***********************************************
WORLDWIDE
FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS
World
Rainforest Movement Bulletin #40
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Forest Networking a Project of Forests.org
http://forests.org/ -- Forest Conservation
Portal
http://forests.org/web/ -- Discuss Forest
Conservation
11/29/00
OVERVIEW
& COMMENTARY
Every
month the World Rainforest Movement puts out an e-publication
that is
chock full of news and analysis regarding rainforest
conservation. Occasionally I forward a copy to make you
aware of
this
excellent effort-you can subscribe by emailing WRM. This issue
highlights
the failure in the Hague to address climate change,
Gabon's
new industrially orientated forest legislation, threats to
Ogiek's
ancestral land rights in Kenya, clearcutting of rainforests
in
Malaysia, and Thailand's diversity-based community forest
management
system, among many other important stories.
g.b.
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RELAYED
TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: WRM BULLETIN 40, NOVEMBER 2000
Source: WORLD RAINFOREST MOVEMENT
MOVIMIENTO MUNDIAL POR LOS BOSQUES
International Secretariat
Maldonado 1858, CP 11200
Montevideo
Uruguay
Ph +598 2 403 2989
Fax +598 2 408 0762
E-mail: wrm@wrm.org.uy
Web page: http://www.wrm.org.uy
Date: November 27, 2000
In this
issue:
* OUR
VIEWPOINT
- Those
who did not "work it out" in The Hague
* LOCAL
STRUGGLES AND NEWS
AFRICA
-
Gabon: The new Forestry Law and transnational companies
-
Kenya: Local peoples' land rights ignored
-
Nigeria: Shell's choice between profits and principles
- Tanzania:
Impasse on commercial shrimp farming at Rufiji Delta
mangroves
ASIA
-
India: Mining and plantations put National Park at risk
- Laos:
Subsidies for Swedish profits in the forestry sector
-
Malaysia: Campaign against plantation and pulp mill project in
Sabah
-
Malaysia: Where is Bruno Manser?
-
Thailand: A diversity-based community forest management system
CENTRAL
AMERICA
-
Guatemala: Community forest concession initiative at Peten
questioned
SOUTH
AMERICA
-
Argentina: A shady carbon sink project
-
Brazil: Aracruz caught red handed destroying native forests
-
Chile: Wine production threatened by pulp mill project
-
Weyerhaeuser's president promotes plantations in Guyana
OCEANIA
-
Australia: Woodchipping old growth forests for "renewable energy"
-
Aotearoa/New Zealand: Logging company's dirty tricks revealed
*
GENERAL
-
Concerns over the revision of the World Bank's Indigenous Peoples
policy
- Films
on forests and plantations receive award
***********************************************************
* OUR
VIEWPOINT
************************************************************
- Those
who did not "work it out" in The Hague
The
Sixth Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Climate
Change
is finally over and nothing much appears to have been achieved
to
address global warming. This doesn't come as a surprise, given
that
the majority of government delegates -- with a few exceptions --
focused
more on how to obtain profits for their countries and
corporations
from the new carbon trade than on finding true solutions
to the
looming climate disaster.
In
fact, the conference was more like a weekend bazar than a United
Nations
meeting. A new generation of carbon brokers was out in force,
adding
their voices to more traditional "business NGOs" composed of
oil
corporations and other major polluters of the atmosphere. The
nuclear
energy lobby was also prominent in the event, trying to sell
its
"clean energy" as a solution to climate change.
Unfortunately,
other, more respected actors, including environmental
non-governmental
organizations, were also laying out their wares in
this
marketplace, trying to sell forests and plantations as "emission
cuts"
or "carbon sink mechanisms". This generated some divisions
among
NGOs and Indigenous Peoples' Organizations, which weakened the
position
of those truly interested in addressing climate change.
Southern
governments, too, were divided on various issues,
particularly
the so-called Clean Development Mechanism.
The
atmosphere was much more humane outside the conference centre. A
demonstration
organized by Friends of the Earth, for example, was a
huge
success. People from all over the world joined forces to pile up
sandbags
to form an enormous dyke in front of the conference centre.
Although
the dyke was originally conceived as a symbol of the rising
waters
which will come with global warming, it could also be
perceived
as a dyke to protect the world from the decisions -- of the
lack
thereof -- being taken inside the building.
And
that was precisely the main problem: the lack of political will
to
begin to do what everyone knows needs to be done. Or rather, too
much
political will from the large corporations which dominate
politics
in the US, Canada, Australia, Japan and other industrialized
countries,
together with their armies of technocrats and tame civil
servants.
Thus French President Chirac's statement criticizing the
trend
of the negotiations was a welcome surprise. Among other things,
he
stated that since 1992, Parties had fallen too far behind in
taking
actions to combat climate change, and cautioned against
further
delays. Furthermore, he highlighted that the US
produces
a quarter of the world's emissions, and that the per capita
US
levels of emissions are three times higher than those of France.
He
called on the US to join other industrialized nations in making a
successful
transition to an energy-efficient economy. He said the EU
had a
duty to set an example by developing more economical forms of
consumption
and production in terms of natural resources.
The US
delegates were obviously not at all happy to hear this. Nor
did
they like Chirac's support for an effective, equitable agreement
that
leaves room for future development, an independent and impartial
compliance
mechanism, effective cuts by Northern countries in their
emissions,
and assistance for the most vulnerable countries to adapt
to the
consequences of climate change. Noting that each country has a
duty to
build structures that cut its own emissions to a minimum on a
sustainable
basis, Chirac emphasized that setting up projects to
reduce
emissions in other countries should not be seen as a means to
escape
domestic measures. He called for a prudent approach to using
carbon
sinks to alleviate climate change, and said that the ultimate
aim
should be the convergence of per capita emissions.
Chirac's
speech, however, was but a short parenthesis punctuating
closed-door
dealings aimed at undermining everything he called for.
Emission
cuts were never truly on the table. Neither was energy
efficiency
or renewables. Even less so equity and justice. Corporate
lobbyists
did their job well and visions of short-term financial
gains
for a few elites clouded the brains of many Southern delegates,
whose
countries and peoples will suffer most from climate change.
Obtaining
a few dollars from prominent polluters for forest and
plantation
projects was the aim of many -- never mind whether such
schemes
were effective or not in slowing global warming. The US and
Japan,
meanwhile, got their money's worth from these offers of bribes
in the
form of support for some of their positions.
"Work
it out!" was the official slogan of The Hague Conference. A
simple
but meaningful slogan for anyone willing to understand and do
something
-- but apparently meaningless to most of the government
delegates
present at The Hague. Future generations confronted with
climate
change will remember them as those who did NOT work it out.
(*)
Quotations from Jacques Chirac's statement downloaded from the
Earth
Negotiations Bulletin
************************************************************
* LOCAL
STRUGGLES AND NEWS
************************************************************
AFRICA
-
Gabon: The new Forestry Law and transnational companies
The
draft Forestry Law being discussed by the Gabonese Parliament
encourages
the industrialization of wood within the country.
According
to the Ministry for Waters and Forests, the new law will
establish
more strict rules concerning the exploitation of the
country's
forests. Concessions to private companies will be granted
for a
longer period of time, allegedly to favour the regeneration of
the
forest. The government elected in December 1998 argues that its
policy
tries to conciliate the interests of different agents
involved,
with the aim of protecting the forests, and at the same
time
diversifying its products. The Gabonese forestry sector has
until
now strongly relied on the export of a single product: okoume
roundwood.
Even
though this initiative, which tends to the diversification of
the
country's economy, can be considered positive from a
macroeconomic
point of view, capital questions remain unsolved. One
of them
is that of public control over the use of natural resources.
In
Gabon, as well as in other African countries, due to institutional
structural
constraints protection norms are poorly implemented and
enforced.
Does the new legislation create financial mechanisms to
ensure
that the companies' operations are effectively controlled on
the
ground?
The
second relevant point is that of the so-called "stakeholders".
While
transnational logging companies, responsible for the
destruction
of tropical forests in the country, remain the most
important
actors, forest dwelling peoples continue to be ignored.
Alternatives
such as community forest management and locally-based
processing
facilities are not taken into account. Additionally, the
new law
appears to benefit specially --if not solely-- large logging
companies.
In fact Societe Forestiere des Bois Tranches, Leroy Gabon,
Thanry,
Groupe Rougier, Societe de Grumes de la Ngounie and other
important
companies will be granted concessions for even longer
periods,
and will almost certainly be the ones industrializing
roundwood,
thus reaping the benefits of added value to the product.
In the context
of an economy heavily dependent on the exploitation of
natural
resources, massive foreign debt, and weak organization of
rural
communities and civil society, the colonial vision prevails of
the
forest as a mere source of wood managed and exploited by foreign
private
companies. The new Forestry Law does not seem to help to
revert
this situation.
Article
based on information from: "Vers l'adoption d'une nouvelle
loi
forestiere", Panafrican News Agency, November 3, 2000; "Slave and
Enclave.
The Political Ecology of Equatorial Africa", Marcus
Colchester,
WRM, 1994.
************************************************************
-
Kenya: Local peoples' land rights ignored
Even
though indigenous peoples and rural communities are the ones
directly
bearing the brunt of the destruction of rainforests by
intruders,
most national governments portray them as squatters and
responsible
for the destruction of the forest and the extinction of
wildlife,
and threaten them with eviction or undertake direct actions
to
expel them from their homeland. This kind of abuse is often linked
to
forest concessions awarded to logging companies --which
constitutes
an absurd paradox if the aim of the authorities were to
protect
the forest-- or the declared intention of protecting
endangered
species, considering that nature conservation is only
possible
in the absence of human beings. Both types of abuses are
happening
in Kenya and the following are two such examples.
The
Ogiek --a hunter-gatherer and harvester of honey people, dwelling
since
time immemorial in the Mau Forest and adjacent areas-- have
once
again been menaced by the authorities in order to force them to
abandon
their ancestral lands. In 1991 the state partially recognized
their
territorial rights to a portion of the Tinet forests, but this
did not
result in an improvement in their situation. Nowadays the
Ogiek
--numbering some 5000 people-- have been pushed into the last
Forest
Belt of the former Mighty Mau and Mt. Elgon Forests. This is
the
consequence of a process started in colonial times and continued
after
the country's independence until the present time.
The
successive governments have systematically ignored the Ogiek's
ancestral
land rights, and allocated large areas of former forest
lands
to the ruling elites. Additionally, part of the remaining
forest
has been granted to logging companies, which would lead to
their
quick destruction. Even though Kenya ratified several
international
treaties related to the protection of the rights of
indigenous
peoples --like the International Covenant on Economic,
Social
and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil
and
Political Rights-- they have not been respected when concrete
policies
are formulated and implemented.
A
second example of abuse over land rights is related to
conservation.
A plan to be implemented by the Kenya Wildlife Service
in the
Tana River District in Coast Province --with financial support
from
the Global Environmental Facility (GEF)-- to protect the red-
capped
manabey, an endangered monkey species, is being resisted by
residents
of Ngao and Ndera locations. The official promise to
compensate
land owners has divided the local residents into two
groups:
one of them accepts to move from their farms along the river,
while
the other vows to stay, arguing that money cannot compensate
for the
loss of their land and the dramatic change in their
lifestyle.
In fact people are proposed to move to the semi-arid
plains
of Ozi and Kipini where there are no rivers.
Molu
Shambaro, a local leader and member of Parliament for the
district,
who is opposed to the eviction, has expressed that local
dwellers'
rights have to be respected, and has proposed that the
wildlife
service involves local people in their campaign to conserve
the
Tana River mangabey instead of forcing them to leave their lands.
Shambaro
asserted that if local people get involved, wildlife
conservation
and traditional lifestyle in the area will become
compatible.
He also accused both the government body and its GEF
counterpart
of corruption, which is considered to be the main reason
for the
failure of conservation projects in the country.
Article
based on information from: International Network of Forests
and
Communities, 27/10/2000, e-mail:
network@forestsandcommunities.org
;
http://www.forestsandcommunities.org
; Thousands Face Eviction to
Conserve
Kenya's Tana River Mangabey, by Naftali Mungai,
http://ens-news.com/ens/oct2000/2000L-10-20-01.html
************************************************************
-
Nigeria: Shell's choice between profits and principles
Shell
is continuing its clever misleading propaganda orchestrated
through
advertisements circulating in the most influencial press
media
of the North, in order to revamp its tarnished image and
convince
public opinion that it is an environmentally friendly
company.
The campaign "Profits and Principles: Is there a choice?" is
based
on beautiful photographs of wild animals, lush forests, and
tender
faces of African people accompanied by texts like: "Time and
again
at Shell we're discovering the rewards of respecting the
environment
when doing business". "If we're exploring for oil and gas
reserves
in environmental sensitive regions, we consult widely with
the
different local and global interest groups to ensure than
biodiversity
in each location is preserved." "At Shell we are
committed
to support fundamental human rights. We invest in the
communities
around us to create new opportunities and growths."
Nevertheless
in the Niger Delta reality could not be more far away
from
the self image the company is making efforts to show. Since
1958,
when Shell arrived to the region a nightmare began for the
Ogoni,
an indigenous nation of about 500,000 people living in the
area.
Counting on the support of successive governments Shell took
hold of
Ogoniland. As in other parts of the world where oil is
exploited,
the result has been high unemployment and poverty rates,
environmental
devastation and loss of livelihoods for the local
people.
Repression has been brutal. About 80,000 people had their
villages
destroyed and about 2,000 were killed by the state armed
corps.
Last November 10th marked the 5th anniversary of the murder of
the
environmental leaders Ken Saro Wiwa, Barinem Kiobel, John
Kpuinen,
Saturday Dorbee, Paul Levura, Nordu
Eawo, Felix Nuate,
Daniel
Gboko and Baribor Bera. Their "crime" was to fight for the
rights
of their people against abuses commited by Shell and the
Nigerian
military government that was backing it.
In 1993
the Ogoni declared Shell "persona non grata" and got it out
of
their lands. But after an absence of seven years the company is
menacing
to return to Ogoniland. In April this year the announcement
was
made that the only aim of Shell was to remove its remaining
facilities,
which were causing environmental problems in the area due
to the
emission of poisonous gases and uncontrolled leaking.
Nonetheless
in October Shell admitted that its real intentions were
to
reactivate its 125 oil wells in the region. If this happens
violence,
collusion and misery will increase. It is clear that Shell
has got
an answer to the question of whether there is a choice
between
profits and principles. The answer is yes and the choice is
profits.
Article
based on information from: "Some
things never change" by
Andy
Rowell and Owens Wiwa, The Guardian, 8/11/2000; "Greenwash
Award:
Shell. Clouding the Issue" by Kenny Bruno, 15/11/2000
(
http://www.corpwatch.org/greenwash/shell.html ); MOSOP Ogoni,
17/11/2000,
e-mail: mosopgb@hotmail.com
(The
full text of the memorial message from Ms. Gbenewa Phido,
President
of MOSOP-UK on 11/11/2000 to mark the 5th memorial
anniversary
of the murder of Ken Saro Wiwa and other Ogoni leaders,
has
been included in our web site under: Information by
country/Nigeria.
Previous articles published in our Bulletin about
the struggle
of the peoples of the Niger Delta are available in the
same
site)
************************************************************
-
Tanzania: Impasse on commercial shrimp farming at Rufiji Delta
mangroves
The
Rufiji Delta in South Eastern Tanzania holds some 53,255 hectares
of
unspoiled mangrove forest. These mangroves are not only a key
element
for the environment in the region by stabilising the
coastline,
building land through accumulation of silt and the
production
of detritus, preserving the quality of water, and serving
as
windbreaks for the hinterland, but also constitutes the source of
livelihoods
for thousands of people living there (see WRM Bulletin
12).
In
April 1999, Tanzanian NGOs were able to secure an interim order
staying
plans of the African Fishing Company's 10,000 hectare shrimp
farm
project at Rufiji Delta. Would the project have been
implemented,
one third of the whole Rufiji Delta would have ended up
in the
hands of the company for a period of no less than ten years,
thus
threatening the livelihoods of thousands of local farmers and
fisherfolk
living in the delta, and causing severe environmental
impacts
that would have put at risk the future of the region.
The
panel of three judges chosen to hear and dictate on the case
disintegrated
when one of its members retired and another one was
transferred.
The case has not yet been assigned to another panel and
it
appears that at present there are not enough judges to constitute
a new
one. In the meantime, the company is said to be facing severe
financial
constraints which would have even forced it to sell part of
its
assets. Although the situation is not yet clear, it seems that
the
efforts carried out by concerned citizens and organizations have
managed
to save --at least for the time being-- the mangroves and
local
peoples' livelihoods.
Article
based on information from: Late Friday News, 71st Edition,
October
2000; e-mail: mangroveap@olympus.net
************************************************************
ASIA
-
India: Mining and plantations put National Park at risk
The
temporary work permit given to the Kudremukh Iron Ore Company
(KIOCL)
to continue the extraction of iron in the Kudremukh National
Park,
located in the Western Ghats region of the state of Karnataka,
has
given place to severe criticism from national and international
environmental
NGOs, which had been putting pressure on the
authorities
for the company's request to be denied.
KIOCL
has been operating in the Aroli and Malleshwara regions of
Kudremukh
National Park, under a 30-year lease, which expired in July
1999.
Since then, the company has been lobbying to obtain a 20-year
extension
on the lease, but it has only been granted two successive
year
long temporary permits.
Impacts
of mining in the area are apparent. A report of the Indian
NGO
Environment Support Group (ESG) proves that many fish varieties
have
disappeared due to pollution, and points out that farmers
complain
about the decline in agricultural productivity downstream
due to
deposition of mine tailings. River pollution has provoked an
increase
in cases of disease among villagers. In 1987 a 67 metre long
slurry
pipeline broke and its leakage reached the Yennehole River,
which
led to severe environmental damage.
The
only action supposedly undertaken by KIOCL to mitigate the
impacts
on forests and rivers in the area has been to plant alien
trees!
The company adduces having implemented a "reforestation"
programme
by planting 7.5 million acacia, eucalyptus and other alien
tree
species. If such claims were true it would make things even
worse,
since the substitution of a portion of forest by a plantation
prevents
the regeneration of the secondary forest, thereby
impoverishing
the environment. Both mining and plantations are a
direct
cause of deforestation. Nevertheless that of Kudremukh
constitutes
a particular case where both activities combine to
destroy
the forest.
At
present the State Government has ordered an environmental impact
study
be undertaken before an extension on the lease is granted.
However,
this is not seen as a sufficient guarantee by local
environmentalists.
Leo Saldanha from the Environment Support Group
says:
"I sincerely believe that a systematic public campaign is the
most
appropriate option to ensure mining ends in Kudremukh. Nothing
like
the people's will to bend a government that is intent on
violating
public commitments and the law."
Article
based on information from: Drillbits & Tailings; 18/8/2000.
Volume
5, Number 13
************************************************************
- Laos:
Subsidies for Swedish profits in the forestry sector
On 7th
November 2000 the formal opening of a US$2.9 million
laminated-wood
processing factory took place at Nabong Farm, 30
kilometres
from Vientiane, the capital of Lao PDR. The factory will
initially
sell timber pallets to IKEA, the Swedish retailing giant,
and in
future will produce furniture under the trademark Vicwood.
Financing
came from a series of loans --US$550,000 from IKEA,
US$800,000
from the International Finance Corporation, the private
sector
arm of the World Bank, and US$300,000 from Swedfund, the
Swedish
IFC counterpart. The timber will come from Burapha's
1,200
hectares of Eucalyptus camaldulensis plantations, and from the
Asian
Development Bank's Industrial Tree Plantations project, which
aims to
establish 10,000 hectares of plantations in Laos.
Burapha's
publicity materials claim that the factory will bring
"beautiful
hardwoods" to "discerning world markets without
devastating
the natural tropical forests". However, while IKEA has
found a
new source of cheap timber, with or without Burapha's factory
project
the logging of Laos' forests continues.
The
Burapha Group is structured perfectly to gain the most from the
subsidies
available for plantation development in Laos. The company
is a
subsidiary of the Swedish forest industry company Silvi Nova AB,
and in
Laos consists of three companies: BAFCO (Burapha Agroforestry
Co.
Ltd.); NAFCO (Nabong Farm Co. Ltd.); and BDC (Burapha Development
Consultants
Co. Ltd.). The first two companies are commercial
ventures
--BAFCO produces and exports wood based products from its
own
plantations, and NAFCO is a dairy farm which supplies Vientiane
with
dairy products, chicken and eggs. BDC however plays a very
different
role, being the largest consulting firm in Laos, providing
advice
on financial analysis, engineering, environment, forestry,
agriculture
and livestock and rural development.
In the
early 1990s Burapha Development Consultants (along with Jaakko
Poyry)
won a contract for consultancy services for the Asian
Development
Bank's US$16 million Industrial Tree Plantations Project.
Today,
the Burapha Group factory in Nabong buys timber from
eucalyptus
plantations established under the ADB project.
In 1995
Jaakko Poyry and Burapha produced a report for the ADB
commenting
on the Lao Government's laws on plantations, Directive
186.
Among the consultant's recommendations were that export taxes
and
transport taxes should be reduced. In other words, the
consultants
recommend increasing their company's profits at the
expense
of villagers' land and livelihoods.
When
the Lao Government gets advice from forestry consultants through
a
project funded by the Asian Development Bank, it may believe that
it is
getting the best advice that money can buy. In Burapha's case
however
there is a clear conflict of interest. The company is
providing
advice recommending more subsidies through the ADB to
produce
cheap timber which Burapha then buys and exports. No wonder
that a
Burapha representative in Vientiane said about the ADB
project,
"The project for Burapha has been a success, I'm not sure
about
the project as a whole".
By:
Chris Lang, e-mail: chrislang@t-online.de
************************************************************
-
Malaysia: Campaign against plantation and pulp mill project in
Sabah
A
plantation project that would occupy about 3% of the area of Sabah,
in
northern Borneo, and provoke the clearcutting of 6% of its
dwindling
primary forests is being promoted in Kalabakan by a joint-
venture
between the State-owned company Innoprise Corporation Sdn
Bhd,
Lions Group of Malaysia and the China Fuxing Pulp and Paper
Industries
of China. The plantation and pulp and paper mill
megaproject,
whose cost has been evaluated in U$S 1.1 billion, will
require
the felling of 240,000 hectares of forest to be replaced by a
massive
monoculture plantation of black wattle trees (Acacia mangium)
--also
known as dry acacia or mangium tree-- a fast growing tree
native
to Australia.
The
project has sparked criticism because of its expected impacts and
for not
having even adhered to the weak legal environmental
requirements
existing in Sabah. According to the Sabah Conservation
of
Environment Prescribed Activities, any forest which is cleared for
the
felling of timber covering an area of 500 hectares or more or any
development
of forest plantation of 500 hectares or more requires an
Environmental
Impact Assessment (EIA). Nevertheless 12,000 hectares
of the
land of the proposed project have already been logged without
a
single EIA done. Innoprise Corporation has claimed that no EIA is
required
since the logging operation was approved before the State
EIA
requirement was enforced, and announced the logging of another
33,000
hectares. The company completely ignores the Federal
Government's
Environment Quality Act of 1974 and the Environmental
Quality
Order of 1987 which oblige to perform EIA for these kind of
activities.
Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) --Friends of the Earth
Malaysia--
has denounced that by allowing the logging to proceed
without
an EIA, the Sabah Government is completely disregarding the
environmental
impacts of the logging activities and is manipulating
the law
in favour of the interests of big companies and to the
detriment
of forest conservation.
It is
reasonably feared that this huge plantation will provoke
deletereous
impacts on the environment. The plantation area will cut
the
biggest remaining block of continuous forest in the region which
extends
between the Danum Valley and the Maliau Basin, both
classified
as Class One Protection Areas. The area contains high
biodiversity
levels, including 120 mammal, 280 bird, and more than
2500
tree species. This biodiversity rich ecosystem is in danger of
being
substituted by a uniform and biodiversity poor agrosystem.
Already
wild animals are reported to have been sighted more often,
probably
fleeing from the logged area. Since the land of the proposed
project
is mostly steep, felling for plantations will expose the soil
to
direct erosion by rainfall. Sediments could reach the coastal
mangrove
vegetation in Cowie Bay, depleting marine resources.
Consequences
are already apparent: with only 12,000 hectares logged
the
Danum Valley has been recently flooded. Local microclimate will
also be
affected because often once the rainforest is replaced with a
plantation
it will dry and heat up. Additionally, this could create
negative
conditions for the plantation itself, which would become
more
prone to fires.
The
effects of pulping and bleaching are also threatening. The use of
chlorine
in bleaching the pulp has caused the industry to be the
third
largest source of dioxin and its related compounds in the
world.
This problem is further compounded by the fact that Malaysia
still
has no policy on dioxin damage prevention. Carbon dioxide,
sulphur
oxides and chloroform are some of the polluting gases emitted
by this
industry. Furthermore about 300 chemicals, among them organic
pollutants,
chlorophenicols, acidic and organichlorine compounds have
been
identified in pulp and paper mill effluents.
To stop
further destruction, SAM has called the State Government of
Sabah
and the Federal Government to halt all further logging
activities,
take action against the parties that are responsible for
logging
the 12,000 hectares of forest without an EIA, undertake a
comprehensive
EIA of the project, seek extensive and genuine feedback
from
the public in relation to the reviewing of the EIA, review as a
whole
given the magnitude and scale of its expected environmental
impacts.
Additionally an international campaign has been launched to
oppose
this project. Those interested in participating are invited to
visit
our new web site (www.wrm.org.uy) under Action Alerts - October
2000.
Article
based on information from: "International alert to save Sabah
Rainforests
from Pulp and Paper project in Kalabakan" by Friends of
the
Earth Malaysia - Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM), October 2000. E-
mail:
meenaco@pd.jaring.my
************************************************************
-
Malaysia: Where is Bruno Manser?
Since
May 2000 Bruno Manser is missing. This human rights activist
wanted
to visit his friends, the Penan forest nomads in Sarawak, who
are
surrounded by logging companies, the army and the police. It
seems
he never arrived. Search parties have had no luck. Now the
Swiss
Diplomatic Corps has stepped in. Manser could have been
arrested,
had an accident or could have been murdered. We sincerely
hope
that none of those situations occured. In the meantime, we
extend
our wholehearted support to Bruno's family and friends.
Further
information on Bruno Manser's situation is available in the
"Information
by country" section (Malaysia) in our web site at:
http://www.wrm.org.uy
Article
based on information from: Ruedi Suter. "The Swiss Diplomatic
Corps
have started an official search for the rain forest protector".
E-mail:
info@bmf.ch For detailed information on
the situation of the
indigenous
peoples in Sarawak:
http://www.bmf.ch/action/chronologie_2000_en.html
************************************************************
-
Thailand: A diversity-based community forest management system
Among
at least 400 modern "community forest" systems in the hilly
upper
Northern region of Thailand is that of Mae Khong Saai village
in
Chiang Dao district of Chiang Mai province. The system features 57
hectares
of agricultural fields in which at least 10 different types
of
paddy rice are grown in stepped fields in the valley bottoms. Some
10
varieties of dryland rice are also cultivated in hill fields,
which
rotate on a cycle of 3-5 years.
Some
643 hectares of community use forest are carefully distinguished
from
980 hectares of protected forest, between them encompassing six
different
native forest types. Some 58 herbal medicines on which
villagers
depend are locally cultivated, some in a protected
pharmaceutical
garden in the middle of the forest.
Altogether,
forest
food and medicine yield the equivalent of US$700 per year for
each of
the village's 22 households. As well as providing wood for
local
use, the forests also help preserve the nature of the streams
that
lace the area, which provide water for agriculture and drinking,
as well
as the 17 carefully conserved species of fish which
supplement
the local food supply.
All
aspects of the system --agriculture, community-use forest,
protected
forest, fisheries-- are interdependent.
The whole pattern,
meanwhile,
relies for its survival on local villagers' protection.
For
example, the use of fire is carefully controlled by locals so
that
devastating blazes don't strike the local forest, as they often
do the
surrounding region's monoculture tree plantations.
Regular
monitoring, together with a newly-formalized system of rules
and
fines covering forest, stream and swidden use, helps maintain the
local
biotic mosaic. Political vigilance is also crucial. In 1969,
locals
teamed up with concerned government officials to stave off a
threat
by commercial loggers to devastate the area. Today, Mae Khong
Saai
villagers are fighting a 1993 government decree ordering them
out of
the Wildlife Sanctuary which was established in 1978 on the
land
they inhabit and protect.
Mae
Khong Saai's insistence on local stewardship is obviously good
for the
area's biodiversity. A recent rapid
wildlife survey in and
around
the village resulted in sightings of many species --including
a flock
of Oriental Pied Hornbills (Anthracoceras
albirostris)--
that
indicate that the area is one of the most biologically diverse
in
Thailand. Animals including bear, dear,
gibbon, boar and various
wild
cats, as well as over 200 species of birds, take advantage of
the
tapestry of local ecosystems.
Thoroughly
integrated with lowland economies, polities and cultures,
Mae
Khong Saai couldn't be further from the romantic cliche of a
completely
isolated, self-sufficient community. As
well as marketing
forest
products, many community members periodically take jobs far
outside
the community, some in distant cities. In their defense of
local
livelihoods and the biodiversity they rely on, moreover, Mae
Khong
Saai's residents depend partly on alliances they have fashioned
not
only with similar communities across Thailand's northern
mountains
but also with urban-based NGO movements. Arguably, the
community
owes even its current identity and way of life on the
periphery
partly to the history of uneasy relations between the Karen
people
who inhabit it and the modern, nationalistic, racialist Thai
state
which has developed over the past century. Whatever successes
its
forest stewardship system achieves will owe much to the way it is
able to
converse and negotiate with lowland and international powers
in
renewing its strategies for local control.
Article
based on information from: Environmental Improvement
Department,
Northern Development Foundation, Project for Ecological
Recovery,
Northern Watershed Development Project, Northern Farmers
Network,
and villagers from three Northern Thai communities,
Raayngaan
Phol Kaan Wijay Rueang Khwaam Laaklaai Thaang Chiiwaphaap
lae
Rabop Niwet nai Khat Paa Chum Chon Phaak Nuea Tawn Bon, Chiang
Mai,
1997. Summarized by Larry Lohmann with thanks to Montri
Chanthawong
for providing this book, which he helped compile.
************************************************************
CENTRAL
AMERICA
-
Guatemala: Community forest concession initiative at Peten
questioned
A new
type of forest conservation initiative is being implemented in
Guatemala
since 1995. According to its promoters, it attempts to
couple
community-based sustainable development with the protection of
the
Peten forests in the multiple use zone of the Maya Biosphere
Reserve,
the largest protected area in Central America.
The
government has recently granted five community organizations --
formed
mostly by subsistence farmers-- permission to log trees in
their
neighbouring forests over the next 25 years. The process is
being
monitored to see how effective these locally managed forest
concessions
will be, both in curbing deforestation and in providing
cash to
local residents. The Costa Rica based Tropical Agricultural
Research
and Higher Education Center (CATIE), the Guatemala's Park
Agency,
(CONAP), two national NGOs ("Naturaleza para la Vida" -
Nature
for Life and "Propeten") and the U.S. Agency for International
Development
(USAID) are supporting these concessions in the area.
From
the official viewpoint, the increase of the population in the
Peten
area is the main factor for forest degradation and destruction.
The
government argues that the population of Peten --which nowadays
is
composed of some 90,000 inhabitants-- is expanding at a high rate,
and
that since 1986 settlers have deforested nearly 10 percent of the
reserve
area. The rationale of the initiative is that communities
with
concessions which have a contract with the state will prevent
other
people from settling in the area or convert the forest to other
uses,
and at the same time obtain economic benefits from forest
exploitation.
Communities that do not adhere to their contracts would
lose
their concessions.
Nevertheless,
such view ignores the influence of other activities
provoking
the degradation of the reserve, as for example oil
concessions
granted by the government itself (see WRM Bulletin 21)
and
illegal logging which has affected especially cedar (Cedrela
odorata)
and mahogany (Swietenia macrophilla).
Additionally,
the above referred concessions are focused on timber
production,
ignoring that forests are not only a source of wood for
local
communities, which find many uses from the non-timber forest
products
provided by the forest. As a result, granting of concessions
has
focused exclusively on timber production. For example, the
community
of Uaxactun found it difficult to get a concession, since
its plans
did not include logging but the exploitation of non-timber
products.
Some communities which derived their livelihoods from the
use of
different forest products, mainly "xate" (Chamaedorea spp.)
and
"chicle" (Manilkara achras) are increasingly devoting themselves
to log
extraction, which has created internal conflicts between those
who
want to maintain their traditional lifestyle and those who prefer
logging.
The
concept of "sustainable forest use" is also under question
because
social and environmental impacts of logging have not been
taken
into account, and it is doubtful that in all cases a monetary
gain
will be obtained. There are also allegations that the activities
of the
accompanying NGOs have not benefitted the communities and are
said to
have focused on perpetuating themselves. At least one of them
has
been questioned for trying to interfere in the internal
organization
of peasant communities, while its activities should be
limited
to help them during the process of community forest
management.
All the
above has led to different opinions regarding this approach,
which
will need to be thoroughly analysed before moving forward.
Local
communities --and not external actors-- should be the real
beneficiaries
and non-wood products should be given priority over
timber
production in order to ensure the sustainable use of the
forest
and the well-being of the local population.
Article
based on information from:
http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/968724096/index_html ;
Elmer
Lopez, 11/19/2000, e-mail: elmer.lopez@dialb.greenpeace.org ;
Carlos
Albacete, 16/10/2000, e-mail: tropicoverde@guate.net
************************************************************
SOUTH
AMERICA
-
Argentina: A shady carbon sink project
While
government representatives were discussing at the Hague the
supposed
benefits of including forests and plantations in the so-
called
Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol of the
Climate
Change Convention, an unusual project in Argentina was giving
reason
to those opposing such inclusion.
In
February this year the company "El Foyel S.A.", the new owner of a
plot of
7,800 hectares located in El Foyel, in the southern Province
of Rio
Negro, addressed the Andean Forest Service (SFA) to apply for
an
authorization to open up and rehabilitate several kilometres of
roads
within a forest in the region, and to cut 300 hectareas of this
valuable
ecosystem in order to substitute it with oregon and radiata
pine
plantations. This forest borders the Nahuel Huapi National Park,
close
to the touristic city of Bariloche.
Three
months later, even lacking the required authorization, the
company
began the logging operations. The SFA reacted accusing it of
"blatant
infringement of the law", causing the destruction of one
hundred
cypress trees, as well as "nire" (Nothofagus antartica),
"maiten"
(Maytenus boaria) and other native tree species.
Nevertheless,
this episode is but the tip of the iceberg of a much
more
shady situation. In fact, the project implies the destruction,
not of
300 but of 4,500 hectares of forests and their substitution by
pines.
To
present the undertaking under a "green" mask, the proponents claim
that
the project includes the "sustainable management" of 1,800
hectares
of native forest, including species such as "lenga"
(Nothofagus
punilis) and cypress. However, its main objective is to
make
profits from both wood extraction and the sale of carbon