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WRM Bulletin
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OUR VIEWPOINT The myth about tree plantations helping to protect forests "Tree plantations help alleviate pressures on natural forests, thereby contributing to halt deforestation." The wording may slightly differ from forester to forester and from plantation company to plantation company, but the above is repeated over and over again to convince the public that tree plantations are good and should be further supported and promoted if we wish to save the world's forests. The above may be true in some cases, particularly where local communities have planted trees to serve their own needs, but it is totally untrue when it comes to large-scale fast-growing tree monocultures. As this latter type of plantations spread at an increasing rate all over the world, deforestation continues unabated or even increases. If we look into the most "successful" plantation countries (Chile, Brazil, Indonesia, South Africa), we may find that plantations either increase deforestation directly or -in the best of cases- that they don't play any role at all regarding forest conservation. Chilean environmentalists have recently published "La tragedia del bosque chileno" (The Tragedy of Chilean Forests), which documents the destruction of its native forests. Being Chile one of the leading countries regarding tree plantations (more than 2 million hectares of exotic tree monocultures planted), this should have -in accordance with foresters and plantation companies' assertions- prevented the destruction of its native forests. Unfortunately, the opposite is true and it has been proven that in many cases native forests have been substituted by plantations, thus becoming a direct cause of deforestation. In other cases, extensive areas of forests have been cut, chipped and shipped to Japanese pulpmills, regardless of the abundant plantation wood available for that purpose. The same can be said about Brazil and Indonesia, both with extensive forests and millions of hectares of tree plantations, where deforestation continues increasing. In those two countries, logging and forest fires in many cases serve the purpose of clearing forests for the establishment of industrial tree plantations. Even in South Africa, with its more than 2 million hectares of eucalyptus and pine trees planted in non-forest areas, the few remaining native forests continue to be degraded. A very specific and current example is provided by Smurfit in Venezuela (see article in this bulletin). This company has planted thousands of hectares of eucalyptus, pines and gmelinas to feed its pulpmill. However, the company has been an important factor of deforestation in the region. Firstly, because some of its plantations where implemented at the expense of the existing native forest. Secondly, because although many of its plantations are ready to be harvested, Smurfit has been feeding its pulpmill with cheaper raw material from native forests. Only now, the company has decided to halt its use of tropical wood, but not as a result of its commitment to environmental protection, beautifully worded in its web page (www.smurfit.ie). In fact, such decision was the result of the successful struggle of local people to defend their forests, which culminated last January with the blockade of the highway leading to the pulpmill and the detention of at least a dozen of the company's lorries loaded with tropical wood. In sum, industrial tree plantations are in no way an answer for the survival of the world's forests and in many cases constitute a direct cause of deforestation. It is already well known that to address deforestation and forest degradation there is a need to identify the direct and particularly the underlying causes of such processes. To a large extent many of these causes have been identified and solutions to address them put forward. But to begin with, governments should in all cases support -instead of repressing like in the case of Costa Rica and others detailed in this bulletin- local peoples' struggles to protect the forests, thus giving a clear sign of commitment regarding forest conservation.
LOCAL STRUGGLES AND NEWS AFRICA Kenya: violence against forest activists Last January Prof. Wangari Maathai, one of the most inspiring ecofeminists and pro-democracy advocates in all of Africa, and other Kenyan activists were attacked by thugs while they were peacefully demonstrating outside Nairobi against the privatization of the Karura Forest. On February 2nd Hon. James Orengo, Hon. David Mwenje and Dr. John Makanga were arrested by the police. The day before, President Moi had spoken in favour of the privatisation of the forest. The three men were arraigned in Court by the end of the day and charged with incitement and released on personal bonds of Ksh. 100,000 each. They were ordered to appear again before the same Magistrate on February 16th. This is not the first time that Kenyan ecologists are victims of such kind of abuses. In 1993 armed policemen had broken into Ms. Maathai’s home to arrest her. Kenya has suffered the destruction of its forests in the name of "development". Karura Forest has been a traditional site of the Mabari ya Kihara indigenous people and the whole area is considered sacred. Nowadays it is menaced by the uncontrolled expansion of Nairobi, capital of the country, since the forest land is to be privatized. Kenya maintains one of the highest population growth rates with a high level or rural-urban migration. By means of a fax addressed to civil organizations worldwide, on February 2nd. Ms. Maathai, President of the Green Belt Movement denounces that "the government has become the greatest enemy of the environment" and claims that "the battle for Karura has nothing to do with hatred and ethnicity. On the contrary it has everything to do with love, compassion, concern and resposibility for life on this planet." Social, environmental and religious organizations all over the country have expressed their opposition to the project. The head of the Anglican Church of Kenya Archbishop David Gitari and his Catholic Church counterpart Raphael Ndingi Mwana a Nzeki are some of the top mainstream religious leaders who have said they will soon lead protestors to Karura to express their disapproval over the allocation to private individuals. Those interested in expressing concern for the fate of the arrested environmentalists and their support to Ms. Maathai and the Kenyan people can address the Ambassador of Kenya in their respective countries and: His Excellency, President of Kenya Daily Nation fax: (254) 2 21 39 46 Sunday Newspaper fax: (254) 2 21 40 48 People Daily fax: (254) 2 22 33 44 International Press: fax (254) 2 21 07 54 KTN (Broadcasting Line): (254) 2 21 44 67 Sources: The Green Belt Movement, 2/2/99; World Civil Society Conference (WOCSOC) 5/2/99; Jubilee 2000 Kenya Campaign, 22/2/99; Gaia Foundation, 24/2/99
ASIA Sarawak: indigenous peoples defend their rights On January 12th the Penans of Long Sayan and Long Belok set up blockades at strategic road points to prevent Lajung Lumber S.Bhd from conducting logging activities in their communal forest, after the company refused to meet their demands. In October 1997 Lajung Lumber had signed an agreement with the Penans to log pre-established areas of their communal forest. However the company violated the terms and conditions stipulated in the agreement trying to log undesignated areas even without paying compensation. This abuse provoked the reaction of the indigenous communities. As a consequence of their direct action, on January 26th the Police instructed the Penans to present themselves at Marudi to meet with the General Manager of the company. The case was presented to the District officer who ruled in favour of the Penans and instructed Lajung Lumber to pay them a compensation for the volume of timber harvested since January 1998. In addition all vehicles and logging tractors belonging to the company were to be removed from areas of the communal forest not designated for logging in the agreement. Furthermore he requested the company to supply the Penans with sufficient material to erect a new longhouse in Long Sayan. Another important action was that of several Iban families in Selangau, Mukau District. On February 2nd they launched their protest against the company Ladang Hijau (Sarawak) Sdn.Bhd. for trespassing into their lands to develop an oil palm plantation. Their protest consisted of asking the company workers to stop their activity at the disputed area, putting a blockade to stop the company from carrying out further operations, and hanging banners addressed to call the public’s attention. Prior to the ongoing protest, the affected Ibans had sent a Memorandum/Petition to the Chief Minister of Sarawak, the State Minister of Land Development, and their State Assemblyman (for Tamin), where they clearly stated their viewpoints and concerns on various aspects of the plantation scheme on their traditional territories. Unfortunately, their petition seemed to have fallen on deaf ears. After having exhausted all the available ways to bring their problems to the state government leaders and relevant authorities and still no action was forthcoming, the affected Ibans felt there was no other recourse but to put up the physical protest/direct action to put an immediate stop to the trespass and destruction to their home and livelihoods. They have also decided to institute legal action in court in the hope of obtaining a court order to stop the company from further operations. Oil palm monocultures are expanding all over South East Asia –mainly in Indonesia and Malaysia- at the expense of indigenous peoples’ lands and causing severe environmental damage. Source: Sahabat Alam Malaysia, e-mail: sam77@tm.net.my
Indonesia: opposition to oilpalm plantations An accelerated process of plantation of oil palm is going on in Indonesia. The present area of 3.2 million hectares is expected to increase at a rate of 330,000 hectares a year. Since these monocultures invade lands originally occupied by forests and generally inhabited by indigenous peoples and local communities, their expansion means a significative environmental and social problem. Many cases of conflicts regarding the use of the territory and natural resources have been denounced (see WRM Bulletin nr. 14 and 15). The activity is in the hands of a powerful group of companies, that usually integrate the whole of the process, from plantation to processing and cooking oil factories, including crude palm oil production. Through huge scale of expansion in the last few years, conglomerates’ domination will surely get stronger and stronger. Some of the companies come from other sectors of the economy, while others –such as Musim Mas, Bukit Kapur Reksa and Hasil Karsa- have grown up basically from the oilpalm business itself. In the first stage of the production chain, the most important companies are Sinar Mas Group and Salim Group, with an area of 64,010 hectares and 49,492 hectares of plantations respectively. Salim Group, that holds a site license for 130,000 hectares to be devoted to palm oil plantations in East Kalimantan, is nowadays the biggest land owner in the country in that branch. Another big fish is Sumalindo Lestari Jaya which received an area of 119,500 hectares. Regarding industry, Musim Mas Group is the biggest cooking oil producer, owning four cooking oil factories in Medan, Bekasi and Sidoario, with a production capacity of 877,000 ton/year. There is also a state-owned enterprise that gives a big contribution in the oilpalm industry: it is PTPN IV, located in North Sumatra. In 1997, its production reached 554,899 tonnes. PTPN also owns oil palm plantations in Kendari, in Southeast Sulawesi. Foreign actors play an important role, since 75% of the 650 investors that are applying for converting forest lands into oil palm plantations are foreign companies. For instance, last December the Research and Technology Minister Department and the Indonesia Palmoil Association invited 25 Dutch investors to join a project to set up oilpalm plantations on one million hectares of peat land in Central Kalimantan. Brunei's investors are also preparing to enter Indonesia with a project of about Rp. 5.5 billions for oilpalm development and plantations that will cover 360,000 hectares in East Kalimantan. The government is not only selling the country’s land to the highest bidder, disregarding indigenous peoples’ and local communities’ rights and the sustainability of the ecosystems, but is also actively involved in direct investments in the sector. In June 1998 the Central Government provided the East Kalimantan Plantation Office Rp. 3 billions from the Reforestation Funds for planting oilpalm the left and right side of Samarinda-Balikpapan roadway. Last year the government also allocated Rp. 10 billion to clear land for setting up 200,000 hectares of export oriented monocultures, including oil palm. This policy is being strongly resisted by indigenous peoples and local dwellers. In these kinds of conflicts, people have to confront the companies, as well as the local administration and the military that protect the interests of those who invade their lands. Some of these projects involve only oil palm plantations, while others include also logging activities, mining, etc. A paradigmatic case is that of the surrounding areas of Bukit Tiga Puluh National Park in Riau, Sumatra. In the northern part of the buffer zone of the Park there is land conflict between indigenous peoples and oil palm plantations, and in its eastern part indigenous peoples are driven away to give way to new investments in oil palm and timber plantations and to the invasion of transmigrants from North Aceh and West Sumatra. According to research carried out in late 1998 by members of LATIN (Lembaga Alam Tropika Indonesia), ICEL (Indonesian Center for Environmental Law) and WWF-Riau, in the northern part of the buffer zone of the Park, indigenous people lost their 3000 hectares of land --occupied by rubber, and fruit gardens and rattan trees-- due to clearing activities by the companies PT. Sumatra Makmur Lestari and PT. Arvena Sepakat. Under the protection of local authorities and the military, and ignoring peoples' 'hak ulayat' (indigenous right to land) the companies expropriated the land without any compensation and even lacking permission for developing oil palm plantations in this area. In sum, oil palm plantations in Indonesia are a clear example of how tree monocultures do not actually protect the forests but destroy them instead. And doing so are detrimental to the health of the ecosystems and to interests of indigenous peoples and local communities, that, together with local environmental NGOs are opposing them. Sources: Mustafa Alwy, LATIN, latin@indo.net.id; Sawit Watch, euron@indo.net.id , bioforum@indo.net.id
Indonesia: people take action against companies' destructive activities Indonesian forests suffer periodically from huge fires. In 1982-83 severe fires destroyed 3.5 million hectares of forests in Kalimantan. Still fresh in our minds are the late 1997 huges fires that devastated millions of hectares of forests in this country, with consequences affecting the whole of South East Asia. Even if presented as "natural disasters" or "accidents" such fires are in fact the consequence of the overexploitation of forests by logging accompanied by the activities of plantation companies and the negligence of the authority to control them. While forest fires represent an economic loss for the country’s economy it means something much more tragic for the indigenous peoples and local communities that inhabit them. A new case of abuse has been denounced. PT Matrasawit and London Sumatera Indonesia (Lonsum) have recently felled forests in East Kalimantan, Muara Pahu, Jempang and Bongan without the permission from the Forestry Department. The companies are also suspected of being involved with forest burning in those areas. A spokesperson of East Kalimantan Local Police said that there is not enough evidence to judge Lonsum in relation to the fires. The Forestry Department stated that PT Lonsum didn't have any site license or permission to use the timber, and that the case had been handed over to the police to investigate it. Nevertheless local police said that they are only handling the forest burning case. Another information said that the Plantation and Forestry Minister has asked Chief of Indonesia Republic Police to investigate the case. Given the existing contradictions between the responsible authorities and because of compensation slowness, affected local people decided to undertake direct actions and took company's equipment as hostage. They also demonstrated to the governor office and Kutai regency office. Source: SAWIT WATCH - Campaign Against Big Scale Oil Palm Plantation in Indonesia. E-mails: bioforum@indo.net.id , euron@indo.net.id
Invitation to Indigenous Peoples' Congress in Indonesia A number of indigenous peoples' and NGO networks of Indonesia are organizing the "Congress of the Indigenous People of the Archipelago – Challenging the positions of Indigenous Peoples and the State" to be held on March 15-22, 1999 in Jakarta, Indonesia. Members of Indonesian and international NGOs, and representatives of indigenous peoples from the region will discuss about this topic and will set the basis for a future alliance among IP groups. A workshop prior to the Congress is also to take place. According to the information we have received, due to budget constraints the organizers are not able to cover the participants’ expenses. Nevertheless, all interested people are invited to participate. For more information, please contact Titi Soentoro, e-mails: euron@indo.net.id
ABN Amro Bank clients protest against Freeport's activities in Indonesia For years, environmental and Human Rights groups have harshly criticized Freeport -a huge US-based mining company- for its polluting operations for the extraction of copper and gold in Irian Jaya (Indonesia) and in Bougainville and Ok Tedi (Papua New Guinea). The company has been also involved in cases of violence against local Ekari peasants, with the complicity of the authorities (see WRM Bulletins nr. 7 and 8). Now the Dutch clients of ABN Amro Bank have joined the protest by signing a petition protesting Freeport mining activities in Indonesia, which are being partially financed by this bank. The Dutch environmental organization Milieudefensie presented the petition to the bank's management, demanding ABN, as one of the 40 financers of the operation, to exert its influence on the U.S. company to make its activities "clean and honest." The bank reacted positively and called on Freeport to reach agreement with environmental organizations and the indigenous peoples of Indonesia's Irian Jaya province, the site of the mines, to conduct an independent study on the impact of Freeport's operations. ABN's director general for international loans, Herman Mulder, said that next year Freeport will conduct an independent study on the social and environmental impacts of its mining operations. Source: Dow Jones News Service, 17/12/98
India: people versus nature or World Bank and government versus people? In different countries of the world conflicts have arisen between the protection of national parks and the conservation of wildlife on the one hand, and the defense of the rights of people that live in those areas on the other. The hegemonic official model of conservation has a vision of nature as composed by beautiful –but empty- spaces, ignoring that the sustainable use that most local communities practice in these areas is the best guarantee for conservation. The problem is especially important in countries with a high density of rural population. Besides, generally the same governments which declare protected areas open them up for mining, dams, industries, tourism, roads, and other "development" projects. In previous issues of the Bulletin we have addressed this issue (see Bulletin 3 about India, Bulletin 8 on Thailand or Bulletin 14 on Venezuela). Indigenous peoples living inside and in the fringes of Nagarahole National Park, also known as Rajiv Gandhi National Park, in Karnataka State, are facing a dramatic situation. At the same time nature and wildlife are threatened in this so called "protected area" located in the south of India. Nagarahole is one of the seven Protected Areas (PAs) where the World Bank is financing US$ 68 million to the Government of India for the so-called Eco-Development Project. The project covers a total area of 6,714 sq. km comprising other Protected Areas and Tiger Reserves also in the states of Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajastan, Kerala and West Bengal, and affecting an overall population of 48,800 tribal people. The Forest Department and the Government of Karnataka are now trying to get the more than 6,000 indigenous people, living in 58 settlements inside the park, out of this territory. Even if they have lived in the area for decades, the authorities now consider them illegal occupants. The project is also affecting the 25% of the population living in the fringes of the park, that will be eventually forbidden from entering the area. They are forbidden from entering into the forest to gather minor forest produces, they have no rights for cultivation, keeping domestic animals, collecting food from the forest, hunting small game, building houses, using roads and transporting materials and most importantly, for cultural practices and religious rituals. Both the Forest Department and the Government of Karnataka score a long history of violations of the human and cultural rights of the tribal people in Nagarahole. But their action is not isolated: the World Bank is actively supporting it. Stating that "local people, when traditional rights and access are limited by the establishment of protected areas, often have little incentive to use natural resources in a sustainable way" (Project Information Document, March 1996) and lending the money for the project, the World Bank is backing a new forced displacement of the tribals from their ancestral lands and territories, and an impoverishment of the already increasingly endangered forests. Ironically the World Bank talks of "voluntary displacement" instead of forced displacement. Concerned local environmental NGOs consider that the Project's stated objective of biodiversity conservation is just a smokescreen to pave the way for the expansion of industrial agriculture and tree plantations in the Park, as has happened in other cases in India and in several places of the Park itself. Nowadays only 30% of its whole area can be considered primary forest. The rest has been devastated by logging and timber plantations. With the Eco-Development Project the Government of India is violating several norms and compromises on indigenous peoples and forced resettlement, forestry policy, climate change as well as the Human Rights conventions, and the ILO conventions 107 and 169 on indigenous peoples rights. Furthermore, the Indian Law and the National procedures for settling indigenous rights within the National Parks have been also seriously violated. Regarding the World Bank, it has ignored its own internal Inspection Panel procedures. Even though the time the local communities had to prepare for the visit of the Inspection Panel sent by the Bank in September 1998 was very short, they presented to the visitors an Alternative People Plan to the official project. Nevertheless, their proposal was at last completely ignored. Last but not least, these kind of projects are at odds with the latest concepts on nature conservation and protection, that include as a capital point the recognition of traditional knowledge and cultural skills, as well as indigenous peoples' and local communities' rights. Local communities, with the support of civil society organizations as the India Center for Human Rights and Law of Bombay, the Indian People's Tribunal on Environment and Human Rights, and CORD (Karnataka NGO supporting the tribals) will continue their struggle against these imposed "solutions" that, in fact, are not solutions at all but a threat to the maintainance of their livelihoods and to the conservation of nature. For further requests of information on future actions and suggestions please contact: Jaroslava Colajacom, Reform the World Bank Campaign – Italy, email: jaro@cambio.it ; riforma-BM@cambio.it ; http://www.crocevia.org/cbm/ Source: Jaroslava Colajacom.
Local fisherfolk protect the mangroves in Sri Lanka Mangroves are wetlands rich in biodiversity that are suffering a severe depredation worldwide. In Sri Lanka mangroves are associated with 22 brackish water bodies, locally known as lagoons. Even if mangroves area in that country is limited to 12,000 hectares, it is of much value since it includes very rare species and types of plant associations in different climatological zones. Fishing in these lagoons is the livelihood for over 120,000 coastal people. Over the past decade many of the lagoons and estuaries in Sri Lanka have been subjected to rapid destruction of its mangrove vegetation for commercial aquaculture. This powerful industrial group is composed by big politicians, top level bureaucrats and businessmen, who have shown their lack of interest in mangrove conservation. As a consequence of this unsustainable activity lagoons are silted, estuaries are eroded and mangrove ecosystems are deteriorated. In Puttlam District, for example, where the most extensive and rare mangrove species occur, more than 3,000 hectares of mangrove lands were converted to industrial shrimp farms under the government's patronage. Where the commercial shrimp farms are nowdays located, 28,000 lagoon fishers were engaged in fishing till 1994. After the construction of commercial shrimp farms two thirds of them lost their job and were obliged to migrate to the city in order to earn their living. Before the widespread of shrimp farming, the average fish catch per unit effort was 4 kg and by 1997, this had declined to 1.5 kg. Commercial shrimp has also polluted groundwaters, what has directly affected drinking water, creating further problems for the fisher folk. At the village vicinity they do not have drinking water now and most of the women walk 5 to 6 km daily looking for fresh water. Due to lack of drinking water most of the children at the school age do not attend school; the reason is that in the morning they do not have water in the house and therefore their primary task is looking for water for their house consumption. All the lagoon periphery is blocked by the shrimp farmers who have constructed fences and maintain security personnel, what means that local fishers have even lost their right to access to the traditional source of their food. Local communities of fishers have reacted organizing themselves to face this problem. The Small Fishers Federation was formed with the aim of mobilizing fishing communities and other associated people to conserve the lagoons and mangroves ecosystem, through appropriate education programmes and practical conservation strategies. The primary task of the newly created group was to put the conflict on the table of negotiations. A participatory organizational mechanism was established, where more than 4,000 fishers actively participate in decision making on the conservation of mangroves, negotiate with shrimp farmers to monitor mangrove destruction activities and work for the improvement of fish habitats in the lagoons. The following step was to create an organization that supports lagoon conservation and management committees where the fisher folk leaders from different lagoon fisher folk groups and government officials can dialogue to solve the conflict that affect their lives in such a hard way. A so called Mangrove Conservation and Demonstration Centre was set up to carry out an education programme on mangroves and fish habitats. The Centre is visited daily by school children, university students and other interested people; publications in three official languages used in Sri Lanka are issued, and seminars and workshops are conducted in order to promote mangrove protection as the most effective and equitative way to conserve nature and maintain local people livelihoods. Regarding practical conservation strategies, more than 100 hectares of degraded land has been reconverted to mangrove forest. To face the loss of jobs resulting from the decline of fishing and the lack of access to the lagoons, the Small Fishers Federation is working to introduce alternative income generation activities focusing their efforts with fisher folk, women and youth. More than 623 jobs have been already created by promoting animal husbandry and other appropriate income generation sectors. For more information, please contact: Anuradha Wickramasinghe, Director Source: Mangrove Action Project, 28th Edition of the Late Friday News, 22/1/1999.
Japanese foresters invade China In the imperial times Japan invaded China to expand its power in the Far East. Nowadays, when war time in that region is over, a new kind of invasion is up to affect the Chinese territory: that of tree plantations associated to the Clean Development Mechanisms (CDM) under the Kyoto Protocol. Twenty-five Japanese companies want to initiate a major afforestation programme in China, in a bid to secure greater quotas for emitting carbon dioxide. The Japanese industry is one of the most important contributors to global warming through its emissions of greenhouse gases –mainly carbon dioxide- to the atmosphere. Instead of trying to develop environmentally friendly technologies and collaborating to stop the consumerism that characterizes modern Japanese society, the powerful industrial lobby seems to have found a way out: <the planting of extensive tree monocultures in foreign countries. Takashi Imai, chairman of the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren), proposed the project to Chinese President Jiang Zemin when he recently visited Japan. The project is presented under the guise of restoring forest resources destroyed by an extensive flood. The companies have already set up a task force to determine locations, scale and a schedule, and will ask the Japanese government to help fund the plan from official development assistance earmarked for "environmental" projects. By means of its international "cooperation" agency –JICA- Japan has been promoting the large-scale fast-growing species plantation model in several Southern countries. Oji Paper Co. and Sumitomo Forestry Co. will provide technology. Ebara Corp., Nippon Steel Corp., Tokyo Electric Power Co., Obayashi Corp., Komatsu Ltd. and Mitsubishi Corp. are the main participants in the group that will undertake the project. The planned afforestation of 100,000 hectares would absorb an estimated 500,000 to 600,000 tons of carbon dioxide per year, equivalent to 6-7% of the total release by Japan's paper industry in fiscal 1997. The companies hope this project will offset some of the 6% cut in emissions (from 1990 levels) Japan is required to achieve by 2010. According to the involved firms it would be very difficult to achieve this target on a domestic basis alone. Even without considering the negative environmental and social effects of large-scale tree plantations at the local and regional levels, their utility to diminish carbon dioxide in the air has got very weak scientific basis. From a political and social point of view, the solution to global warming cannot be left in the hands of the same agents that have contributed historically to it. Instead of facing the problem with a realistic approach –that would lead to the enhancement of sustainable forest management, the promotion of the growth of secondary forests and the respect to the communities and indigenous people that live in/on the forests- Northern governments and transnationals are now only trying to "green" their image, while acting under the principle: we emit, you sink. Meanwhile global warming continues to increase. Sources: Nihon Keizai, Inside China Daily, 25/11/1998. "Japan eyes forestation in China". Comments: WRM International Secretariat.
Chinese paper industry in Myanmar While Japanese investors are ocupying the Chinese territory with tree plantations, China is doing business in the paper sector abroad. Kunming Electro-Chemical Plant (KECP), with headquarters in the Chinese province of Yunnan, signed a contract last December with the Myanmar Ministry of Industry to renovate the caustic soda and chlorine plant of the Sittoung Paper Mill No.1 in Mon state. The factory was built in 1992 and production began in 1994. Under the contract, the Chinese side is to bear the cost of the renovation of 1.2 million U.S. dollars which covers the supply of machinery equipment and transfer of technical know-how, while the Myanmar side is to repay with the products of caustic soda. After the renovation, daily production of caustic soda will be increased from 9 to 15 tonnes. The effects of this industry on the environment –including the forests as a source of raw material- is still unknown in that country. Two-thirds of the primary forests of ancient Burma have already disappeared. Source: Rainforest Relief, January 1999.
CENTRAL AMERICA Repression to peaceful protest in Costa Rica According to information received from the Costa Rican National Front for the Forest (Frente Nacional por los Bosques) –a coalition of social and environmental NGOs- a peaceful demonstration that took place on February 19 at the crossing of the Puerto Jimenez and Interamericana highways was violently repressed by the rural guard of Osa. The demonstration was organized by the Front together with local communities of Osa to defend the remaining forests of the Pacific region menaced by logging activities. Some media registered how the guards attacked the demonstrators, most of them women and children, who were distributing pamphlets to the motorists. The authorities are trying to involve the organizers in violent actions against the National Guard that occured some time ago at the locality of Rancho Quemado in Osa. Both the communities of Osa and the Front reject this accusation and demand that the government takes measures to protect the Pacific region rainforests. The website http://www.preserveplanet.org is offering information and photographs on the campaign for the Osa forests and on this incident. For further information, please contact: Luis Diego Marin ( preserve@sol.racsa.co.cr ) or Maria Elena Fournier ( yiskicr@sol.racsa.co.cr )
Costa Rica: all that glitters is not gold Considering its high standards in Human Development indicators, Costa Rica is an exceptional country in the Central American region. The country has also assumed a leader’s position in international environmental fora. In January this year, the Government of Costa Rica hosted the Global Workshop on Underlying Causes of Deforestation and Forest Degradation. Nevertheless -as the above article and this one show- not all that glitters . . . According to the Forestry Law 7575/1996 Costa Rica will pay the owners of forests and tree plantations for "environmental services" in biodiversity conservation, hydrological regulation, carbon sinks, landscape conservation, etc. The costs will be borne using one third of the incomes resulting form a tax of 5% on fuel and by Joint Implementation projects and the funds are administrated by FONAFIFO (Fondo Nacional para el Fomento y la Inversion Forestal - National Fund for the Promotion and the Investment in Forestry). However, a lesser amount of money than envisaged has been actually devoted to the payment of environmental services until now. The state has traditionally promoted "reforestation" only based upon monocultures using a few number of mostly exotic species, basically gmelina, teak, pochote (Bombacopsis), pine, and cypress. The afforestation rate between 1988 and 1995 reached 10,547 hectares a year. At the same time, large areas of primary forests are being cut down to give place to tree, as well as banana and pineapple plantations. Monocultures -and not forests- capture most of the funds managed by FONAFIFO. Costa Rican environmental NGOs and academics are concerned by this situation. In November 1998 the National Commission for the Conservation of the Lapa Verde, integrated by AECO, denounced the felling of a vast area of forests in the northern region -that included fruit trees- to set up gmelina monocultures. AECO is proposing an alternative consisting in afforestation with mixed species. The programme, addressed to small farmers, will be implemented during 1999 and will receive funding for environmental services. Sources: Javier Baltodano, AECO-Friends of the Earth, Costa Rica, February 1999; Segura, Olman et al. (ed.), Politicas forestales en Centro America: analisis de las restricciones para el desarrollo del sector forestal, IICA-Holanda, El Salvador, 1997.
Destruction of the few remaining forests continues in El Salvador During the decade of 1970 the destruction of natural forests in El Salvador was accompanied by the set up of coffee plantations under forest cover and some tree plantations. Nowadays coffee plantations under cover, conifers and broad-leaved forest areas are rapidly decreasing as a consequence of urbanization, while mangroves in the south-western coast are being destroyed by shrimp farming and tourism activities. The Forestry Law approved in 1973 failed in its intention to stop deforestation and promote a reasonable use of the land by considering the function of forests in relation to hydrologic resources. A revision of the forestry policy started in the ’90s and focused on tree plantations and agroforestry, was not effective either, since there are not available lands for plantations and agroforestry –a more sustainable activity both from the environmental and the social points of view- was not actually promoted. The metropolitan area of San Salvador, capital of the country, is a paradigmatic example of environmental degradation. The so-called Gran San Salvador includes several municipalities, as Mejicanos, Apopa, and Soyapango. Only a few forested areas and parks survive in the city that is being invaded by urbanizations built disregarding the environment. Even the area of the Quezaltepeque volcano is being invaded by caothic urbanization. A big controversy has arisen at El Espino, a woodland area in the suburbs of San Salvador. El Espino captures more that 16 million cubic meters of water to feed the acquifer that provides the city with water. It is also shelter for several bird species, some of them menaced with extinction. Coffee production companies, real estate agencies and the municipalities fought for the administration of the area. Finally, El Espino was divided and several infrastructures for the "development" of the area were built causing severe environmental degradation. Civil society organizations took the case to court and the Supreme Court of Justice ordered the halting of the works. Nevertheless the authority reconsidered this measure and a permission was given for developing works in some parts of El Espino, what would lead to the destruction of the remaining coffee plantations under forest canopy. Sources: Nestor Martinez ( nestormtz@hotmail.com ) based on information provided by Carlos R. Ramirez Sosa; Segura Olman et al. (ed.), Politicas forestales en Centro America: analisis de las restricciones para el desarrollo del sector forestal, IICA-Holanda, El Salvador, 1997.
OCEANIA Papua New Guinea: tax breaks favour forest destruction The opening of Papua New Guinea’s economy has promoted the exploitation of natural resources at an unsustainable level. The dominant vegetation in the country is equatorial rainforest, but it is undergoing a severe process of deforestation due to indiscriminate felling. After having repeated many times that export-led logging should end in Papua New Guinea by the year 2000, in early 1998 the Government announced a moratorium on new export logging projects. The moratorium was agreed to by the Department of Finance and PNG Forest Authority officials, considering that log prices were down, the tax-take was low, and forest management was difficult, The powerful lobby of the logging industry reacted immediately and put pressure on decision-makers, so that last October the moratorium was taken out of the budget at a high level, most likely by Forest Minister Peter Arul and Prime Minister Bill Skate. In a letter to the Provincial Forest Management Committees dated December 9/1998 Mr Arul expressed: "The Prime Minister has emphasized the importance of getting these projects moving at this crucial economical situation of the country. He has emphasized the fact that downstream processing and export of logs will create 50,000 jobs and boost infrastructure and other development taking momentum in the rural areas. The kick-off of the projects will also bring in much needed foreign currency to further boost the weak Papua New Guinea currency." Any doubts about the concept of "development" the government is defending? As a matter of fact the decision to defer the moratorium to the next budget allows the loggers to get access to new logging concessions. Tax breaks for the logging industry have led to a dramatic increase in production, without any corresponding benefits to the nation or landholders, nor to the environment. The new tax breaks allow logging companies to pay absolutely no tax on any logs exported at a price of under 125 kina (*) per cubic meter FOB. These changes see, on average, companies saving 25 Kina per cubic metre in taxes. In fact, a recent study by ANU researchers Theodore Levantis and John Livernois found that public funds capture only 2.75% of the total value under the recently reduced tax rates compared to around 33% under the previous regime. "We have just learned that log exports in November were up about 150% over the previous month's average --from about 100,000 cubic meters exported per month prior to November, to about 250,000 cubic meters exported in November" said Brian Brunton from Greenpeace Pacific. It is astonishing that when there was a consensus on the need to stop cutting down the forests for export logging, the Government is giving more concessions to logging companies. At the local level this decision is being resisted. The Maisin people of Collingwood Bay in the Oro Province have long opposed any form of timber extraction on their land. Coincidently the Managlas Plateau people in Oro are known to oppose logging in the Musa Pongani region. Environmental NGOs have expressed their concern for the concessions given by the Forest Authority to log the forests in the Western Province and Sandaun provinces which stretch across the Irian Jaya border, that jointly form the largest area of untouched tropical frontier forest outside the Amazon. At the same time, there are persistent rumours that the government is about to give away a permit affecting the huge Kamula Doso Forest Management Area. Recent research support the viewpoint of the NGOs, according to which the best results for landholders and the environment, as well as for the national economy, come from small and medium scale timber processing by local communities. For more information contact Greenpeace Pacific: Lafcadio Cortesi ( lafcadio.cortesi@dialb.greenpeace.org ) (*) 1.3 kina = U$S 1 (1995) Sources: Greenpeace Pacific ( http://pidp.ewc.hawaii.edu/PIReport/1998/ ); Brian D. Brunton, Greenpeace Pacific, Forests Update, 30/12/1998; The World Guide 1997/98.
SOUTH AMERICA Venezuela: Smurfit forced to halt deforestation The Venezuelan subsidiary of the Dublin-based Jefferson Smurfit pulp, paperboard and packaging transnational has been finally forced to halt its deforestation activities in the State of Portuguesa. Although the company has huge plantations of fast growing tree species (see WRM Bulletin 18), it had been extensively using wood from the few remaining tropical forests, both from its own land holdings and from third party woodlands. The reason for this illegal - in some cases "legalized"- activity is simple: raw material from forests is cheaper than from plantations. The decision to change such policy was not the result of the company's stated commitment to environmental protection nor the result of the action of law-enforcement government agencies, but the success of a long struggle carried out jointly by local peasants and environmentalists, with support from some parliamentarians and international organizations, among which the WRM. After years trying to prevent deforestation by this company, more than a hundred peasants, students and environmentalists finally decided to blockade the highway through which Smurfit's lorries transported tropical forest wood to its industrial plant. The action resulted in the intervention of the National Guard, which was put into a situation where it had to proceed against the company by at least detaining a dozen trucks loaded with more than 200 tonnes of tropical forest wood. In spite of the results obtained with this action, local organizations have expressed moderate optimism regarding the company's statement that it will not use any more tropical wood in the future. They say that these declarations have been made by lower ranking company officials and that they await more information from both the company and the National Guard. Carlos Molina, from the Morador Environmental Group said that "for the time being, our forests will not be converted to corrugated cardboard", while Angel Marin --president of the Ospino Environmental Committee-- declared that the National Guard "had simply implemented what it had not implemented for years: the enforcement of the Forest Law. What's important is that there has been a gesture of sovereignty over so much impunity". In his analysis of the situation, Marin expressed that "Smurfit is an important agent of deforestation in a region with low forest cover which needs to be preserved." He stressed the importance of the international coverage which this case has received and attributed the company's decision to "international pressure, social protests and demostrations and the work of national and regional parliamentarians." Dr. Rafael Gonzalez, lawyer of the Land Comittee of Morador commented that "this is the beginning of the fall of an organized network of environmental transgressions. The social cost of deforestation can never be compensated with temporary and badly paid jobs within an activity which involves the destruction of wildlife, flora and water courses." Professor Raul Lugo, a well-known regional environmentalist, added that the issue of the illegal use of agricultural land by Smurfit is still pending and that a "national front" is being organized to halt the colonization of the country by predatory companies which impose an anti-development model." Sources: Grupo Ecologico Morador.- Optimismo por paralizacion de deforestaciones anunciado por Smurfit. Boletin de Prensa 17/2/99; Ultimas Noticias 27/1/99; El Regional 31/1/99; El Nuevo Pais 28/1/99
Brazil: concern over new President of FUNAI The ex-congressman and vice-governor from Mato Grosso state Marcio Lacerda is the new president of the Brazilian Indian Foundation (FUNAI). He succeeds in this post Sullivan Silvestre, who died on February 1st in an air crash while he was on duty. Mr Lacerda is one of the chief proponents of the system of waterways, including the Tocantins-Araguaia Hidrovia which would negatively affect the territory occupied by 10,000 indigenous people. During his first public declarations he defended gold mining, and biodiversity and timber exploitation in indigenous lands. In a report dated 25/2/99 CIMI (Conselho Indigenista Missionario) expresses its concern and indignation over Mr Lacerda's approach, that is not focused on indigenous peoples' cultures and needs but on the natural resources of their territories. This is especially worrying, since several draft law bills contrary to the interests of indigenous peoples, guaranteed by the Brazilian Constitution, are waiting to be discussed in the National Congress and can now be promoted by FUNAI’s new approach. Regarding mining activities menacing indigenous peoples' traditional lands it is to be mentioned that Jose Lacerda –brother of the new President of FUNAI- enthusiastically supported the invasion of the indigenous area of Sarare in 1996, that resulted in the genocide of the Kithaurlu indigenous group. In his speech Lacerda condemned what he considerers "extremely radical" proposals to defend indigenous peoples rights, focused on imposing bans that cannot be put into action. In his view, indigenous peoples' lands are to be transformed into productive areas. Examples abund in Brazil and worldwide that contradict Mr Lacerda’s point of view: the opening of indigenous territories to "development" brings no advantages to them nor to the local or global environment. If the Brazilian government were really committed to the respect for human rights and environmental conservation, then this person should be immediately removed from this post. Sources: CIMI, 25/2/1999; Glenn Switkes, 23/2/1999.
Gondwana Forests Sanctuary Campaign Launched in Chile In April 1998, forest activists and scientists from Chile, Argentina, New Zealand, Scotland and the U.S. met in Santiago and Pucon, Chile to launch the Gondwana Forest Sanctuary Campaign, the goal of which is "to protect, reconnect and restore the life of Gondwana by creating an international sanctuary of Earth's southernmost forests." The forests of Gondwanaland are found in portions of South America, Australia and New Zealand. In South America, they are situated in south-central Chile and on both sides of the Andes from Patagonia to Tierra del Fuego in Argentina. These regions contain the major gondwanic biodiversity, including tree species as southern beech (Nothofagus spp), larch (Fitzroya cupressoides) and araucaria (Araucaria araucana). In Australia, Tasmania hosts the largest extent of Gondwanic forests, while significant remnants are found on the mainland in the states of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. These forests grow also extensively on the South Island of New Zealand, and in small portions of the North Island. Herquehue National Park, in Chile's Lake District, is a token of gondwanic vegetation habitat. The Cani Sanctuary provides an example at a small scale of how the ever more rare and precious southern forests can be conserved and restored. Due to be logged in 1990, the 500 hectares of the Cani Sanctuary were instead purchased with the assistance of Ancient Forests International, spurring the formation of Fundacion Lahuen, that has been the first NGO dedicated exclusively to forest protection and conservation. Lahuen now administers the sanctuary and manages a number of projects related to it. Some of them are: a native tree nursery at Pichares, local education projects in which schoolchildren raise and plant native trees, and guided tours of the area. These kind of projects counteract, at least partially, the severe process of destruction by uncontrolled logging activities that Chilean southern forests are undergoing. The first goal of the Gondwana Forest Sanctuary Campaign is to protect the primary forests of Tierra del Fuego, southernmost forests on Earth, in both Chile and Argentina. These sub-antarctic forests are threatened by the Rio Condor logging project initiated by the U.S. based Trillium Corporation. Composed of 360,000 hectares of 10,000-year old lenga forest, this boreal forest region is highly fragile. The Gondwana Campaign has begun the process of creating an international system of inter-continental Gondwanic forest reserves starting at the tip of South America, in Tierra del Fuego, and spreading northward and outward. Tierra del Fuego will serve as the model for the Gondwana Campaign, which will prepare a comprehensive forest conservation and land use plan for this huge island. The plan's purpose is to defend local communities from large-scale industrial development projects like Rio Condor, and to face ongoing unsustainable economic and trade policies which promote export of natural resources as mere raw materials. Efforts are also underway to create a "Trans-Andean Wildlands Complex", that with its 5 million hectares is potentially one of the largest protected areas in the world, including the Argentinian provinces of Neuquen, Rio Negro and Chubut and the Chilean regions of Lake District, Valdivia and North Patagonia. The campaign will also work toward an international environmental agreement within temperate forest countries to end logging and other industrial activities in primary forests. The Gondwana Campaign will also monitor the impacts on forests from economic and trade policies in the framework of globalization promoted by Northern governments and international agencies, as the World Trade Organization (WTO), Asian Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), and the Free Trade of the Americas Summit. Environmentally and socially sustainable proposals will be put forward instead. Those interested in receiving further information on the campaign are invited to contact: In Chile: Defensores del Bosque Chileno, Adriana
Hoffmann/Malu Sierra, e-mail: bosquech@entelchile.net
. Source: Tim Cadman, Native Forest Network, tcadman@nfn.org.au
Bolivia: tropical dry forests in danger On March 9th, the Board of Directors of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC) will consider providing political risk insurance for a natural gas pipeline that will cut through 200 km of primary tropical forest and 100 km of pristine wetlands in the Bolivian Amazon. The proposed 630-kilometer pipeline starts in Ipias, Bolivia, where it branches from the main Bolivia-Brazil pipeline (already under construction), runs northeast to San Matias, and then to Cuiaba, Brazil. It will bisect the world's largest intact tropical dry forest. In a joint letter sent to OPIC's Board this week, Amazon Watch, Friends of the Earth, and World Wildlife Fund reminded the agency that OPIC is prohibited by the Foreign Assistance Act from funding projects in primary tropical forests and asked the board to deny financing to the project at this time. The letter further pointed out that "approving the Project would seriously undercut President Clinton's 1997 United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) pledge for strengthened environmental standards for bilateral lending agencies including a prohibition on extractive and infrastructure projects in primary tropical forests." Whereas the Project's Environmental Impact Assessment and independent scientists classify this region as "primary tropical forest", Enron -the main project sponsor- contends that the forest is "secondary" due to sporadic logging activity in some parts. OPIC staff is accepting the company's contentious conclusion even though it is contradicted by scientific authorities and the project's own EIA. Opposition to the project is based on the following reasons: - negative impacts on the fragile primary tropical forest and wetland ecosystems traversed by the pipeline; - lack of sufficient consultation and final agreement between project sponsors and affected populations regarding compensation, mitigation, and indigenous peoples development plans (the proposed route crosses the Santa Teresita indigenous area); - increased logging, hunting, and colonization resulting from the use of the pipeline's 30-meter wide right of way as an access road, situation that is already occurring with the main Bolivia-Brazil pipeline project; - inadequacy of the EIA, which does not contain ecosystem assessments sufficiently effective mitigation proposals. Source: Amazon Watch and Friends of the Earth-US, 3/3/1999.
Argentina: environmental justice in action The Court of Rio Negro province in Argentina accepted a petition signed by citizen Jorge Ronco against EDERSA (Empresa de Energia Rio Negro S.A.) and DPA (Provincial Department of Waters) for the environmental damages caused by the hydroelectric project undertaken by both companies in El Bolson area, in the Patagonia region. The project, in which U$S 10 millions were to be invested, started in 1993 and was presented as a development opportunity for the region. Nevertheless, it ignored the requirements of Law nr. 2342/89 and no environmental impact assessment was carried out. It was then when Mr Ronco, inhabitant of the area, decided to sue the companies. A group of academics, headed by Prof. Luis Sancholuz of the Bariloche Universitary Regional Centre of the Comahue National University evaluated the damages caused by the works. The Court established that an ecological crime has been committed and that the environmental damage has to be reverted. The rivers' and creeks' margins will now have to be reforested with native species to restore the ecosystem. It is the first time that offenders of the Environmental Law are taken to court in Rio Negro, and this is certainly a good sigh for the future. Source: Red de Ecologia Social, 28/12/98
GENERAL National Geographic, forests and plantations National Geographic is a worldwide known publication dealing with the diversity of landscapes and peoples in the world. According to a renewed vision of Geography, lately the magazine has been paying much attention to environmental issues. Last January US-based NGOs Earth Culture/Rainforest Woods Coalition addressed the Director of the magazine asking him to launch a responsible paper purchasing programme to demonstrate his commitment to protect the forests and their inhabitants around the world. The letter mentions that the US consumes nearly 20% of all wood products in the world, contributing to the devastation of tropical rainforests in the Amazon and Indonesia, as well as temperate rainforests of Chile, Siberia, and British Columbia. At the same time 1.2 million acres of forests in the southeast region of the US are impacted every year due to the operation of the chip mills to produce pulp for paper. It is denounced that the current level of pulp and paper production in the southeast is unprecedented and is causing massive clearcutting which degrades water quality, landscape, wildlife habitat, local forest-dependent economies, and overall quality of life. The letter also underscores the unsustainability of tree monocultures in the US and in several regions of the world. According to the US Forest Service, approximately 36% of the native pine forest of the south has already been converted to pine plantations. If this rate goes on, by the year 2020, the Forest Service predicts that 70% of those natural pine forests will have been converted to monoculture plantations to feed the increasing demand for paper. The conversion of native forests to pulp plantations is rampant all over the world, with vast expanses of loblolly and radiata pine, gmelina, and eucalyptus. Considering the prestige and influence of National Geographic, the company is asked: - to increase its paper and cardboard recycling efforts and use 100% recycled or agricultural residue, chlorine-free office paper; - to print the magazine on recycled and agricultural residue fiber, chlorine-free paper by 2000, and - to reduce its overall paper consumption by making a smaller magazine, whether by reducing ad space, going quarterly, or printing smaller photos by 2001. Source: Rick Spencer, EarthCulture & Coalition Coordinator, Rainforest Wood Coalition, e-mail: earthcul@nr.infi.net
- We received a fax from the former President of the Environment Committee of the Venezuelan Congress, Dr. Lucia Antillano, thanking WRM for its activities in that country. The fax says: "Having ended my function as a parliamentarian, I wish to acknowledge the support received from WRM in the dissemination of information on issues regarding the rights of indigenous peoples and peasants and the so-called opening processes to the global economy which is being imposed on us and which is environmentally and socially unsustainable. Your personal collaboration and that of WRM have been extremely useful to make the world know about the threats posed by mining in an area classified as holding megabiodiversity such as Imataca or the tragedy of the peasants of Morador and Tierra Buena who are resisting the industrial tree plantation model of the transnational company Smurfit." - Centro Humboldt from Nicaragua has expressed us its gratitude for the fax we sent them on February 18th supporting the mobilization of the Nicaraguan civil society in defense of the remaining forests, menaced by fires during the incoming dry season in that country. - On January 19th letters were sent to representatives of Boise Cascade expressing our concern for the project "Cascade Chile" for a wood chipping and board facility to be located near Puerto Montt. Several social and environmental Chilean organizations, as well as political sectors and academics are firmly opposing this project, that would be detrimental for the temperate forests of the region. - We sent a fax to Chevron oil company protesting over its actions in Nigeria, which include the intimidation and repression that are being imposed on people from the villages of Opia and Ikian in the Delta State, who oppose Chevrons’ oil prospection project in their lands.
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