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WRM Bulletin
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WRM GENERAL ACTIVITIES Peoples' Summit of the Americas Ricardo Carrere was invited to participate in the Environmental Forum of the Peoples' Summit of the Americas, held in Santiago, Chile from 15 to 18 April. In his presentations he emphasized on the underlying causes of deforestation and on the need to implement policies which ensure the conservation of forests and the respect of the rights of peoples that inhabit or depend on them for their survival. He also participated actively in the Forest Group discussions, which resulted in a document aimed at influencing the region's governments (see under Americas) We have recently created the WRM web page as an effort to facilitate the dissemination of the Movement's viewpoints and relevant information to a wider audience. At the same time, it is our aim to put the web page at the service of our affiliates and friends, who can use it as a means to both access relevant information and to feed it with information about their own specific concerns. We therefore request you to send us any information (in electronic format) which you wish to be included in the web site and/or to give us the address of your or other web sites which you think we should link ours to. We are of course also open to your suggestions about ways by which to improve our current service. The address is: http://www.wrm.org.uy The tenth issue of our Bulletin has been published in Spanish and distributed to Spanish and Portuguese-speaking people. Future issues of the Bulletin will be published in both languages. We hope that this innovation will contribute to broaden our contacts in this linguistic area of the world. We are now producing two mailing lists -one for Spanish-speakers and another for the rest. Those who wish to receive both versions of the bulletin are requested to let us know. The March-April issue of "World Watch" (published by the Worldwatch Institute) includes an article by Ashley Mattoon on pulpwood plantations ("Paper Forests"), which constitutes an important contribution to clarify this issue to a wide audience. The WRM Internacional Secretariat contributed with comments to the author's first draft. An answer from the Canadian Northern Territories Government We have received a letter signed by Mr. Stephen Kakfwi, Minister of Resources, Wildlife and Economic Development of Northern Territories, Canada, as a response to the one sent by WRM International Secretariat on February 25, 1998, expressing our concern on the issuance of logging rights in the Cameron Hills, a territory occupied by the Deh Cho indigenous people. Mr. Kakfwi assures that his Government "will not permit any operation to cause serious ecological damage" and is "quite prepared to work with the Deh Cho First Nations."
WRM CAMPAIGNS A dictatorship-type action gives Aracruz a spurious victory Last 18th of March the Brazilian Government launched a military operation -similar to the actions against the indigenous peoples undertaken during the dictatorship period- seeking to put a definitive end to the struggle of the Tupinikim and Guarani for the demarcation of their traditional lands. Clearly the aim of the authorities’ action was to create the necessary conditions for the indigenous peoples to be forced to accept the imposition of Aracruz Cellulose. The roads giving access to the indigenous villages were occupied by armed members of the Federal Police. Every contact between the villagers and the organizations that had been supporting their struggle was then interrupted. Leaders from CUT (Central Unica dos Trabalhadores - Central Workers Union), that had participated in the demarcation initiated on March 6th, were arrested and treated like criminals. Similarly members of the Movimento dos Sem Terra (Landless Peasants Movement), who had also supported the indigenous action, were removed by force from the villages. As informed in WRM Bulletin nr. 10, the Dutch missionay of CIMI Winfried Overbeek was arbitrarely arrested by the Federal police and threatened to be expelled from the country. The negotiations between the Government, the indigenous leaders and Aracruz Celulose took place in Brasilia. During this whole period, the indigenous representatives were kept isolated and impeded to establish contact with any person or organization that could give support and advise to them. Finally, on April 2nd., the Tupinikim and Guarani leaders signed an agreement called "Term of Adjustment of Conduct" valid for a period of 20 years. According to it, the indigenous peoples "accept" to exchange the limits of their traditional lands -occupied by Aracruz Celulose- for financial assistance provided by that corporation. The President of FUNAI and representatives of the Federal Public Prosecution Service also signed the agreement. The presence of the armed police was maintained until April 8th in order to guarantee that this agreement would get the approval of the indigenous communities. A decree of FUNAI (Dec. nr. 268/98) forbade the indigenous peoples to receive in their own lands representatives of the organizations that had been in close contact with them for many years. The intention of the Brazilian authorities to expel Winfried Overbeek from the country was neutralized by a judicial decision that accepted an Habeas Corpus appeal presented by CIMI. Nevertheless the Federal Police initiated an inquiry against him under the accusation of "practising political activities, or interfering directly or indirectly in the public affairs of Brazil". In case he is declared guilty, the punishment can vary from one to three years of detention. Fabio Vilas, also a member of the CIMI team, was denounced for inciting the Tupinikim and Guarani to commit crime, in the case of the "illegal" self-demarcation action. In the meantime Aracruz Celulose is celebrating the agreement. During a visit to Comboios (the only village which did not participate in the demarcation action and signed a separate agreement) on April 19th to celebrate the National Day of the Indian, the President of the Company, Mr. Lorentzen, announced that the originally stipulated U$S 500,000 that during 20 years Aracruz would give to the village were raised to U$S 2,000,000. Money seems not the be a problem for the Company. At the same time the claim of Comboios for 1,300 additional hectares was not accepted and only 121 hectares were awarded to them instead. Nevertheless other people do not find reasons for celebrating. At a meeting held in the village of Caieiras Velhas to commemorate the National Day of the Indian, representatives of other four villages as well as members of Parliament, academic institutions, trade union leaders and CIMI, denounced the Brazilian Government and FUNAI for their attitude regarding the conflict. Many people of the communities showed their disatisfaction with the agreement. Internal conflicts have emerged in relation to the money offered by Aracruz as well. As a consequence of the above named decree of FUNAI -that literally isolated the Tupinikim and Guarani villages- the education project undertaken by CIMI and other three NGOs was interrupted. In a declaration dated April 20th. CIMI states: "1. Considers the ‘agreeement’ SCANDALOUS and IMMORAL. It was obtained by means which offend seriously the fundamental rights and liberties guranteed in the Federal Constitution valid for any individual -including the Indians. Also, it is extremely harmful to the rights and interests of the mentioned indigenous communities and to their physical and socio-cultural integrity. Finally, it is flagrantly UNCONSTITUTIONAL by violating Art. 231, par.4, of the same Constitution which orders that indigenous lands are ‘NOT TRANSFERRABLE’ and ‘UNAVAILABLE’, and therefore NOT NEGOTIABLE. 2. Rejects vehemently the role of the President of FUNAI in the whole episode, since who has the legal duty to protect and make respect the indigenous rights never could have assumed a supposedly impartial posture and much less participated in the pressures on those whose rights he should defend. 3. Denounces the anti-indigenist policy of the Federal Government, which prefers to hit the Constitution in its sacred rights which recognise the demarcation of lands traditionally occupied by indigenous peoples, benefitting the interests of a multinational company which invaded these mentioned lands. 4. Clamours, for the benefit of the public interest and a state which respects democracy and civil rights, for the immediate repeal of the decrees nrs. 253 and 268/98, which forbid the entrance of non-governmental organizations in the indigenous lands Tupinikim and Guarani in Espirito Santo 5. Elevates the gestures of solidarity that the Indians received from so many parts of the land and from abroad, specially from the society of Espirito Santo which always has been in favour of the Indians struggle. It is worth emphasizing that the support and solidarity of the MST, CUT, the Workers Party, Human Rights organizations and other organizations of the state of Espirito Santo, obtained special importance during the self-demarcation promoted by the Tupinikim and Guarani. At the same time, CIMI rejects the usage of legislation to impede the fundamental right of showing solidarity. 6. Wants to show all its solidarity with the Tupinikim and Guarani communities, victims of so much pressure, and reaffirms its uncompromising support to their struggle for a real solution of the problem, that is to say, the demarcation of the 13,579 ha, untransferrable and essential right which no agreement can undo." Brasilia-DF, 20th April 1998" CIMI has started an evaluation process about this serious problem. Supporting organizations of the land struggle are asked to keep mobilised and to think of a future strategy. The WRM will continue coordinating actions with CIMI and the Brazilian organizations that have been supporting the Tupinikim and Guarani struggle. We strongly condemn the agreement, which is the result of the open alliance between the Brazilian authorities and Aracruz Cellulose. We consider that the Tupinikim and Guarani were in fact forced to enter a no way out situation and compelled to renounce to their legitimate claims. Source: CIMI, April 1998.
INTERNATIONAL Meeting on Underlying Causes of Deforestation and Forest Degradation The second meeting of the Organizing and Steering Committees for the "Joint initiative on addressing the underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation", will be held in Bratislava, Slovakia, from 12-15 May. The Steering Committee meeting (13-14) will be open to interested individuals. The Organizing Committee will hold a meeting on 12 and 15 May. There will also be a special event on recent developments in global forest policy on May 12th, lunchtime and a number of roundtables on related issues during the following days. All meetings will be held at the venue of the fourth Conference of the Parties of the Biodiversity Convention, Incheba a.s., Viedenska cesta 5, 85251 Bratislava, Slovakia. For more information please contact the Global
Secretariat at
LOCAL STRUGGLES AND NEWS AFRICA Central African Conference on Forests The second meeting of the Conference on Central African Moist-Forest Ecosystems (CEFDHAC) will take place in Bata, Equatorial Guinea from 8 to 10 June 1998. CEFDHAC meets every two years in one of the countries of the sub-region and is the result of the political will expressed by the Central African states in their 1996 Brazzaville meeting. The conference is a concertation framework open to all actors participating in the sub-region's forest sector, particularly politicians (parliamentarians and ministers), forestry experts, the private sector and NGOs, aiming at the sustainable managemente of forest ecosystems in Central Africa. At present, countries participating at CEFDHAC are: Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo-Brazzaville, Congo-Kinshasa, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda and Sao Tome et Principe. The draft agenda of the meeting is as follows: CONFERENCE ON CENTRAL AFRICAN MOIST-FOREST
ECOSYSTEMS (THE BRAZZAVILLE PROCESS) GENERAL THEME: Central African moist forest ecosystems : The strategies for a common future SUB-THEMES :
For more information, please contact: Secretariat of the Conference P.O. Box 5506 Yaounde,
Cameroon,
AMERICAS Integration can aggravate deforestation A group of NGO representatives from many countries of the region met in the Environmental Forum of the Peoples' Summit of the Americas held in Chile and analized the forest issue within the framework of the trade-related integration process being promoted by governments through ALCA (Free Trade Agreement of the Americas). The results of the analysis clearly showed that deforestation and forest degradation constitute a common denominator in practically all de countries of the region and that the current integration process, which emphasizes on the economy in detriment of the environmental and social issues, will do nothing but aggravate the situation. Given the enormous importance of forests both for the peoples that inhabit them and for the maintenance of a number of vital functions they play both at local, regional and global levels (biodiversity conservation, water and climate regulation, etc.), participants decided to present a number of demands to governments to ensure forest conservation in the region. What follows is the synthesis report prepared by the Forest Group of the Environmental Forum: "FORESTS During the month of April 1998, civil society present at the Peoples' Summit demand governments to carry out an evaluation of the risks that the current model implies for the conservation of native forests, which hold the largest part of existing terrestrial biodiversity in the hemisphere and that play a number of essential ecological functions, both at the local and global level. In such context, it is important to take into account that industrial tree plantations, frequently treated as forests, have very few of the latter's characteristics and thereby must not be considered as such. Plantations are not forests. Past experience shows that commercial liberalization agreements which do not include environmental and social safeguards have more negative than positive effects. The Free Trade Agreement between the USA, Canada and Mexico has weakened forest protection measures and standards, has resulted in the loss of employment in the US forest sector and has intensified the exploitation of native forests in Canada, without upgrading its inefficient and destructive logging practices, and has put Mexico in clear disadvantage in relation with its commercial partners. Consequently it must not be assumed -as is being done by governments in the region- that there is a mutually beneficial relationship between trade liberalization, market opening and sustainable use of forests. The promotion of international trade and economic liberalization, exclusively based on market opening, has not taken into account the environmental consequences in the short, medium and long term. The citizen organizations of the hemisphere understand that it is necessary to urgently promote, in all international, bilateral or multilateral negociations, the respect for the principles and criteria of sustainable development. Within this context, the organizations present at the Peoples' Summit call on governments to consider: 1. That forests are varied and complex ecosystems, depositories of great biodiversity and that must therefore be used with respect to the balance of the biotic and abiotic elements which compose them. In the Americas, forests are the home of multiple peoples, particularly indigenous, forest-dependent peoples and other traditional communities. Their territorial, social and cultural rights, their style of life and civilization and their use of natural resources must be guaranteed. That is an essential condition to build more equitable and sustainable societies and to ensure the conservation of forests and of the environmental functions they perform. 2. That forest conservation must be prioritized in a true integration process. Commercial and investment agreements must be subordinated to international environmental agreements and to the relevant national, regional and local legislation. 3. They must promote and support broad and effective citizen participation in decision-making which affect forests. 4. They must design and implement territorial management systems contributing to link agrarian policies to forest policies, incorporating the needs and priorities of local populations. 5. They must adopt criteria and indicators to verify if forest use is sustainable in their respective territories and to evaluate if commercial integration affect them negatively or positively. 6. They must eliminate existing environmental and economic subsidies which favour the unsustainable use of forests and accelerate their destruction, while establishing subsidies for environmentally beneficial technologies, sustainable practices and particularly remove subsidies to large-scale tree monoculture plantations. 7. They must implement an in-depth institutional reform which subordinates the institutions in charge of forests to national environmental institutions which should ensure the effective implementation of forest protection legislation and be provided with the necessary economic resources to carry out such task. 8. They must include legislation in order that investments which might affect forests contemplate prior evaluations of their potential environmental and social impacts, in which all interested groups, particularly local populations, are able to participate in the final decision. 9. They must protect forests from large-scale exploitation and avoid all substitution of native forests for plantations. Special emphasis must be put on the protection of endangered species. 10. They must ban the export of non-processed wood, particularly logs and wood chips."
ASIA Thailand: the struggle of forest peoples to remain in the forest There has been, over the course of the last decades in Thailand, many developments concerning the rights of the tribal peoples found throughout the country, but predominantly in the north. The difficulties faced by the entire country, stemming from bad environmental management, came to rest upon the shoulders of the tribal people as they now inhabit the last remain stretches of forested land. However, is the basic assumption made here valid? The assumtion that the small remaining forested lands must be kept free from human habitation, indeed, that the human occupants must be removed and the wilderness kept in a pristine and isolated state to be used for day excursions by the rich. That this is the most effective conservation strategy that could be adopted? It is easy to demonstrate that this western philosophy of conservation does not apply to Thailand, that far from protecting the valuble and vulnerable natural resources it destroys priceless cultural heritage and removes from the delicate ecosystems the resource management strategies of the people that have protected the forests over centuries. However what is the right approach to take? The struggle for land rights by the indigenous/tribal people of Thailand's north has been so long and difficult because of this question. It highlights the most controversial aspect of the struggle; on the one hand are people that claim to have preserved the land they occupy since time immemorial and demanding the right to continue to do so and on the other are people who claim to work for the good of the entire Thai community, to be protecting a vital and delicate resource that is essential for the prosperity and health of the nation. How to decide between these two seemingly compatible but polarised views? The secret lies in the obvious, to combine them, to allow those with the knowledge and experience to preserve that which they have been protecting for centuries. Economic development has been a focus of the Thai government since 1961; it is a form of development which stressed the increase of agricultural production for export, removing the traditionally sustainable nature of Thai agriculture. This immediately meant that the land under cultivation in Thailand increased dramatically, adding to the already serious deforestation problems. It is worth noting at this point that the new emphasis on surplus production did not have as great an effect in the areas populated by hilltribes. In Mae Hong Son, where the population of hilltribes is estimated at 80%, the forested cover is significantly greater than in comparable provinces. This environmental damage could not go unchallenged and thus the government did begin to pay attention to the problem. In 1992 the Cabinet declared that all land was to be divided into zones in which the land uses would be controlled. Three classifications were put into place, dividing economic, agricultural and conservation areas. Area allocated to Conservation Area: 88 million rai; to Economic Area: 52 million and to Agricultural Area: 7 million rai. Within this declaration were the procedures for increasing the area of conservation land, as the 88 million rai target was not complete. These procedures illustrate more clearly than anything else the western image of conservation which has been adopted by the Royal Thai Forestry Department. Once land has been classified as conservation land, all communities already in residence must be, if possible, relocated away from the delicate area. Trees planted immediately in all areas of the vacated land. If immediate relocation is not possible the government takes control of all the land used by the community and strictly controls any activity upon that land. The community should be convinced to leave the land and when this is achieved trees are to be immediately planted. This system of regeneration of land shows the view held by the government on conservation land, ie. that it is pristine forest devoid of all human habitation, a state of existence which is ultimately and obviously unsustainable. Before moving on to the reaction of the communities to these threats to their lifestyles it is worth taking a look at the reality of land uses through these areas. The conservation area, stated at 88 million rai has actually at most 68 million, as 20 million rai currently have mining concessions granted by the government, the same government which has actually removed land titles from long standing communities within the conservation areas to facilitate the declaration and increase of conservation land. Not only has the government granted mining concessions in the proclaimed delicate ecosystems of conservation class land but in addition the logging, the government sanctioned logging, which took place in Thailand over the last 30 years of increased material prosperity, can be blamed for the devastating environmental damage on Thailand today, damage which culminated with the deadly floods in the south of Thailand in the beginning of the 1990s. This was what had to happen before the government stopped legal logging, what will have to happen to stop the mining? Yet despite the obvious culpability of the government in environmental problems such as this, the campaign has been to place the blame on the shoulders of the tribal peoples in the north. I will examine this campaign in detail later but it is a good indication of the strength of corruption that the fight has become so dirty. So what has been the response? How have the people reacted to having their ancestral lands and only known way of life threatened? The clearest result is the startling growth in peoples' organisations, the people have come together in highland organisations, lowland organisations and have combined their voices in networks such as the Northern Farmers Network in order to protest the decisions of the government that were threatening them. The well-known Assembly of the Poor saw huge turn-outs of people determined to present their stories and the truth about the situation in Northern Thailand to the government. This massing of support for the poor of the north saw two main responses; the first was the government meeting with delegates on the 17th and 29th of April, 1997, to draft a Community Forest Law which would give the right of resource management of surrounding forest land back to the villages. These meetings were held in Chavalit Yongchaiyudh's time as Prime Minister and with the subsequent changing of the Cabinet the process was slowed. The second apparent result was a strong reaction by the government and Green NGOs against the peoples' organisations; the government has used the hilltribe communities as scapegoats in a number of problems, allegations that when looked at in detail are hardly credible. Firstly, however, we should look at the accomplishments of the two meetings, the 17th and 29th of April. The draft law as designed by the Cabinet was debated by both the green NGOs, the peoples organisations' delegates and the government and a solution, acceptable if not welcomed by all resulted. A committee was established to determine the legitimacy of claims to land ownership and it was accepted that if occupancy could be proved to pre-date the 1993 declaration of "conservation land" then land rights would be granted. Another meeting was also held during April, on the 22nd, to which the delegates of the peoples organisations were not invited. It was here in this meeting that the procedures for the land delineation and titling were drawn up. The mapping was to be done by the military using the satellite mapping techniques and the Royal Thai Forestry Department was responsible for the process of delineation. Difficulties emerged in the process of demarcation, the mapping by the military was slipshod at best and in some cases villages did not even appear on the maps drawn up. Many times the agreements reached in these two meetings have been in danger, most recently, as mentioned, because of a smear campaign run by the government and the green NGOs, many established by retired members of the Thai military and the Thai Forestry Department. The alliances between the government and the NGOs of this kind have quadrupled since the rising popularity of the peoples organisations from 4 to 25. This has meant that, because the green NGOs support the view of forests devoid of human habitation, factionalism has appeared in the NGO community. This factionalism has made the dirty work of blaming the hilltribes for the environmental damage much easier; in the Doi Inthanond area the fires which have recently broken out were immediately considered the work of the Hmong and Karen hilltribes in the area. The ensuing battle to extinguish the fires was attended by thousands of Hmong and Karen people every day and the careful watch to ensure no more fires could get out of control was taken up by these tribes. However, the actions of these people went largely unnoticed in contrast to the similar actions of a smaller group of lowlanders who also aided in fighting the fires. This type of one sided reporting is incredibly damaging to the standing of the hilltribes in the public eye and this standing, this respect, is essential if changes are to be wrought at the policy level. The incident at Doi Inthanond is not unusual. The well-publicised Salaween logging disaster and more recently the reaction to increasing deforestation in Chiang Dao, Chaing Mai Province are also clear examples of the one sided and intentionally misleading reporting of environmental problems in the north. There has emerged recently, however, a recognition in the public sector of the real nature of these problems. Increasingly people are seeing the "scapegoat" allegations for what they are and support is again on the rise for the peoples' organisations. However, the process of land demarcation and the granting of land titles upon the results of the demarcation, as agreed to in the April meetings last year, is under greater threat now than ever before. On April 21st the government will debate whether to allow the process to continue. It has already been stated and there is a very real possibility that the government will decide against the peoples organisations. It is now that support is needed from the international community. Organisations, NGOs, peoples' organisations and international alliances must now make their voices apparent to the Thai government. The rights of the indigenous/tribal peoples in Thailand's north cannot be ignored any longer and the strength of international opinion is well known. Source: The Corner House
Multinational mining in The Philippines A group of fourty community activists from around Asia and the Pacific have recently held a meeting in Baguio City to review the impact of mining in the Cordillera region in northern Philippines, home of the Igorot indigenous peoples. The meeting, that concluded on April 21st., was organized by Friends of the Earth-Philippines and the Mineral Policy Institute of Sydney, Australia. The activists agreed to support each others' struggles for social justice in the wake of an explosion of new mining projects throughout the Asia-Pacific. Marvic Leonen, Director of Friends of the Earth, Philippines, who was one of the guides, told his guests that worse could well be on the way. "Our government is writing laws that are almost identical to the ones we had in the American colonial period. During that time our people did not have control over their lands. Today the government has given away 40 percent of our entire country to multinational mining campaigns." An activist from Indonesia, who preferred to remain anonymous, said that some 70 new mining concessions were given out in 1996 alone out of the 233 that have been awarded in the last 30 years, and which have resulted in tremendous environmental and social injustices. For example Rio Tinto, an Anglo-Australian company, was recently caught dumping hundreds of drums of toxic cyanide into the Mahakam river in Kalimantan causing thousands of wild animals to be killed (see WRM Bulletin nr. 8). The experiences of activists from other Indonesian islands like Irian Jaya, Java, Maluku and Sulawesi and from Papua New-Guinea echoed these problems. Jillian Marsh, an aboriginal activist, warned the other visitors to be wary of companies from Australia, saying that her community had been cheated by uranium mining companies at the Beverly site in South Australia. "We have decided to say no to exploration, no to consultation, no to negotiation. Negotiation is simply an excuse to bluff peoples and to con communities. We are being tricked while our people are being divided by company lies," she said. Source: Drillbits & Tailings. Volume 3 , Number 8. April 21, 1998
CENTRAL AMERICA Nicaragua: indigenous communities win battle against Korean logging company A large meeting took place last February in Rosita, a village on the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua, attended by representatives of indigenous communities (Sumus and Miskitos), local and regional authorities, NGOs, community and religious leaders and many others. The reason: the illegal activities of the Korean transnational company Kimyung, which received a concession in 1994 from the Nicaraguan central government -at the time headed by President Violeta Chamorro- to log an area of 62,000 hectares of forest in indigenous territories. Kimyung operates through the subsidiary SOLCARSA (Sol del Caribe: Sun of the Caribbean), and its objetive is to produce plywood from the region’s broadleaf forests. This concession -the largest ever given by the Nicaraguan government to a foreign firm- was awarded in violation of the constitution, which requires than any concession must be approved by the relevant Regional Authonomous Council, and Chamorro’s government did not comply with this requirement. However, the company began it’s logging and plywood production activities, which immediately resulted in a number of problems to local communities, both to those who thought they would benefit from SOLCARSA’s presence -particularly through job-creation- and to those who opposed it. 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. People resorted to the Supreme Court, which ruled that the concession was unconstitutional and had to be revoked. A year later, with more pressure against the government’s manoeuvering, the ruling was upheld and the concession was annuled The problems are not however over. Although the Korean firm does not hold that concession any longer, it is now trying to obtain wood for its plywood factory from local loggers. Local communities and their allies therefore organized a Forum of the Atlantic North in Rosita, where they discussed the problem and issued a 14-point declaration, which included: - To demand the Regional Authonomous Council to suspend authorization of concessions until the relevant authorities demarcate and award land titles to the indigenous territories - To promote the speedy exit of SOLCARSA from the territory - To demand the central government not to award concessions in communal lands, because these belong to the indigenous communities and not to the State. These demands are crucial. As Maria Luisa Acosta -lawyer of one of the affected communities- says: "SOLCARSA no longer holds the concession and therefore the threat of expropriation of the land to be given to foreigners has vanished. How long will this last? The threat will continue to hang over the communities until the land is demarcated and the State recognizes the rights of the communities over their land." She added: "According to the law, SOLCARSA can continue buying logs. It is therefore necessary that indigenous communities stay alert -the same as the authorities and civil society- to ensure that our rights are respected." Although the meeting recognized the need to "promote productive activities in the region which diversity the use of natural resources in favour of local communities", the fact is that the central government is viewed by the local people as only interested in collecting taxes from foreign investors. As regards to forests, such view is the opposite of the indigenous communities, which see forests under a totally different perspective. As Sumu leader Charles McKlean says: "To affect the life of our trees is as if we affect our own life. When we affect the forest, we affect everyone’s life . . . If we cut down the trees there will be no more water, nor food, nor fish or animals such as the boar." In the same way Julio Bucardo, a Miskito leader states: "We, the Miskitos, have even gone without eating in order to preserve our forests." Source: "Monitoreo Ambiental" February 1998; "Foro sobre Concesiones , Caso SOLCARSA, Rosita, February 1998
NORTH AMERICA Mexico: Mangroves vs. Shrimp Farming and Golf Courses The municipality of San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico is witnessing with great concern how the overdevelopment that has taken place in nearby Puerto Vallarta has attracted the attention of big investing consortia and spurred the ambitions of politicians and senior government officials from this country, resulting in a hoarding of lands, federal zones and mangroves for the purpose of commercial development. At this moment, various shrimp farming projects of several thousand hectares are already under way. In particular a project of the "Granjas Aquanova, S.A. de C.V." company, which has already had a devastating impact on the ecosystem of this region, contaminating the estuaries with the residual waters and deforesting vast areas of mangroves. They have another project, with support from State and Federal governments, that will destroy several thousand hectares more. In the field of tourism there are also negotiations for two mega-projects that would use more than 3500 hectares of Federal Zones and mangroves for the construction of 6 golf courses, more than 10 luxury hotels, marinas, etc. All of this is to take place with the consent of the local authorities who are now using repression to silence demands from local organizations. They argue that these demands are politically motivated. In the last two years or so, local NGOs have done their best to delay in all possible ways, the progress of these projects. Some thirty years ago there were thousands of sea turtles coming to lay eggs on these shores every year. Now they are gone forever! The same thing will happen with all the migrating birds if the mangroves are turned into shrimp farming ponds and golf courses. In such context, the local NGO "Grupo Ecologico Manglar" from San Blas, Nayarit, Mexico, <cpt@foreigner.uan.mx> is seeking support from the NGO community: "We are too well aware of the enormous demands made upon your time and help from all parts of the world. But having resorted with little success to denunciation and lawsuits at the government level, we feel that we have no alternative and realize that the vested interests and corruption we are faced with are of international proportions. We feel that we have no alternative left but to turn for help to international ecological groups committed to the defense of the planet's health and ask them to intervene on our behalf, given the importance of these wetlands in the food chain and the future of life on earth. We thank you for your attention and look forward to hearing from you." Source: Mangrove Action Project, 25 April 1998
SOUTH AMERICA Chile: World Bank acknowledges mistake and impacts in the Bio Bio Pangue dam In a press conference during the recent Summit of the Americas held in Santiago, Chile, Mr. James Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank, admitted that the Bank's support to the Pangue hydroelectric project in the Bio Bio River watershed, in Chile, had been a mistake. Mr. Wolfensohn said that the WB had performed "bad work" during the evaluation of the environmental impact of the project, since the Pehuenche indigenous peoples that inhabit the area had not been consulted. The Pengue hydroelectric plant, that began operating in March 1997, cost U$S 340 million and the International Financial Corporation -an agency of the WB that supports private sector projects- lent U$S 150 million of the total investment. During a visit to the region Mr. Wolfensohn saw for himself that the Pehuenche communities had been removed from their territories by Endesa, the company responsible for the project. When asked about this action, Endesa answered that this was the result of an "agreement" between the company and the dwellers of the area. "I am personally involved for those families to be treated with equity and consider myself morally responsible for the indigenous people". According to Wolfensohn, the WB feels obliged to find a solution to the problem it has contributed to create and will take actions to do so. Source: Aleta Brown, 22/4/98
Roraima fires: more than meets the eye We have received the following contribution from Leonardo Acurero, through our Venezuelan friends from AMIGRANSA, related to the actors behind the scenes involved in the recent fires that devastated the Brazilian state of Roraima . A providential rain has extinguished it but the danger of future fires is still looming. "The fire of development and occupation covers Roraima. The enormous fires affecting the state of Roraima -at the border between Brazil and Venezuela- has NOT been caused by an abnormal drought. The whole territory of this state is located in a geographical region whose precipitation period is similar to that of Venezuela and its mesoclimatic conditions correspond to those of Northern South America. At this time of year this is considered a high pressure area with absence of rains. The landscape of Boa Vista -North and South of the capital of Roraima- is occupied by a mixed tropical premontane forest, transitional to the tropical forest of the Southern and Western region of the state. This means that there is a quick loss of humidity, which favours the action of fire. In addition, a big portion of this area has been suffering frequent fires during the last years; the savanna area has expanded and nowadays occupies a surface 5-times that of the forest, limited to small and dispersed units all over the region. Two main activities promote every year these terrible fires: cattle raising and mining. Such type of fires are not only a frequent feature in today's Roraima; they have also taken place in the past: enormous areas were set on fire to clear land for colonization. The dark mist that covered our Venezuelan atmosphere in mid-May 1995, were first perceived in Puerto Ordaz and in Ciudad Bolivar, and later in the Northern cities of Caracas, Valencia and Barquisimeto. When rains were expected to come, winds that usually bring humidity from the tropical forest of Southern Venezuela only brough particles of carbon in suspension originated in a big forest fire that happened at that time in the Brazilian territory. The frequent occurrence of such fires is the reason which explains why the international press was only informed about this one two months after it had started. Roraima is a Brazilian state targeted by a colonization process promoted by the Brazilian Government under the influence of the military. This project is causing the immigration of hundreds of entire families coming from the dry and poor region of the "Nordeste" (Northeastern region), who are also occupying indigenous lands. Mining is the main activity promoting this anti-environmental and destructive exodus. As a matter of fact, Boa Vista was founded as a result of the mining expansion, that during 20 years has stimulated the invasion of Yanomani territories and the genocide of this nation in this part of the Brazilian territory. The Brazilian Government has been severely criticized for its determination to occupy the Roraima territory at any price, even without taking into account the destruction of the forest and that of the indigenous communities. The criticism is based upon the evidence of the impacts that are destroying the forest, as shown by recent satellite images. This is a clear example of the incompatibility of this terrible development model which is being imposed upon this fragile South American tropical rainforest ecosystem, unique on Earth. Nevertheless the military members of the National Security Council presided by President Fernando Henrique Cardozo himself, categorically opposed the participation of technical staff of the United Nations in helping to combat the fire, that has already affected 20% of this Brazilian state (about 43,000 square kilometres). Trying to occupy Roraima has been a hard task for the Brazilian government, since these territories are situated far away from the industrialized southeastern centres. In spite of this, the Venezuelan Government is supporting and financing the occupation of Roraima, through a complete plan, that includes providing electric energy, fuel, building materials and even the asphalting of highway nr. 174, that links Boa Vista and Manaus. Our -Venezuelan- foreign policy is not only definitively blind but also will have a boomerang effect. It will possibly be too late -once the destruction of the Amazon is completed and an enormous invasion from Brazil arrives- when we realize that we ourselves have contributed to the destruction of our nation." Source: Leonardo Acurero, April 1998
Chile: native forests cleared for plantations One of the more widely publicized arguments for the promotion of industrial tree plantations says that fast growing plantations help to alleviate the main pressures on native forests and consequently help to preserve them. This argument was been proven false in all cases and Chile is no exception. According to the local NGO CODEFF, the substitution of native forest by fast growth exotic plantations constitutes -within the process of destruction of native forests- one of the most important factors. A recent study carried out by the government agency CONAF shows that annual deforestation during the 1985-1994 period reached an annual average of 36,700 hectares and that almost 40% of such area was deforested to make way to industrial tree plantations. CODEFF itself carried out a survey in the VIII region (which concentrates the majority of tree plantations), which revealed that from 1978 to 1987 almost 30% of the forests of the Coastal Andes were clearcut and substituted with radiata pine plantations. Such destruction is the result of a number of pressures, both from within and outside Chile. However, the more obvious cause can be traced within the government, which since 1974 has been heavily subsidizing this type of plantations. Many forestry firms decide -legally in some cases and illegally in many more- to clearcut the existing forest and replant it with pines or eucalyptus in order to have access to government subisidies. Source: Bosques Templados 6 (6) 1998
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