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FOREST
CONSERVATION NEWS TODAY
FSC
Certifies Logging of Tiger Habitat in Indonesia
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Forest
Networking a Project of Forests.org, Inc.
http://forests.org/ -- Forest Conservation
Portal
http://forests.org/links/ -- Forest
Conservation Links
07/30/01
OVERVIEW
& COMMENTARY by Forests.org
Forest
Stewardship Council (FSC) certification that timber is
environmentally
acceptable is in danger of becoming meaningless. FSC
has
awarded a certificate to commercially log Indonesian rainforests
that
are habitat for the Sumatran tiger, one of world's most rare
creatures
with an estimated 300 remaining in the wild.
The logging
company
"PT Diamond Raya" has not taken any specific measures to
protect
the tigers, and has failed to carry out an environmental
impact
assessment of its activities. Yet it
has achieved FSC's stamp
of
approval. Wood products carrying the
FSC logo might not be as
'green'
as they seem.
Indonesia's
logging industry is so out of control - with pervasive
illegal
logging, non-existent governmental controls, a scale of
logging
that is clearly unsustainable, and widespread violations of
indigenous
rights - that there should be no commercial logging of
remaining
rainforests, certified or otherwise. In
March of this
year, a
coalition of more than 140 Indonesian environmental and human
rights
organizations called on FSC to suspend the certification of
logging
operations in Indonesia, until such time as certifications
could
be carried out reliably. One of the key
concerns is that the
Indonesian
legal system does not presently respect indigenous forest
communities'
traditional rights to the land on which they live,
whereas
this is specifically required by the FSC.
Forests.org
recently editorialized
(http://forests.org/recent/2001/fsccomme.htm)
that FSC's principles
fail to
define under what circumstances certified logging of old-
growth
forest wildlands is acceptable, and do not incorporate large
protected
areas to ensure sustainability of forest landscapes.
Failure
to come clean regarding the circumstances under which FSC
certification
is appropriate in the World's remaining intact forest
wildernesses
is not only disingenuous and dishonest to FSC's
important
forest protection constituency, it also legitimizes
extensive
first time commercial logging of remaining old-growth
forest
wildlands. Granting certification to
log old-growth
Indonesian
rainforests that are endangered tiger habitat illustrates
this
point perfectly.
It is
time for all concerned forest conservationists to do battle for
the
meaning and very soul of "forest certification" in relation to
claims
of environmentally sensitive forest management. The concept
of
environmentally benign forest management is under threat from
meaningless
industry sponsored alternative certification schemes.
But
just as troubling is that in its rush to be THE certification
label,
FSC is severely weakening their commitment to environmentally
based
forest management and forest conservation in general.
FSC's
message to concerned forest conservationists: drop dead. FSC
is
stonewalling any and all criticism.
FSC-USA is run like a
business
- intent only upon the bottom line and getting out the cut -
rather
than as a rigorous environmental certification organization
committed
to global forest conservation goals.
WWF is so invested in
the
success of FSC certification that they advocate for commercial
scale
certified logging of the World's forest wildlands, rainforests
in
particular. In PNG, WWF is the driving
force behind actual
logging
of ancient rainforests where it may not otherwise occur -
including
in delicate mangrove ecosystems. And
WWF is assisting
industrial
loggers that have incredibly dubious environmental and
social
records - the Malaysian logging cartels - to access and log
the
World's dwindling rainforests by working with them to achieve FSC
certification.
The
FSC/WWF forest certification empire has so bastardized the
concept
of environmentally benign forest management that now
Indonesian
and Malaysian loggers accessing and logging much of the
World's
remaining large rainforests - including endangered tiger
habitat
- is being sold as "green" forest management. Increasingly
forest
conservations do not buy your vision, nor will we buy your
"green"
products.
The
tropical timber industry was on the point of collapse because of
campaigns
to boycott tropical timber. Returning
again to an emphasis
upon
not logging or buying any old-growth tropical timbers may be
more
successful in meaningfully protecting the World's remaining
large
old-growth rainforests than opening them up to questionable
"sustainable"
forest management. Forests.org
desperately wants to
support
FSC certification, but only if it is environmentally rigorous
and
does not include logging old-growth forest wildlands.
Forests.org
joins with the Rainforest Foundation and the Indonesian
NGO
Walhi in demanding that FSC revoke PT Diamond Raya's certificate.
Further,
failure by FSC to quickly develop principles that leave most
old-growth
forest wildlands unlogged will lead to widespread
withdrawal
of support from ecologically rigorous forest conservation
NGOs
that remain independent and vigilant.
g.b.
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RELAYED
TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Environmentalists challenge 'eco-timber'
go-ahead for logging
in endangered tiger habitat
Important test case for Forest Stewardship
Council; consumers could
be misled by 'green' scheme
Source: Rainforest Foundation and WALHI
Date: July 11, 2001
PRESS
RELEASE
The
habitat of one of the world's rarest creatures, the Sumatran
tiger,
could be threatened by a rainforest logging company that has
recently
been awarded an 'eco-timber' certificate under the Forest
Stewardship
Council (FSC) scheme, warned environmentalists today. In
a
letter to UK-based forest assessment company SGS-Qualifor, which
issued
the certificate, the Rainforest Foundation and Indonesia's
largest
national environmental organisations, WALHI, demanded that
the
certificate should be immediately withdrawn (see attached).
The Indonesian
logging company PT Diamond Raya is logging 224,000
acres
(90,240 hectares) of rainforest on the island of Sumatra,
Indonesia,
and was 'certified' by SGS-Qualifor in April 2001. To
qualify
for the certificate, PT Diamond Raya is supposed to comply
with
the standards set by the Forest Stewardship Council [1]. The
award
of the certificate means that PT Diamond Raya's timber can
carry
the Forest Stewardship Council's 'Seal of Approval', which is
intended
to reassure members of the public that wood products are
from
"environmentally acceptable and socially beneficial" sources.
The
Forest Stewardship Council scheme is supported by the Worldwide
Fund
for Nature (WWF) and other conservation organisations, major
high
street retailers such as B&Q, and timber companies.
However,
documentation in the possession of the Rainforest Foundation
shows
that, whilst the forest being logged by PT Diamond Raya is
known
to contain Sumatran tigers, of which there are only an
estimated
300 remaining in the wild worldwide, the logging company
has not
taken any specific measures to protect them, and has failed
to
carry out an environmental impact assessment of its activities
[2].
Destruction of forest habitat is cited by world conservation
authorities
as one of the major threats to the Sumatran tiger.
'Undercover'
investigations carried out in the area by independent
Indonesian
researchers shortly after the certificate was issued also
revealed:
*
widespread illegal logging taking place within the 'certified'
area
[3];
*
evidence of serious conflict between PT Diamond Raya and local
people,
who have recently burned down one of the company's camps
in
protest [4].
Simon
Counsell, of the Rainforest Foundation, said:
"This
case suggests that the FSC system of assessing logging
operations
is not adequate to ensure that good forest management and
conservation
is taking place. The FSC needs urgently to review the
procedures
of forest assessors such as SGS-Qualifor, who are issuing
'eco-timber'
certificates that may be misleading consumers. Wood-
buying
members of the public should be aware that products carrying
the FSC
logo might not be as 'green' as they seem."
Longgena
Ginting of WALHI said:
"The
Diamond Raya case is clearly an example from which FSC has to
learn.
Seventy percent of logging in Indonesia is illegal, and we
desperately
need a moratorium on logging, not dubious green awards
for
logging companies who do not deserve them. There should be no
more
certifications of any concessions in Indonesia before there have
been
necessary reforms in the forestry laws that would create the
possibility
for the Principles and Criteria of the FSC to actually be
implemented."
In
March this year, a coalition of more than 140 Indonesian
environmental
and human rights organisations called on the Forest
Stewardship
Council to suspend the certification of logging
operations
in Indonesia, until such time as certifications could be
carried
out reliably. One of the key concerns is that the Indonesian
legal
system does not presently respect indigenous forest
communities'
traditional rights to the land on which they live,
whereas
this is specifically required by the FSC.
ENDS
Notes
to Editors
[1] The
Forest Stewardship Council was set up in 1993 by
environmental
groups and timber companies in order to provide a
globally
recognised system of showing consumers which wood products
are
from "environmentally acceptable, socially beneficial and
economically
sustainable" sources. The FSC developed 10 'principles'
and 56
specific 'criteria' of good forest management, with which
logging
companies are expected to comply in order to be granted the
FSC's
'Seal of Approval'. The FSC accredits private and independent
organisations
such as SGS-Qualifor to carry out the actual
assessments
of logging companies on its behalf.
[2] FSC
assessment criterion no. 6.1 states that "Assessment of
environmental
impacts shall be completed -- appropriate to the scale,
intensity
of forest management and the uniqueness of the affected
resources
-- and adequately integrated into management systems..."
Criterion
no. 6.2 states that "Safeguards shall exist which protect
rare,
threatened and endangered species and their habitats (e.g.,
nesting
and feeding areas). Conservation zones and protection areas
shall
be established, appropriate to the scale and intensity of
forest
management and the uniqueness of the affected resources.."
[3] FSC
assessment criterion no. 1.5 states that "Forest management
areas
should be protected from illegal harvesting, settlement and
other
unauthorized activities."
[4] FSC
assessment criterion no. 2.3 states that "Appropriate
mechanisms
shall be employed to resolve disputes over tenure claims
and use
rights. The circumstances and status of any outstanding
disputes
will be explicitly considered in the certification
evaluation.
Disputes of substantial magnitude involving a significant
number
of interests will normally disqualify an operation from being
certified"
For
further information:
Simon
Counsell, Director, Rainforest Foundation (London):
Tel:
+ 44
(0) 20 7251 6345 (office)
+ 44
(0) 20 7354 1014 (home)
+ 44
(0) 7941 899 579 (mobile)
Fax:
+44 (0)
20 7251 4969
Longenna
Ginting, Campaigns Director
e-mail:
simonc@rainforestuk.com
WALHI
(Wahana Lingkungan Hidup Indonesia / Indonesian Forum for
Environment,
Jakarta*)
Tel:
+ 62 21
794 16 79 (office)
+ 62
811 92 70 38 (mobile)
e-mail:
kuleh@indo.net.id, walhi@walhi.or.id
+ 62 21
799 2826 (home)
Fax: + 62 21 794 1673
*
Please note time difference of +6 hours between London and
Djakarta.
###RELAYED
TEXT ENDS###
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