The Cameroonian rainforest covers about 17 millions hectares of lands out of which about 110 000 are cut yearly for agricultural activities and a bit more for industrial exploitation. Regenerating nature hence appears to be a necessity and the government of Cameroon decided to undertake this regeneration by tree plantation. This program started 50 years ago (i.e. 1950) with the help of the Fonds d'Aide et de Coopération". This program was implemented up to 1973. From 1974 to 1982, the national fund for forestry and fisheries (Fonds Forestier et Piscicole) was responsible for regeneration programs. From 1982/1983 to 1988/1989, the National Bureau for Forest Regeneration (ONAREF) operated, and has continued up to the present. About 40 000 hectares of tree plantations have been realised in 50 years. Out of this 25 000 ha have been established in dense rainforest, 10 000 ha in humid savannah. The species planted are very few compared to the total number of species that naturally exist in the Cameroonian forest.

The table below gives the figures of the species planted in the frame of the regeneration program.

The total number of the tree species exceed 9 000 in the Cameroonian forest while 300 of them are actually exploited or known to be potentially exploitable. The regeneration programs are implemented with grassroots communities.

The official objective of the regeneration program is to plant trees in order to avoid species disappearance and to restore "the natural forest". This objective can be considered as noble in theory, but tree planting will cause negative impacts and side effects in the long run. These effects and impacts can be classified into three main groups: ecological, socio-cultural and economic.

• Tree planting can generate many negative impacts. In the original forest, the number of species is so large and the microclimatic conditions created so varied, that biodiversity is very rich. In a tree-planting plot, on the other hand, generally one species and sometimes two are planted in a rigorously scientific order with fixed distances between trees, and the said trees are often even-aged. These conditions do not guarantee a long-lasting equilibrium in the so-called forest that will grow in this plot.

• Any tree species contributes to the development of particular ecological conditions linked to its nature. Planting a limited number of species will hence make the local ecological conditions tip to what the planted trees provoke. In this manner, very few insects, animal species, plants and microbes will be favoured while many others will be condemned to disappear.

• Out of 200 000 seedlings of Eucalyptus planted by ONADEF in the last two years in the Cameroonian savannah, at least 70% are already contributing to soil acidification by their root secretions. Also, Eucalyptus species are reputed to suck up groundwater rapidly from deep soil levels and send it in the form of water vapour to the atmosphere. This can disturb the local water cycle. Some researchers have observed drastic drops in the fish population of rivers surrounded by Eucalyptus plantations. Eucalyptus can sometimes resist firing in savannah areas, but also it contributes to fire spread because of the volatile flammable liquids secreted by its leaves when heated. Some local communities identify this species as a "fire spreading agent". By the years 1970s, a government program called Opération Sahel Vert contributed to the plantation of hundreds of hectares of Eucalyptus in the northern provinces. Most of these trees are very tall today and produce a lot of water vapour. The rains in this region are currently so heavy that they create catastrophic floods that destroy houses, bridges and kill people every year, including the year 2000.

Tree planting in many parts of Cameroon creates conflicts. According to the national legislation, any tree is the state's property unless someone can document that he or she was the owner of the land under it before planting. Such certification is usually impossible in the rural areas. The state often delivers exploitation certificates on planted trees and this often creates conflicts between local communities and logging companies.

In some areas, certain tree species are considered as places for witchcraft meetings. Planting such large tree species disturbs the social equilibrium of the surrounding villages.

In the Sahel region (northern Cameroon), many local communities believe that the trees planted around their farms serve as habitats for crop-devastating birds and animals. They say that such trees result in a reduced quantity of crops to be sold for income or local consumption. In this respect, some communities claim that tree planting has promoted hunger and poverty in their area.

3. The Possible Impact of the Kyoto Protocol

If it is accepted that tree plantations are to be developed as carbon sinks, the ongoing projects in Cameroon will be reinforced and all the impacts mentioned would continue expanding. Other plantation projects would also be developed since the local government believes that the regeneration programs already implemented are insufficient.

Planting trees in the way it is done in Cameroon actually is not a solution to local and national environmental problems. It is just a political tool to make local communities and international donors believe that there is a struggle against environmental problems.

We therefore recommend that an emphasis must be put on researching sound technologies to rely on as strategies to address climate change.

Ndjatsana, Michel, 1993: Etude sur le gestion des forêts camerounaises (rapport)

Carrere, Ricardo, 1999: Ten replies to ten lies; Plantation campaign, WRM

Mbeu, Bille, 1999: La regénération aux oubliettes; Bubinga n° 25 p. 7

Mouvement Mondial pour les Forêts Tropicales, 1999: Les plantations de bois à pâtes: un problème croissant

FAO, 1987: Boisement en milieu rural; Etude n°64

ONADEF, 2000: Rapport d'activités du centre de Maroua

ONADEF, 2000: Rapport d'activités 1999/2000 du centre de Mbalmayo

This document tries to set out, in a general and concise manner, the current forest situation in Colombia as it relates to the establishment of tree plantations and their repercussions on the environment and the societies where they are located. It also refers to the implications of the potential establishment of plantations as carbon sinks under the Kyoto Protocol.

Much of Colombia is covered by forestlands. Yet there exists a deficit in forest area which brings problems with it. Tree plantations are meanwhile causing negative impacts upon the environment as well as upon Indigenous and farmers’ communities, particularly in the west of the country. The communities in these regions have seen their culture altered, their lands occupied, and their customs, production methods, lifestyles and quality of life deteriorate

Colombia has a territory of 114.7 million hectares, of which 69 per cent (78 million hectares) have soils suitable for forests. Of these, 40 million are currently covered with forests, of which 87.6 per cent can be found in the lowlands. Most undisturbed forests (27,409,430 hectares) are found in Amazonia, while the forests that are most disturbed can be found in Orinoquia (2,929,800 hectares).

To protect native forests and stimulate the development of the regions in which they can be found, Colombia established seven national forest reserves in 1959 with a total area of 65,695,000 hectares. Some 18.6 per cent of these reserves have been deforested, so currently the total area is 53,629,800 hectares.

As far as land tenure is concerned, 30,000,000 hectares of the forest property forms part of indigenous reserves, of which 80 per cent is located in Amazonia. 1,300,000 hectares are the collective property of black communities. This could rise to 3,000.000 hectares when all communities have received their land titles. National parks cover some 9,195,000 hectares.

The current rate of forest loss is estimated at 262,000 hectares per year. The main causes are the expansion of agriculture and the colonization of lands with forest potential (73.3 per cent), timber production (11.7 per cent), fuelwood consumption (11 per cent), forest fires (2 per cent) and illegal crops (2 per cent).

Colombia possesses about 280,000 hectares of tree plantations. In 1992, 86 per cent of these plantations consisted of exotic and introduced species and only 14 per cent of native species. The western region of the country has the largest expanses of tree plantations, particularly in the departments of Antioquia, Old Caldas, Cauca and Valle. One can also find some plantations in the departments of Santander and North Santander, and in the eastern plains and the Atlantic Coast. The Government has earmarked a total of 2.7 million hectares of land for tree plantation development, of which 1.1 million hectares is considered viable], most of which is located in the eastern plains and Orinoquia.

The main increase in the rates of plantation took place at the end of the seventies, after which the annual rate declined somewhat. However, it is expected that these annual rates will increase again with the CIF (Forestry Incentive Certificates), which directly benefit companies with large capital reserves like Smurfit Carton de Colombia. The current government plans to plant 160,000 hectares in four years’ time through a "green plan".

The environmental problems caused by plantations have their origin in zoning policies: plantation companies themselves are in charge of choosing lands for tree plantations, without participation of independent entities. This has led to agricultural lands in municipalities like Calima and Darien (department of Valle) and Calarca (Quindio) being taken over by the plantations. At the same time, a number of deleterious impacts have been produced by plantation management and infrastructure. Fire has become a problem due toinadequate management of post-harvest residues that drastically alter the composition of the carbon in the soil, leaving it unprotected and exposed to the erosive impacts of water and wind and nutrient runoff. The plantations also do not fulfillthe hydrological functions of natural forests, lacking as they do such strata as epiphytes and lianas.

Access roads meanwhile often alter the ravines of the cliffs and adjacent streams, which begin to carry a large quantity of sediments. Residues of herbicides used to control rastrera vegetation within plantations have contaminated the waters of such rivers as the Timba and El Silencio in the department of Cauca.

The decrease of biodiversity known from all lands occupied by monocultures is also found in Colombia, caused by replacement of native vegetation and indiscriminate burning, among other things.

Another impact of tree plantations is social. Conflicts with communities are rife, and the ethnic identity, customs, language and concepts of communal living of certain indigenous groups, such as the Paeces in the municipality of La Paila in the department of Cauca, are under threat. More than once, the multinational Smurfit has occupied indigenous lands. This invasion has disrupted daily life and culture in the affected societies. It has caused a loss in the sense of belonging and has uprooted people from their lands, provoking them to their defense. The concerned communitiesare still fighting for an extension of their lands, even though this is a hard task due to the type of obstacles that have to be overcome and the opponents they have to confront. In this specific case the indigenous communities have ended up in a situation of conflict with the other farmers of the region who foster a different development vision and see plantationcompanies as a lifeboat providing job opportunities and progress. These farmers often acquiesce in corporate exploitation Smurfit exploits these divisions by, for example, selling its lands to a farmers' association as a means of ridding itself of the problem of indigenous opposition, all the while keeping the domination and management of the plantations in its own hands.

In other places in the country the corporate occupation of territories has led to an alarming state of affairs, as in the case of the departments of Risaralda and Quindio, where it is estimated that the lands acquired by plantation companies now amoung to 10 per cent of their total territory. In other places such as Riosucio (Caldas) the population has been affected by the sale of its lands to forestry companies. The problem is made worse by the fact that the expected labor opportunities have turned out to be very scarce; what jobs there are tend to be at the beginning of the planting season only. In other regions where companies have opted to turn over the management of plantations or the exploitation of primary forest to local farmers, paramilitary units have been called in to guarantee security for the operations of the companies. This furthers the domination of labor in such regions. Another point of controversy is that companies like Smurfit Carton de Colombia are opposed to the creation of new indigenous reserves, and sabotage this process.

The supposed environmental benefits of creating throughtree plantation "carbon sinks"are currently being questioned, partly on the ground that the model used is similar to the conventional model of plantation management. The current model has serious negative environmental and social impacts, its management deriving from an economic rather than an environmental perspective. The so-called "common benefit" of such "sinks" projects would be restricted to a small group of individuals that have found a superb opportunity to develop a lucrative business using a bogus "green" justification. Among these individuals we find plantation owners, commercial networks, investment banks, government officials and forestry enterprises.

This way of attempting to reduce CO₂ concentrations in the atmosphere can be seen to have little legitimacy once we realize the fact that what is being promoted is acontinuation of the imperial pattern of behavior of industrialized countries. Their polluting emissions are to be "justified" through payments to countries like ours for environmental cleanup services. Countries making themselves dependent on the transnational companies that want to develop these programs demonstrate how meager their commitment is to the task of reversing the process of climate change.

The development of such multinational-dominated practices in our country seriously compromises our sovereignty. Moreover, these practices tend to increase conditions of poverty among our population, as well as the ecological debt of the North.

Colombia is a country a large proportion of whose original territory covered by forestlands. Currently, however, there is a of more than seven million of hectares of forests, while a large part of the forests remaining are subject to acute anthropogenic pressure.

The country’s tree plantations are composed of approximately 80 per cent exotic species. Although they neither cover as large a land area as do plantations in some other South American countries, nor are yet associated with the long legacy of conflict seen elsewhere on the continent, they cause serious social and environmental problems in the regions where they are located -- problems exacerbated by lack of control and monitoring of forestry activities by environmental authorities.

Indigenous and farmers’ communities in the west of the country have been most seriously affected, through loss of, or infringement on, their livelihoods, culture, production methods, and social relations, including the loss of traditional welfare arrangements and quality of life. The development of plantations as carbon sinks as currently proposed will further increase negative environmental, social and economic repercussions for countries like ours.