WRM Action Alerts

Penans appeal to Sarawak government to respect native claims

A number of Penan communities in the Apoh, Tutoh, Layun and Patah areas in the
Baram District, Miri Division are jointly appealing to the relevant authorities to stop
carrying out survey works on their traditional lands which are being undertaken for the
creation of the Apoh/Tutoh Forest Reserves and Maringgong Protected Forests.

In a petition which was jointly signed by several headmen, the Penans categorically
voiced their objections against the survey work, carried out by officers from the Forest Department. Their objections are based on the following grounds:

1. By going ahead with the survey work to demarcate the area for forest reserves and protected forests, the government reflects lack of respect for the customs and rights of the Penans to their lands over which they have survived for generations.

2. The affected Penans have, at the time of the notification to constitute the forest reserve and protected forest in 1998, sent letters to the government stating their claims to the lands and objected to the proposal to include their communal customary lands for the forest reserve and protected forest. These objections have been totally ignored and the Penans have yet to receive any response from the State.

3. Prior to the commencement of the survey works, the Penans were not properly notified and consulted.

4. The Penans also expressed concern that the security of their people and their vital resources in their respective areas could be jeopardised if outsiders encroached into their territories without their prior knowledge and approval.

In the light of the above, the Penans urge the Forest Department and the Sarawak Government to cease all survey work in the affected areas immediately.

Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) shares the concerns and anxieties raised by the affected Penans and calls on the State Government and the authorities concerned to give immediate attention and cease all survey works in the affected areas. SAM is of the view that the move to constitute large areas of lands and forests which encompass customary lands of the native communities as forest reserves or protected forests in complete disregard of the rights of indigenous communities is contrary to law and is unconstitutional.

Further, this move will gravely affect the ability of the Penans to have free access to and use of their customary lands and resources. They will lose control over their lands and their own future.

SAM has previously highlighted similar concerns to the government in a memorandum sent in 1998. This was prompted following a number of complaints from local communities where forest reserves and protected forests were being constituted. We called for a review of the proposals in view of its far-reaching implications on the rights and livelihood of the native communities. Regrettably, until now, there has been no response from the government.

Our investigations also showed that most, if not all the so-called protected forests and forest reserves which were previously constituted have been licensed out to timber companies or used for other development purposes.

Hence, it is a total misnomer to call them forest reserves or protected forests, giving the impression that they are created for the purposes of conservation. The constitution of such reserves and protected forests are being perceived as a mechanism to deprive the indigenous communities of their native customary rights in favour of the timber and plantation industry and for other uses.

If these forests are indeed classified as permanent forests for the purposes of
conservation or for protecting the ecological functions of the forests, then such proposals should not result in the deprivation of the native communities to their ancestral lands.

In view of the ongoing voicing of concerns and objections by the affected communities, SAM reiterates its firm support for the demands made by the indigenous people and calls on the government to:

Defer all work on the ground especially with regards to survey works to demarcate the proposed areas pending a proper and full consultation with the affected communities and a determination of the status of the communities' claims of customary rights and privileges over the proposed areas.

In designating areas as forest reserves or protection, exclude all those areas over which the natives claim or have exercised their customary rights.

Review laws and policies which enable the extinguishment of native customary
rights before any forest areas are constituted as Permanent Forest Estates ( as
forest reserves or protected forests) in order to achieve so-called ‘sustainable
forest management’.

Until such laws and policies are reviewed, the creation of more and more permanent forest estates in the State will be perceived as a formula to deliberately increase the number of conflicts or disputes between the government and the communities and between the communities and the timber and plantation companies.

By extinguishing the rights of natives to their customary lands, the affected communities have no legal basis to assert their role and participation in the management of the forests and gain benefits from the forests.

The spirit and principles of sustainable forest management recognizes the importance of the full participation by local communities in all levels of forest management. These are clearly indicated in many international instruments and covenants. To constitute forest reserves and protected forests in complete disregard and violation of the rights of indigenous communities cannot be regarded as the practice of sustainable forest management.

SAM appeals to the Sarawak State Government to recognise and respect the rights and customs of the indigenous communities.

Please express your support for the Penans by sending letters to the Sarawak government and the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

1. YAB Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir bin Mohamad
Perdana Menteri Malaysia
Pejabat Perdana Menteri Malaysia
Blok Utama, Kompleks Jabatan Perdana Menteri
Pusat Pentadbiran Kerajaan Persekutuan
62502 Putrajaya, Malaysia

2. YAB Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Hj. Abdul Taib b. Mahmud
Ketua Menteri Sarawak
Pejabat Ketua Menteri,
Tingkat 22, Wisma Bapa Malaysia, Petra Jaya
93502 Kuching, Sarawak, Malaysia

Please send us copies of the letter of support. Thanks.

Meena Raman meenaco@pd.jaring.my
Sahabat Alam Malaysia

Jakarta Declaration for Reform of Export Credit Agencies

Export credit agencies (ECAs) have an increasingly negative impact on the
environment, human rights, debt, arms trade, corruption and other concerns
of civil society worldwide. In response, the "Jakarta Declaration" was
drafted at the recent 3rd Annual International NGO Strategy Session on ECA
Reform in Indonesia. More than 40 representatives of NGOs and social
movements from around the world convened for the strategy session and
contributed to the wording of the Declaration as well as to ideas for how
to campaign around it. The most immediate goal now is to launch the
Declaration with broad support at the beginning of June.

The Jakarta Declaration builds on the previous 1998 NGO Declaration on ECA
reform by noting the minimal progress that ECAs have made since that time.
It also raises the bar in terms of what a growing number of NGOs worldwide
expect from ECAs in relation to: transparency and consultation; environment
and social guidelines and; criteria on human rights, corruption, arms trade
and debt.

The groups' intention is to generate as much support for the Jakarta
Declaration as possible by the end of May, to be ready for public launching
on 5 June, World Environment Day. Groups in every country and region are
invited to organize their own national launch activities on the set date to
suit their own campaigns.

What you can do: Send expressions of support to Ken Walsh at Environmental Defense, email: wild@edf.org by the END OF MAY for compilation and
redistribution for national launches.

To indicate support, please send the following information:

*name of organization (for inclusion after the text of the declaration)
*country in which organization is based (for inclusion after the text of the declaration)
*name, title and email address of person giving authority (for records)

To learn more about ECAs and the international ECA reform campaign, please
see www.eca-watch.org

Persecuted Mexican environmentalists remain in jail

Rodolfo Montiel Flores and Teodoro Cabrera Garcia, two anti-logging environmentalists from the Mexican Pacific-coast state of Guerrero, remain behind bars, where, soon after their arrest in May of 1999, they were gruesomely tortured until they confessed to concocted charges of drug-trafficking and illegal weapons possession. Their only real "crime?" Doing the kind of thing Sierra Club activists do every day -- peacefully protesting excessive and possibly illegal logging of old-growth forests in the Southern Sierra Madre.

Last month, international attention was focused on this case when Montiel was awarded the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize, often referred to as the Nobel Prize for environmental activism. Also last month, Amnesty International declared both men prisoners of conscience.

Through our joint Human Rights and the Environment Campaign, Amnesty International and Sierra Club are calling for Montiel and Cabrera to be immediately and unconditionally released. We are also calling for the allegations of torture to be fully and impartially investigated and those responsible brought to justice.

Now is a critical moment for Montiel and Cabrera, as we expect a judge to rule on their case at any time. So far, our tremendous grassroots support for Montiel and Cabrera has helped bring their story to the attention of the Mexican government, the U.S. Congress and the world community. But more support is needed.

TAKE ACTION: We have structured a two track approach to elevate the struggle on behalf of Montiel and Cabrera's freedom.

First, we are calling on all U.S. Congressional Representatives to sign on to a letter circulated by Representative Nancy Pelosi urging President Ernesto Zedillo of Mexico to ensure the immediate and unconditional release of Montiel and Cabrera. In this effort, please contact your Representative to urge him or her to sign on to this letter.

Secondly, we are asking all concerned activists (i.e. YOU) to write a letter to the Mexican Attorney General, Jorge Madrazo Cuellar, urging him to recommend that the prosecution drop all charges against Montiel and Cabrera and that they be released immediately and unconditionally.

Please take this opportunity to first call your representative today to urge him or her to sign on to the Pelosi letter. The switchboard number for the U.S. Capitol is (202) 224-3121 and your representative can be found on the Web at www.house.gov. To sign on, please direct your representative to contact Jonathan Stivers in Rep. Pelosi's office at (202) 225-4965.

When you are done with that, please take another moment to send a letter to Attorney General Jorge Madrazo Cuellar (see sample letter).

If you encounter any questions you can't answer or have anything to report back, please contact Sam Parry in Sierra Club's Washington, DC, office either by phone at (202) 675-7907 or by e-mail at sam.parry@sierraclub.org.

Finally, please use this opportunity to contact local Amnesty International and Sierra Club leaders who you know to urge them to join us in these efforts.

Thank you for your continued interest and activism in the cause of defending those who give the earth a voice. Together we are making a tremendous difference.

Good luck,

Sam Parry
Conservation Organizer
Sierra Club
(202) 675-7907
sam.parry@sierraclub.org

Villagers affected by the Pak Mun dam in Thailand

Please sign on by 8am Friday May 19 East Asia time, or 5pm Thursday May 18, West Coast US time. Send your name and organization name to: aviva@irn.org

Currently, more than 2,000 villagers affected by the Pak Mun dam in
Thailand have occupied the crest of the dam and the fish ladder. They are
demanding that the gates of the dam be permanently opened to allow the fish
to migrate upstream. Thai NGO SEARIN has asked that we send a letter of
support for the villagers to the Thai Prime Minister, urging him to ensure
that the police remain non-violent, and asking him to meet the villager's
demands.

We have just been notified that the Governor of the Province has given the
villagers until May 19 to disperse, so we need to sent this letter by
morning of May 19.

I hope you can sign on.

Thanks,
Aviva Imhof - IRN

Brazil Ranchers Call for More Destruction - Key Vote in Congress May 24

The large landowners and ranchers caucus of the Brazilian Congress on May 9th passed draft legislation out of committee that would increase cutting and burning of the Amazon forest 25% over current yearly rates, about 4,250 square kilometers a year at 1998 rates, or an area 164 times as large as Washington DC of additional deforestation. Support Brazil's Amazonian and national grassroots and environmental organizations in saving the forest, and defeating the 1% of landowners who control 50% of the agricultural land and have already cut, burned and abandoned an area of forest bigger than Florida!

A vote on the plan is scheduled on the floor of the Brazilian House of Representatives on May 24. Please fax or e-mail Brazilian President Fernando Henrique Cardoso (FHC) respectfully requesting that he work to defeat this measure, and approve the National Environmental Council (CONAMA) proposal.

Insiders in Brazil tell us that FHC has asked to personally see all the international correspondence on this issue. Brazilian environmentalists, the media, and society at large have overwhelmingly mobilized against the ranchers special interest group, jamming the mailboxes of Congress and dominating the ariwaves. But your voice is needed will have an effect in supporting Brazilian grassroots, environmental, union and human rights organizations and public opinion to stop this stick-up of Brazil's irreplaceable natural patrimony.

Fax or E-Mail President Cardoso NOW! (See sample letter in Portuguese)

fax: 011-55-61-224-0289; 011-55-61-226-7566
e-mail: presidencia@planalto.gov.br ; pr@planalto.gov.br

For further information :

Steve Schwartzman sschwartzman@environmentaldefense.org
tel. 202-387-3500; Environmental Defense

Adriana Ramos adriana@socioambiental.org
tel. 011-55-61-349-5114 Instituto Socioambiental

"Conselho Nacional dos Seringueiros", cns@brnet.com.br