national park law to Hollywood.
Sadly,
they were not able to stop the environmental destruction on Phi
Phi Leh
in time. Still, lawsuits were filed in January 1999 against
Fox and
the government agencies and officials who allowed the film-
makers
to ravage a protected area.
As if
things were not bad enough, Fox, which is a defendant in an
ongoing
Thai court case, also won over the Tourism Authority of
Thailand
(TAT) and is now co-sponsoring a joint tourism campaign to
promote
'The Beach' movie and Thailand's beaches. This move is a
disgrace
not only for Thai civil society struggling to phase out
harmful
policies and corruption, but also for Thailand's image because
it
shows that its government has deteriorated to a mere stooge of big
international
capital, willing to sell out everything without pride
and
dignity.
Despite
persistent propaganda efforts to distort the truth and the
bullying
tactics of the powerful pro-'The Beach' lobby, the Thai
protest
movement will continue to expose this scandal to the world and
fight
on for justice in this case. This is of utmost importance to
save
the country's environmental laws from further sabotage and to
prevent
other nature reserves from falling victim to unscrupulous
encroachers
and environmental villains.
To make
this struggle a success, we urge the international community
to
actively support the Justice for Maya Bay campaign.
Please
help our friends in Thailand by writing a letter to producer
Andrew
McDonald telling him you will boycott the film. The address is:
Andrew
MacDonald, Producer
c/o
Carol Sewell
10201
W. Pico Blvd. Building 89, Room 224 Los Angeles, CA 90035
You can
also send an e-mail to the Women's Voices for the Earth
(website:
www.wildrockies.org/WVE/beach.htm) that has been
coordinating
an international boycott campaign against 'The Beach', E-
mail:
WVE@wildrockies.org telling them you
would like to be on the
petition.
Source:
Tourism Investigation&Monitoring Team - Bangkok tim-
team@access.inet.co.th
************************************************************
CENTRAL
AMERICA
-
Honduras: fruitful efforts
The
following letter from Jorge Varela of the Committee for the
Defence
and Development of Flora and Fauna of the Fonseca Gulf
(CODEFFAGOLF)
was published in Late Friday News nr. 53, a publication
of
Mangrove Action Project (MAP). In 1999, Jorge was one of the seven
environmental
and human rights activists to receive the Goldman Prize
1999.
In his letter he expresses:
"Tegucigalpa,
Honduras, December 8, 1999
Good
News From Honduras!
With so
much satisfaction, we send you an affective and cordial
greeting.
We are about to end the year 1999 and want to share with our
friend
and partner organizations, the happiness that we feel in having
attained
the following achievements:
It has
been possible to diminish the coastal wetlands' destruction in
the
Gulf of Fonseca.
This
year there have not been murders of fishermen related to the
shrimp
farming industry.
The
Government of Honduras has officially approved the preservation of
seven
ecosystems of coastal wetlands within the Gulf of Fonseca as
RAMSAR
sites. The Gulf of Fonseca has been placed as "Ramsar Site
100".
A
national front for the defence of sovereignty has been formed, and
through
this formation, the sale of our coastal marine territory to
foreigners
has been stopped, pending consideration of plans to protect
the
interests of native communities and the environment.
As a
Christmas gift, after 12 years of struggle, on December 2nd, the
National
Congress of Honduras declared as conservation zones more than
757
sq.km of coastal wetlands (mangrove forests, lagoons, islands,
biodiversity,
local communities...).
These
achievements have been reached because of the moral support that
friend
and partner organizations such as MAP have facilitated, and
because
of this our triumphs are shared with you.
Thanks,
thanks a lot.
Jorge
Varela Marquez
Executive
Director, CODDEFFAGOLF
Tegucigalpa,
Honduras, C.A.
e-mail:
cgolf@sdnhon.org.hn
************************************************************
-
Nicaragua: will Smartwood certify depredatory logging company?
In
February 1998, representatives of indigenous communities -Sumus and
Miskitos-
local and regional authorities, environmental NGOs, and
community
and religious leaders joined in Rosita,
a village on the
Atlantic
coast of Nicaragua, to discuss a common strategy against the
illegal
activities of the Korean transnational logging company
Kimyung,
which in 1994 had received a concession from the central
government
on 62,000 hectares of forest in indigenous territories (see
WRM
bulletin 11). Kimyung operated through the subsidiary SOLCARSA.
Even if
such concession was considered to be in violation of the
constitution,
the company began its depredatory logging activities,
provoking
resistance among local communities. As thousands of trees
were
felled and people realized that the jobs created were few and
badly
paid and that the company did not comply with its initial
promises,
opposition grew.
A 1998
resolution of the Supreme Court ruled that the concession was
unconstitutional
and had to be revoked, which happened one year later.
Nevertheless
SOLCARSA did not surrender, and once its activities
became
illegal, they didn't leave the country, but made the manoeuvre
of
changing its name to PRADA. Even if PRADA and SOLCARSA are one and
the
same thing, this new name gave them the chance to continue the
depredation
of indigenous resources in the same areas. They even sued
a group
of Nicaraguan ecologist NGOs, which has accused it of being an
illegal
company. That sue against the ecologists was halted by two
judicial
resolutions at the end of 1998 and the beginning of 1999.
Surprising
as it may seem, last December PRADA started a spot campaign
on TV
stating that Smartwood had already certified the company.
Nicaraguan
environmental NGOs contacted the National Bureau involved
in
Forestry Certification issues, and received as an answer that such
certification
was not yet true.
In
order to prevent that PRADA receives the certification -which would
be a
complete farce, thus undermining the reliability of the whole of
the
certification process- the
environmental NGOs of Nicaragua have
addressed
Smartwood demanding it:
- to
research more about the terrible and illegal background of PRADA
with
regard to the country's rainforest;
- to
clarify to the Nicaraguan public opinion which is the present
relationship
between Smartwood and PRADA; - to demand PRADA to
immediately
take out of circulation the above referred spot.
Source:
Centro Alexander Von Humboldt, 20/1/2000; e-mail:
humboldt@ibw.com.ni
***********************************************************
SOUTH
AMERICA
-
Argentina: storing German carbon in forests?
The
issue of the environmental services that Southern countries can
provide
to Northern countries to mitigate the effects of global
climate
change is controversial. On the one hand there is the question
of
environmental justice at the global level, since those countries
that
are most responsible for the dangerous alteration of climate on
Earth,
instead of addressing the causes that are provoking it -for
instance
the unsustainable energy use and the huge emissions of CO2 by
industry-
are looking for doubtful and partial solutions, that can be
bought
for a low price in the South. Additionally, there is the
question
of who has got the right to participate in such kind of
negotiations,
as well as who will be the beneficiaries, and eventually
who
will be worst hit by them. The role of forests as carbon sinks and
reservoirs
is nowadays an important component of the discussions and
negotiations
that are taking place under the framework of the Kyoto
Protocol.
There
are recent news about an agreement reached in November 1999
between
the government of Chubut Province, in the southern region of
Argentina,
and the German foundation Prima Klima. The aim of the
project
is to share the management of a natural area and to obtain
funds
by means of the certification of carbon fixation during a period
of 50
years. The area of the project includes the La Plata and Fontana
watersheds
in the foothills of the Patagonic Andes.
In a
communique dated January 6th 2000, Greenpeace-Argentina -member
of the
Foro del Buen Ayre, a network of NGOs and institutions which
activiely
participated at the Climate Change Convention's COP IV which
met in
November 1998 in Buenos Aires- severely questions the validity
of such
agreement, both from a technical and a legal point of view.
Juan
Carlos Villalonga, coordinator of GP-Argentina Energy Campaign,
stated:
"This kind of activities have a low level of reliability and
their
contribution to solve the problem of global climate change is
poor."
At the same time, Greenpeace warned about the lack of
established
criteria to formulate and manage projects of generation of
carbon
bonds, especially when there is an interest to use the capacity
of the
forests to absorb and fix carbon. GP also considers that from a
formal
point of view the agreement should have been evaluated by the
Argentinian
Bureau for Joint Implementation (OAIC - Oficina Argentina
de
Implementacion Conjunta), thus enabling civil society can take part
in it.
For
more information on this issue, please contact: Natalia Truchi,
Press
Office, Greenpeace - Argentina; e-mail:
natalia.truchi@dialb.greenpeace.org
Source:
Foro del Buen Ayre, 6/1/2000; e-mail:
foroba@wamani.wamani.apc.org
***********************************************************
-
Brazil: the struggle of the Pataxo-Ha-Ha-Hae
The
indigenous people Pataxo-Ha-Ha-Hae are claiming their territorial
rights
on an area of 53,000 hectares in the Southern Region of the
State
of Bahia, which contain remnants of the once luxurious "mata
atlantica"
forest that spread along the Ocean coast. These lands,
converted
into pastures, were invaded by ranchers, which are using
them
for cattle raising and, in some areas, for planting cacao. Such
use of
the land after massive deforestation has caused severe
environmental
impacts on soils and on water supplies. In 1936 the
lands
of the Pataxo-Ha-Ha-Hae were demarcated, but gradually invaded
by some
300 ranchers ("fazendeiros"), who even got land titles from
local
authorities. In order to get these ranchers out, the State
Agency
on Indigenous Peoples' Issues (FUNAI) went to court in 1983
trying
to prove that the land titles given to the ranchers were
totally
invalid, once the lands had already been declared to be
indigenous.
The case is now being considered by the Federal High
Court.
Some
time ago, the Pataxo-Ha-Ha-Hae carried out a direct action and
recovered
part of their lands that had been usurped by the
"fazendeiros."
They also demanded the liberation of their leader
Cacique
Gerson de Souza Melo, who was arbitrarily imprisoned last
December
15th under the accusation of having participated in the
murder
of two policemen in the conflict area. An international
campaign
for the immediate release of the indigenous leader was
launched
and a week later he was released.
Nevertheless,
provocation and threats against the Pataxo-Ha-Ha-Hae
continue.
The
Pataxo-Ha-Ha-Hae are supporting the related Pataxo indigenous
peoples
who occupied Monte Pascoal National Park in August 1999 (see
WRM
Bulletins 26 and 28). They are also preparing counter-celebrations
to the
500th anniversary of the "discovery" of Brazil by the
Portuguese.
Source:
CIMI-ES, 15/12/99, 21/12/99, 18/1/2000; e-mail:
cimies@aranet.com.br
***********************************************************
-
Brazil: joint government agency-Greenpeace action in the Amazon
The
accelerated loss of the Amazon rainforest is perhaps the most
notorious
case of environmental destruction at a global level. It is
not
"humanity" as an abstract entity the one responsible for it. A
research
on forestry policy performed by the Brazilian National
Security
Agency (SAE) in 1998 concluded that 80% of the timber
produced
in the Amazon was extracted illegally. Powerful transnational
companies
were and are direct agents of this devastating activity (see
WRM
Bulletin 5). At the end of the chain, the demand in Europe and the
United
States for hardwoods, as well as the consumption by Brazilian
urban
elites for furniture, promote these large illegal logging
operations.
Even if
the Brazilian Environmental Agency (IBAMA) is committed to
protect
the Amazon, it does not count with the necessary means to
accomplish
its duties. At the same time, Brazilian domestic policy
regarding
natural resources -the Amazon included- differs very much
from
the one reflected in the nice speeches which the country
representatives
give in international fora. Unfortunately, it is the
international
market forces and the lobby of powerful rural and
industrial
interests which in fact dictate the government's behaviour
on the
issue. Nevertheless, every now and then small but
significatives
victories are achieved.
This is
the case of the recent joint action between IBAMA officials
and
Greenpeace activists in the Municipality of Icoaraci in the
Northern
State of Para. Using a simple technology based on ultraviolet
rays,
in December 1999 Greenpeace volunteers were able to identify an
illegal
supply of logs of "faveira" in the yard of Eidai do Brasil, a
Japanese
export logging company operating in that region, which
controls
major plywood markets in the USA, Japan, UK and the
Netherlands.
Thus the IBAMA officials were able to fine the company
and
confiscate the logs.
The
action had started a few days before, when IBAMA and Greenpeace
personnel,
returning from a routine visit to a mill in Para State,
stopped
a truck carrying seven logs of "faveira", a type of timber
used by
the plywood industry. The cargo was not accompanied by
Authorisation
for Forest Products Transport documents, and was
therefore
illegal. In order to track the logs to their destination,
the
IBAMA agents released the truck after Greenpeace activists marked
the
logs with a special product which is sensitive to ultraviolet
light.
Once the Greenpeace activists were able to enter the Eidai
facility,
they identified the logs using UV lamps. During the same
operation,
IBAMA also apprehended and fined another logging truck
delivering
undocumented "faveira" timber to Eidai.
This is
just a token of how much can be achieved by joint work in the
defense
of rainforests. At a larger scale, if governments together
with
environmental NGOs, indigenous peoples' organizations and
concerned
people join efforts to denounce and take direct steps to
identify,
control and punish depredators, a better future can be
expected
for the Amazon forest and its peoples.
Source:
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/dec99/1999L-12-08-03.html
***********************************************************
-
Action for the U'wa people in Colombia
During
the long conflict that has involved the U'wa indigenous people
-with
the support of national and international NGOs and social
organizations-
and Occidental Petroleum (Oxy), there have been
constant
comings and goings. For almost a decade, the U'wa people have
successfully
prevented Oxy from exploiting oil -that they consider the
Earth's
blood- in their traditional territory. But in September 1999
the
Environment Ministry, which has always acted in collusion with the
company's
interests, granted a permit to Oxy that allows it to begin
an
exploratory drilling just outside the Unified U'wa Reservation, in
a site
that is within U'wa traditional territories (see WRM Bulletin
27).
This arbitrary step was and is still strongly resisted both in
Colombia
and abroad.
The
U'wa authorities have issued the following communique, asking for
international
solidarity:
"Approximately
200 members of the U'wa indigenous tribe of
northeastern
Colombia assembled in a permanent settlement on part of
our
ancestral lands yesterday, November 16.
This area is the site
where
Occidental Petroleum wants to drill the oil well 'Gibralter 1',
an
action which threatens life and our ancient culture.
.
With
this permanent presence and with the support of the local farmers
of
Sarare, we are claiming our ancestral and constitutional rights to
life
and to our traditional territory. We demand that the Colombian
government
and Oxy leave us in peace and that once and for all they
cancel
the oil project in this area. We U'wa
people are willing to
give
our lives to defend Mother Earth from this project which will
annihilate
our culture, destroy nature, and upset
the world's
equilibrium. Caring for the Earth and the welfare of our
children and
of
future generations is not only the responsibility of the U'wa
people
but of the entire national and international society.
We ask
people around the world who value the Earth and indigenous
peoples
to speak out against the multinational oil company Oxy through
protests,
letters and other actions of solidarity."
As part
of the campaign to defend the U'wa territorial rights you are
asked
to send faxes to:
-
Albert Gore
Vice
President of the United States
1600
Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington
DC 20500
Fax:
(1) 202 456 7044
Demand
him not to accept campaign contributions from oil companies,
and ask
him why he has invested in Occidental Petroleum shares, which
is in
complete contradiction with his declared environmentalist
viewpoints,
-
Edward C. Johnson III
Chairman
and CEO, Fidelity Investments
82
Devonshire St.
Boston
MA 02109
Fax:
(1) 617 476 4164
Fidelity
Investments controls over 8 percent of the company's total
value
under the slogan "We help you invest responsibly". Demand them
to show
that they act according to this slogan by taking actions to
convince
Occidental to cancel its project on the indigenous
traditional
lands.
In the
last days even graver events happened. On the January 19th,
more
than 5000 heavily armed soldiers of the Colombian Army entered
the
U'wa traditional territory, in Cedeno, where the oil drilling well
Gibraltar
1 is located. This is an extreme step of the Colombian
government
to make sure that Oxy's oil exploitation goes ahead. An
urgent
campaign has been launched to stop the invasion. You are asked
to
address the following Colombian authorities, expressing your
concern
and rejection to this new violent action againts the U'wa:
- Juan
Mayr, Minister of the Environment; e-mail: Jmayr@minamb.gov.co
; fax:
(57 1) 336 1166 - 288 6877 - 284 0363
-
Andres Pastrana, President of the Republic of Colombia, e-mail:
a.pastrana@presidencia.gov.co
-
Gustavo Bell Lemus, Presidential Adviser for Human Rights; fax: (57
1) 341
8364.
-
Fernando Castro Caicedo, People's Defender; fax: (57 1) 346 1225
Source:
Global Response, 19/1/2000 and
21/1/2000; e-mail:
globresponse@igc.org
************************************************************
-
Colombia: "the life and dignity of the Embera people won't be
flooded"
The
Urra hydroelectric dam megaproject in Colombia is causing negative
impacts
on the Embera Katio indigenous people, ancestral dwellers of
the
affected area. With the support of Colombian and international
NGOs,
the Embera Katio are bravely opposing the project boasted by the
government,
which menaces the permanence of their livelihoods and the
survival
or their entire culture (see WRM Bulletin 29).
As part
of their resistance activities, last December a large group of
indigenous
families marched on foot to Bogota in order to demand to
the
central authorities the immediate suspension of the dam works and
to
protest against the permanent state of insecurity and violence they
are
suffering because of the crossfire between guerrillas and
paramilitary
groups, who are trying to force them off their land.
The
protesters reached Bogota before Christmas after a long march. The
group,
formed by 100 men, 60 women and 30
children gathered in
Bolivar
Plaza in downtown Bogota, where they said they would remain
until
the government heard their grievances. They denounced that the
Environment
Ministry had authorised the filling of the dam's reservoir
without
complying with the required process of consulting the affected
communities,
as stipulated by the 1991 National Constitution, whose
Article
79 states that "everyone has the right to enjoy a healthy
environment"
and that "the law will guarantee the participation of
society
in those decisions that can affect it". They also stated that
the
construction of the Urra dam has ignored the rights of indigenous
local
residents, which were confirmed by a 1998 Supreme Court ruling.
On
December 23, while the flooding of their territory by the dam works
was
beginning, a group of Embera Katio occupied the entry of the
building
of the Ministry of the Environment. At the same time they
went on
with their mobilization at the international level, asking the
Interamerican
Commission of Human Rights to take preventive steps
against
the Colombian government so that the filling of the dam
reservoir
be immediately halted and a compensation for the
environmental
damages caused was paid.
In
spite of his rhetoric Mr Juan Mayr, a former environmentalist and
today
Minister of the Environment, continues to deny the possibility
of an
open and sincere dialogue with the affected indigenous
communities
and has in fact decreed their death. Nevertheless, the
struggle
of the Embera Katio for life continues. As they say: "The
life
and dignity of the Embera people won't be flooded" ("Dueda tu beu
ea
embera neta Embera ea").
Sources:
Editor Equipo Nizkor, 25/12/99; e-mail: nizkor@teleline.es ;
Amazon
Alliance, 3/1/2000;
e-mail:
amazoncoal@igc.org ; Dario Jana, 10/1/2000; e-mail:
darioj@bigfoot.com
************************************************************
-
Support requested to forest indigenous peoples in Peru
The
Mashco Piro, Yora, Amahuaca, and Yaminahua indigenous peoples in
the
amazonic Alta Piedras region of Madre de Dios in Peru, are being
threatened
by pending forest concessions. These
peoples -called
"uncontacted"-
which have chosen to remain in isolation from Peruvian
society,
would have their way of life, as well as their natural
resources
severely impacted if logging in their
ancestral lands
actually
takes place.
The
indigenous organization Madre de Dios Native Federation
(Federacion
Nativa Madre de Dios - FENAMAD) has been trying for years
to find
the way to make the survival of the native inhabitants of that
region
possible. Nevertheless, the authorities have completely ignored
them. FENAMAD
took part in the initiative promoted by the Regional
Environmental
Committee of Madre de Dios to elaborate a proposal for
the
ecological and economic zonification of the area, which includes
the
delimitation of indigenous peoples traditional lands to avoid that
their
territories and resources end in the hands of a few depredatory
companies.
An operative plan for such delimitation was also presented
to the
regional office of the Ministry of Agriculture, but the only
response
obtained until now was that the area is being considered for
granting
logging licenses.
The
Peruvian government is up to decide about the licensing of the
concessions.
Those interesting in supporting this struggle can address
the
following Peruvian authorities by means of the below model letter:
Alberto
Fujimori, President of the Republic of Peru, Fax: (51) 1 426
6770
Victor Joy Way, Prime Minister of the
Republic of Peru, Fax:
(51) 1
447 1628
Belisario
de las Casas, Ministry of Agriculture, Fax: (51) 1 431 0109
/ 433
2951
Jorge
Santisteban de Noriega, People's Defender, Fax: (51) 1 426 5617
Dear
Sirs:
We
write to express our grave concern regarding the licensing of
forest
concession in the Alta Piedras region of the Department of
Madre de
Dios between the Brazilian border and Ucallali and the effect
the
concessions would have on the uncontacted indigenous peoples of
this
region.
The
concessions to international logging companies in the Alta Piedras
region
will have a devastating impact on the Mashco Piro, Yora,
Amahuaca,
and Yaminahua peoples who remain in voluntary isolation from
Peruvian
society. We understand that one
transnational logging
company
has already begun construction of a 180 kilometer road into
the
region and that there have already been confrontations with one of
the
uncontacted peoples of the area.
In
addition to threatening the natural resources which sustain
indigenous
communities, logging operations will inevitable expose
these
peoples to new diseases and violence that could cause great
suffering. We remember the Kugapakori-Nahuas of the
Urubamba and Manu
basins
who lost half of their community members in violent
confrontations
with loggers and petroleum workers. The
Mashco Piro,
Amahuaca,
Yaminahua, and Yora peoples' lives depend upon the forest
and
they protect it and all of its wealth.
For
these reasons above, we strongly urge you to prevent the licensing
of
concessions in the forests of Alta Piedras and seriously consider
the
Operative Plan for defining and protecting the ancestral
territories
of the indigenous people in this region put forth by the
Federacion
Nativa de Madre de Dios (FENAMAD.)
Yours
Sincerely,
Name
Organization
Country
Please,
send a copy to:
Antonio
Iviche Quique, President of FENAMAD, Fax: (51) 84 572 499
Source:
Patrick Reinsborough, 5/1/2000; e-mail: rags@ran.org
************************************************************
OCEANIA
- Good
news from New Zealand/Aotearoa
Environmental
NGOs are celebrating the success of the newly elected
New
Zealand government in forcing the State owned logging company,
Timberlands,
to withdraw its plans to log extensive areas of beech
rainforests
on the west coast of the country's south island.
Timberlands
had made all efforts to neutralise political opposition to
its
operations. Earlier this year, trustworthy documents revealed a
multi-million
dollar covert lobbying campaign by Timberlands to lobby
political
parties in this regard. Additionally, the company had
entered
into contracts with a number of sawmilling companies, even
lacking
formal approval for the beech forests logging. Timberlands
reacted
to the new government's announcement declaring that it
intended
to go on with its activities at least until the new
authorities
expressly order it the contrary. At the same time, a
number
of the above mentioned companies, as well as some local
councils,
are now threatening to take legal action against the
government
for what they claim is a breach of an agreement reached
with
the logging industry of the west coast in 1986.
In
spite of these obstacles, the long campaign to protect the
magnificent
beech forests and wildlife of North Westland, the Grey
Valley
and Buller is close to success. Finally Timberlands had to obey
and
beech forests have been excluded from logging, while
environmentalists
are confident that legal actions -if taken- will not
overturn
the government's decision.
While
the end to the proposed beech forests' logging has been
welcomed,
environmentalists are pressing the government to bring the
helicopter
logging of the rimu forests to an early end as well.
Labour,
the Alliance and the Greens, all of whom have been targeted by
Timberlands'
lobbying campaign, are committed to ending the rimu
logging.
This
victory is a token of the importance of the activities displayed
by
environmental NGOs in creating the conditions for political parties
with an
alternative approach to the environment to take positive steps
in
regard to forests.
Source:
"New Zealand's New Government Stops Rainforest Logging" by Bob
Burton;
http://ens.lycos.com/ens/dec99/1999L-12-13-04.html .
************************************************************
- Papua
New Guinea: moratorium on new logging announced
The
Papua New Guinea (PNG) Prime Minister Mekere Morauta has announced
the
intention of the new government to impose a moratorium on new
logging,
and to review existing logging concessions, many of which are
thought
to have been improperly granted and implemented. The
announcement
was well received by environmental NGOs,
which consider
that it
is time to halt any new large-scale logging concessions in the
country.
The previous government had adopted a policy of granting
concessions
to foreign companies -especially from Malaysia- and not
controlling
illegal logging, which had been severely criticised by
environmentalists
since it was leading to the complete destruction of
one of
the world's largest remaining closed rainforests, taking into
account
that PNG contains the largest intact tropical ancient forest
in the
Asia Pacific region and the third largest in the world.
The PNG
Eco-Forestry forum reminded that between 1975 and 1996, PNG
lost
more than 10% of its forests because of large scale logging. Very
little
of the profit from the exported logs was retained by the
country
or the landowners. Not to mention the indigenous peoples -as
is the
case of the Kosuwa and Kamula natives- whose ancestral lands
were
invaded by the loggers (see WRM Bulletin 26). The new approach
that
the government is seemingly up to adopt from now on has to be
based
on an alternative forest management paradigm, on which PNG civil
society
has been working over the last decade. Community forest
management,
indigenous peoples rights and environmental sustainability
are at
the core of such viewpoint. Regarding the logging industry, the
Eco-Forestry
forum considers that small-scale saw-milling is the best
way to
use the country's industrial forest resources in order to
conserve
the environment and for rural community welfare.
Those
interested in expressing their support to this recent step can
address
PNG Prime Minister, underscoring the importance that the
moratorium
is actually implemented, and not undercut with exceptions
or weak
implementation, as has happened with a previous moratorium in
the
early 1990s:
Hon.
Sir Mekere Morauta, MP
Prime
Minister for Papua New Guinea
Office
of the Prime Minister
PO Box
639
Waigani, Papua New Guinea
e-mail:
primeminister@pm.gov.pg
Source:
http://forests.org/recent/pngmimor.txt , 26/12/99.
************************************************************
*
PLANTATIONS
CAMPAIGN
************************************************************
-
WorldWatch Institute's new publication on the paper industry
The
increasing demand of paper and paperboard, especially in Northern
countries,
is one of the direct causes of deforestation and, at the
same
time, of the expansion of pulpwood plantations -which normally
constitute
an additional cause of deforestaton- for the obtention of
fibre.
Paper production and consumption at the global level has
reached
such alarming figures, that this industry has become one of
the
most resource-demanding and polluting industries in the world.
Pulp
and paper is the fifth largest industrial consumer of energy and
the
first water consuming per ton of product in the world.
Additionally
to the destruction of forests by intensive logging and
the
social and environmental negative effects of large-scale tree
plantations,
the industrial process itself produces high levels of air
and
water pollution.
Those
and other topics are addressed in a recent publication issued by
the
Worldwatch Institute (Abramovitz, Janet & Mattoon, Ashley.- 'Paper
cuts:
recovering the paper landscape.' Washington, Worldwatch
Institute,
December 1999, Worldwatch Paper 149). The document also
makes
several proposals on how new technologies can be used to curb
this
unsustainable trend, and how paper consumption can be reduced by
modifying
consumption habits both in traditional and in emerging
markets.
The text is accompanied by tables and figures that show the
evolution
of the sector in the last decades.
Those
interested in obtaining a copy can write to the following e-
addresses:
jabramovitz@worldwatch.org, amattoon@worldwatch.org , or
mcaron@worldwatch.org
.
Source:
Worldwatch Institute, December 1999; http://www.worldwatch.org
************************************************************
- Dutch
carbon sink plantations: adding to the problem
The
social and environmental impacts of tree monocultures in the
Andean
Paramos of Ecuador in a project carried out by the Dutch
consortium
FACE are analyzed in a thesis work for a PhD in
Environmental
Sciences of the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona,
Spain.
The author -Veronica Vidal- worked during several months in
that grasslands
region of Ecuador, inhabited by indigenous peasants,
and
which is capital for the maintenance of the hydrological cycle and
as well
as hosting high levels of biodiversity.
The
conclusions state that there is a lack of scientific evidence on
the
assumption that the increase in carbon dioxide volume in the
atmosphere
-the most important greenhouse effect gas- can be
compensated
by the creation of the so-called "carbon sink tree
plantations."
In the case of the Ecuadorian Paramos, the carbon uptake
by
FACE's pine plantations has proved to be far below the expected
figure.
Moreover, the plantations can produce the effect of promoting
the
oxidation of the soil organic matter, which would mean further
liberation
of carbon to the atmosphere. According to estimates, the
release
of carbon to the air can be even higher than the carbon uptake
of the
growing trees, so that plantations would promote the increase
of
carbon atmospheric concentration, instead of reducing it. This
imbalance,
coupled with the negative effects of plantations on the
economy
of the indigenous communities that live at the Paramos,
definitively
show that plantations are not a solution to global
warming,
but a part of the problem.
The
summary of the thesis
(http://www.wrm.org.uy/castellano/plantations/Material/Vidal.htm)
and
a
research paper on the impacts of carbon sink plantations in the
Paramo
ecosystem in Ecuador
(http://www.wrm.org.uy/castellano/plantations/Material/impactos.htm)
are
available in Spanish in our web page and will soon be available in
English. Those interested in contacting the author,
please write to:
vvidal@terrabit.ictnet.es
************************************************************
- WRM
briefing on carbon sink plantations
The WRM
has just published a new Plantations Campaign briefing titled
"The
carbon shop: planting new problems" by Larry Lohmann. This is the
third
briefing in our series in relation to tree monocultures, and, as
the
previous ones, it aims at facilitating understanding of the
plantations
issue by a wider public and can be used to influence
journalists
and international fora, to organize public discussions,
and to
raise awareness within communities facing the hegemonic
forestry
model.
The
issue of the promotion of tree plantations as carbon sinks under
the
Clean Development Mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol as a way of
mitigating
the greenhouse effect is critically addressed both from the
technical
and the political point of view. "Instead of enshrining and
expanding
inequalities in resource use while concealing the
pathologies
of the current pattern of fossil-fuel exploitation -as the
appeal
to grand-scale carbon-"offset" plantations does- such an
approach
would go straight to the root of the climate crisis.
Realistically,
a livable climate can be promoted not through more
monoculture
plantations, more logging, more fossil-fuel plants and
more
automobiles, but only through a commitment to equality" concludes
the
author.
The
printed publication is available in English, and free of charge
from
the International Secretariat. NGOs, IPOs and community-based
organizations
can request more than one copy, also free of charge. The
full
text can also be found in our web site
at:
http://www.wrm.org.uy/english/plantations/material/carbonshop.htm
We
will
soon publish the Spanish version, while the French and Portuguese
versions
will be available electronically.
************************************************************
*
GENERAL
************************************************************
-
"Undermining the forests": new publication on Canadian mining
industry
"Undermining
the forests. The need to control transnational mining
companies:
a Canadian case study" by Forest Peoples Programme,
Philippine
Indigenous Peoples Links and the World Rainforest Movement,
published
in January 2000, is the second report in a series which
focuses
on the social, environmental, economic and political impacts
of
transnational corporations (TNCs) on forests and forest peoples.
The
first one, titled "High Stakes; The Need to Control Transnational
Logging
Companies: a Malaysian case study" was published by the World
Rainforest
Movement and Forests Monitor in August 1998.
The aim
of these reports is to raise awareness within industry of its
impact
on forests and forest peoples, to inform policy and decision
makers
of the dangers of unsustainable activities in Southern
countries,
be a resource guide for local environmental and social NGOs
working
on this kind of issues, as well as bringing the question of
TNC
operations and their impacts on forests to the agenda of
international
processes dealing with forests.
Even if
often ignored in forestry debates, industrial mining is the
second
biggest threat (after commercial logging) to the world's
remaining
primary forests. Canadian companies have greatly expanded
overseas
in the past decades, driven by the potential of the
unexploited
subsoil and the liberalization policy in the exploitation
of
natural resources applied in many southern countries, where foreign
investments
are generally perceived as positive, regardless of their
social
and environmental impacts.
The
contents of the book are: Preface, Introduction, Executive
summary,
Mining the planet: the Canadian mining industry and its
influence
world-wide, Global trends in mining and the role of
international
agencies, Mining and the rights of indigenous peoples in
international
law, Mining impacts: Guyana, Suriname, French Guiana,
The
Philippines, Indonesia, Reflections and Recommendations, Appendix,
References.
The
report is to be distributed free for Southern NGOs and at a cost
of U$S
15 plus mailing charges for other interested people and
organizations.
For
obtaining a copy, please contact:
Forest
Peoples Programme
1c
Fosseway Business Centre
Stratford
Road
Moreton-in-Marsh
GL56 9NQ
United
Kingdom
e-
mail: info@fppwrm.gn.apc.org
###RELAYED
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