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WRM Bulletin
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OUR VIEWPOINT Two different IFF intersessionals The Intergovernmental Forum on Forests will be meeting from 3-14 May in Geneva to continue working on the implementation of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests' proposals for action and on other matters left pending. Among the different inputs this meeting will be receiving, we would like to focus on two intersessional meetings, one held in Costa Rica (on the underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation) and another in Chile (on tree plantations), which have resulted in a number of conclusions and recommendations which will be considered by IFF3. The Costa Rica meeting was the final stage of a process initiated by the NGOs and IPOs at IFF1, where they volunteered to implement one of the IPF's proposals for action, which "urged countries to support the convening, as soon as possible, of a global workshop on the international underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation, and their relationship to national underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation." With support from and direct participation of a number of governments and intergovernmental agencies, this initiative organized seven regional (Africa, Asia, CIS, Europe, Latin America, North America, Oceania) and one IPO workshops, all of which fed into the Global Workshop in Costa Rica. It is important to emphasize that the above process incorporated the views of local communities and indigenous peoples' organizations, as well as those from national and international NGOs, governments and intergovernmental agencies, through their direct participation in the preparation of case studies and in the discussions which took place in the workshops. The report of the Global Workshop on Underlying Causes of Deforestation and Forest Degradation is the outcome of an extensive participatory process --a process which, in accordance with the IPF diagnostic framework, was founded upon more than 40 case studies and numerous additional submissions from all over the world. The process aimed to deliver to the international community solution-oriented approaches and concrete actions that can arrest current trends of deforestation and forest degradation. At the same time, such approach allowed all participants to enrich their knowledge about the direct and underlying causes leading to deforestation in very different contexts. This constitutes in itself a major step forward to begin to address the problem, given that those participants will now participate in the forest debate within their regions and constituencies with a better understanding of the issue. The Global Workshop, held from January 18-22 in San Jose was hosted by the Government of Costa Rica and organized by an Organizing and a Steering Committee composed of UNEP, other intergovernmental agencies, governments, IPOs and NGOs. The workshop was successful in formulating a wide range of innovative actions. In addition, the workshop has uncovered underlying causes that are not part of the deliberations in the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests. Underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation, be it in tropical moist forests or the temperate boreal forests, often lie outside the forest sector. It must also be noted that several of the recommendations from the workshop are similar to those proposed in other fora, in particular, the IPF Proposals for Action, which highlights the fact that governments lack commitment to these proposals and to enforce existing laws. A number of key points clearly emerge from the actions formulated by the San Jose workshop (see full text in our web page). Full participation of local communities and other stakeholders in decision-making over management of natural resources at the national and international level is required if we intend to break the vicious cycle we are in. Also, it was stressed that forests are much more than just stands of timber. Forests provide valuable services, for example biodiversity, water, and spiritual meaning to individuals, communities, and society as a whole. If we compare the above process with the Santiago de Chile "International Experts Meeting on the Role of Planted Forests for Sustainable Development" the difference is dismal. This was the traditional expert meeting, where some of the organizers (particularly Chile and New Zealand) had a very clear agenda: to further promote the expansion of industrial tree monocultures through the IFF process. The meeting was accordingly characterised by: The predominance of foresters. The majority of the participants were government officials from forestry agencies, but also present were forestry consultants and corporation executives from Jaakko Poyry, Plantation Focus (New Zealand), Carter Holt Harvey, Westvaco Corporation, Sarawak Timber Association. This resulted in a biased approach to plantations, given that most of the participants' interest lie precisely in the promotion of plantations. Local community representatives --which could have provided opposite viewpoints from the receiving end of plantations-- were totally absent. A biased agenda. The majority of presentations were clearly in favour of plantations. Although some NGOs (including the WRM) were invited, non of them was asked to make a presentation. The presentations were followed by group work, where each group had to answer a set of questions based on the presentation. For instance, after having heard that the world needs to produce more and not less wood and that 100 million hectares of new plantations would be needed to meet the global demand, the groups were asked to respond to the following question: "Does the world need an expanded area of forests? Is it realistic to plant 100 million ha of forests by the middle of the 21st century?" A lack of critical thinking. Given the pro-plantations majority, the meeting did not promote discussions on the negative impacts of large-scale tree plantations. It is interesting to highlight that foreign participants were not aware that while the meeting was taking place, the Mapuche indigenous peoples were demonstrating in Southern Chile against those same plantations that were being presented as a model of social and environmental sustainability. Only the NGOs voiced their concern about plantations being a direct cause of deforestation in many parts of the world --including Chile-- as well as having a number of other negative social and environmental impacts. A terminology leading to confusion. The insistence of using the term "planted forests" instead of "plantations" led to a generalized confusion. For Chilean and New Zealand delegates particularly, "planted forests" are large scale exotic tree monocultures aimed at wood production. For most African delegates, "planted forests" imply small community forests (using both native and exotic species) aimed at a number of environmental and social services and products. For the Danish representatives, "planted forests" are exotic tree plantations aimed at the creation of a tree cover to favour the future establishment of native tree species and thereby the recreation of their native forests. In such situation, a broad discussion on the different types of plantations and on their respective positive and negative impacts was impossible. This obviously served the purpose of hiding large-scale tree plantations behind the more positive community-based small-scale tree plantations. At the same time, the use of the term "planted forest" aims at publicising plantations as synonymous to forests, in a context of growing public support to the protection of forests. However, the discussion on whether the use of this terminology has a scientific meaning or whether it serves specific economic interests had no possibility of being addressed at this meeting. Differing viewpoints. Within such context, it needs to be stressed that the strong-in-numbers pro-large scale plantation lobby was unable to achieve its objectives. The reason for this was the fact that not all delegates supported large scale tree monocultures. This led to the establishment of informal alliances with NGOs in the working groups and in plenary which finally watered down the conclusions and recommendations which the more fundamentalist organizers had aimed at. In sum, the above-mentioned interesessionals show two different styles regarding the forest issue. One approach --the Underlying Causes Initiative-- seeks the involvement of the main actors which might play a major role in forest conservation: local communities, indigenous peoples, NGOs, academia, governments, intergovernmental agencies. All of those actors are experts in different areas of knowledge, from the more local to the more global and their interaction results not only in a deeper understanding of the complex processes which affect forests, but also in real steps to addressing the problem. The other approach --exemplified by the Experts Meeting held in Chile-- seeks support from experts to "scientifically" justify pre-established motivations. Fortunately, not all experts are willing to play that game and this was clearly the case in Santiago, where, in spite of all their efforts, so few of the objectives of the plantation lobby were achieved. Two different styles, two different results.
LOCAL STRUGGLES AND NEWS AFRICA Thousands of hectares of mangrove forest and fresh water swamps of the Niger Delta, in the Cross River State, will be destroyed by ongoing oil exploitation activities. Responsible for the situation are the companies Moni Polu Nigeria Limited, that in early 1998 started its oil prospections in the area, and Nobles Drilling, which was contracted to start drilling oil wells. By December 1998 about 8 oil wells had been sunk. A 1000 km long pipeline, that will pass through over 25 communities, has also been programmed. In spite of the letters of protest sent by Nigerian environmental NGOs to the firms involved and to the national authorities, the new phase of the project will start without the accomplishment of the required Environmental Impact Assessment. Oil prospection and exploitation are known worldwide for their negative environmental and social impact at the local level: loss of indigenous peoples' or peasants' lands, health problems, destruction of rainforests, pollution of water sources and air. At a global level, more extraction means more fuel consumption and liberation of CO2 to the atmosphere, the most relevant gas causing global warming. In the specific case of Nigeria, the military intimidate local populations, burn their houses and even kill the villagers that resist oil related activities in their lands. Several cases of human rights abuses have been denounced, as testified by the long struggle of the Ogoni people against Shell in Ogoniland and the most recent facts involving Chevron in the Delta State. Oil industry is a very important factor of mangrove destruction in Nigeria, but not the only one. The Federal Government is suspected of having recently awarded a contract for the dredging of the upper River Niger from Warri to Baro, in the northern region of the country. Since mangroves are fragile forest ecosystems highly dependent on continuous water feeding, this project could gravely affect them, which could bring about the loss of livelihoods for their inhabitants. It is feared that the Niger Delta area, situated downstream of the location of the dredging project, and which has suffered for years much environmental degradation and social conflicts due to the activities of the oil industry, is further compounded with the works to be undertaken. Nigeria has lost between 70 and 80% of its original forests and nowadays the area of its territory occupied by forests is reduced to 12% even if the entire country is located in the humid tropics. Having the largest population in Africa (115,000,000 inhabitants in 1996) it registers levels of 40% of illiteracy, while GNP per capita is only U$S 240. The authorities seem to ignore this reality and prefer to devote funds and efforts to megaprojects as the above referred, regardless of the real needs and aspirations of local communities. Source: Late Friday News, 33rd Edition, 27/3/99; The World Guide 1999-2000.
Human rights abuses in Nigeria continue In spite of political changes after the coming to power of the new military government headed by General Abdulsalami Abubakar in 1998 the situation of human rights in Nigeria has not essentially improved. Members of civil society organizations --some of them involved in environmental causes-- are frequently victims of abuses by military and police corps. The situation of jailed Nigerian environmentalists and Human Rights activists has provoked grave concern worldwide since the death of Ken Saro-Wiwa in November 1995 in relation to the struggle of the Ogoni people for the defense of their territory against Shell. On 4 and 23 March 1999 the Nigerian military government announced the release of most of the remaining political prisoners. They included at least 39 prisoners of conscience and possible prisoners of conscience held in connection with alleged coup plots. Those who recovered their freedom have corroborated reports by prisoners released earlier and by former government officials that the alleged coup plot was a government fabrication used to imprison influential government critics, journalists and other human rights defenders. Severe cases of torture have been also denounced. The process has not a clear positive trend. Three environmental activists --Mr Sagbama Owei Okpo, Mr Akpobarelo Didiya and Mr Sea Mum Kuku-- have been in police detention since last March 20. Their supposed "crime" was to have public documents with them. All three are being held in solitary confinement in the cells of the State Investigation and Interrogation Bureau (SIIB) at Yenagoa, Bayelsa State. Access to family and friends is denied, as well as that of medical assistance even if their health situation is deteriorating. It has also been denounced that they were subjected to torture, ill-treatment and humiliation while imprisoned. To the former can be added that the government has not revoked the State Security (Detention of Persons) Decree, No. 2 of 1984, which allows indefinite detention without charge or trial of those deemed to have threatened the security or the economy of the state. No answer has been given to the questions raised by victims of human rights violations and human rights defenders about responsibility for the deaths in custody of political prisoners and for political killings suspected of being extrajudicial executions by government forces. Sources: Environmental Rights Action (ERA), eraction@infoweb.abs.net , 28/3/99; Global Response, globresponse@igc.org , 2/4/99, based on an Amnesty International Report dated 31/3/99.
Madagascar: communities defend rainforests against Rio Tinto Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto has been frequently denounced for its depredatory activities against forests and local villagers in Indonesia (see WRM Bulletin 8), Papua New Guinea (see WRM Bulletin 7) and South Africa. Now Rio Tinto has set its sights in rainforests of Madagascar, one of the megabiodiverse countries in the world, due to its situation in the tropical zone and to the fact of being a big island. Local villagers are strongly opposing the company's plans to mine for titanium, a mineral used to make hardened steel, on the Southeast coast of the country despite the company's efforts to woo the community. Qit-Fer Madagascar Minerals, a Rio Tinto subsidiary, first proposed to mine the 40 kilometres of coastal dunes that cover the villages of Petricky, Mandena and St Luce in 1986. Since then the project has faced significant opposition from the communities and environmentalists because the mine would deforest the area. Even the World Bank, which had been asked to finance the project, pulled out in 1992 as a result of the findings of an environmental impact assessment carried out by a consulting firm hired by Qit-Fer. Facing a vigorous international campaign against the mine led by Friends of the Earth, Qit-Fer has spent five months conducting a so called "consultation" process with the 120 communities who live in the area of the mine. Nevertheless such consultation did not actually take place. The company just provided large dinner feasts for the meetings and displayed models of dredging machines, but the devastating impacts of similar Rio Tinto mines in several countries were not mentioned or shown. Local people reacted to such manoeuvres: "We have seen pictures of the dredging machine and you won't be able to recreate Petricky for a long time after that. What wood will we use for the next 47 years?" said a Lovarhano villager. "Petricky existed before the existence of the people, it is sacred land. The forest of Petricky is our mother. If you cut it down we will have nothing," said one man in Ambovo. Since part of the mining project includes a huge industrial port at Evatra which is situated on a pristine river mouth, Evatra's leader, Ludovic denounced that if the port is built "the sea won't be able to get through to the river and we won't be able to fish". Regarding employment, community members are also worried about the company's recent statement that all but 350 jobs would be filled by skilled foreign engineers and technicians for the 40 year duration of the project. The additional 3000 jobs required at the start of the project will not necessarily go to local people. The company has failed to discuss other alternative sustainable economic practices based on the local management of natural resources, forests included. Source: Drillbits & Tailings, Volume 4, Number 5, 31/3/1999, based on: "Forest People Tell Mining Giant Never!" by Anna Weekes, Gemini News Service, February 3, 1999. "Habitat faces destruction sooner or later" by Colin Barraclough, Miami Herald, November 21, 1997. Pers. comm. Friends of the Earth UK. Comments by WRM International Secretariat.
South Africa: exotic tree plantations are green wastelands What follows is a contribution sent by a new friend of the WRM for its dissemination, which highlights problems caused by tree monocultures in his country: Adapt or die I live in the province of Mpumalanga (where the sun rises), South Africa. I live on a protected reserve, close to the Sudwala Caves and Rainforest. The immediate area surrounding the reserve is under exotic plantations, and it is obvious to see the effect of this model on the environment. I often think of the mountain. I imagine every living thing being luminous, so that they would glow at night. I like to think that plants would have a soft glow, trees like the giant wild figs or beautiful Stinkwoods would glow brighter. Insects would glitter, a mouse would gleam, an owl radiate, a leopard shine. In the reserve I see the mountain, shimmering with life. When I look beyond, at the vast areas of exotics I see a monotonous feeble glow. Exotic tree plantations ARE green wastelands. They smother the indigenous life, not allowing enough water and light to sustain growth. No plants, no insects, no birds, no reptiles, no mammals. Small pockets of indigenous growth is preserved, mostly as a public relations exercise, and it is not enough to compensate for loss of habitat. Programs are in place to clear clogged water ways, but much too slowly, and, it seems, as if it has little effect on the overall runoff, as huge areas of water catchment should be cleared. Many residents of this region experience escalating water shortages, due to plantations. Legislation are in place to secure wetlands, but it is not enforced due to lack of man power. I believe exotic plantations should be cut back drastically. No more new planting permits should be issued. Plantation managers should change to environmentally friendly products, which would be more labor intensive as harvests occur on a yearly basis. It is not nice to be thirsty, that is why water is such an emotive issue. Water shortage could lead to serious conflict in the future, as many countries in southern Africa share rivers as borders. In September 1998, troops from South Africa and Botswana invaded Lesotho to quell political uprising. Fierce fighting occurred to secure the Katse dam, a vital link in the Lesotho Highlands Water project. This project holds water reserves for use in South Africa. It has been suggested that the "war" was motivated, at least in part, by the need to secure the strategic water reserve. In the face of ever increasing energy consumption man-kind is on the verge of a major crisis. This is a time when we should be taking care of the earth, treating it with respect, correcting the wrongs of the past, as our own survival depends upon biodiversity. I think we should adapt our way of thinking, recognize our dependence upon nature. Our environment shapes us, therefore we need to keep it healthy." Philip Owen, Wood Bush River Valley, Mpumalanga, South-Africa, owen@soft.co.za
ASIA Made in Vietnam, cut in Cambodia During this decade Vietnamese loggers have been illegally felling trees in Cambodia, especially in Ratanakiri Province, to obtain wood to be used in manufactured garden furniture exported to Europe. According to Vietnamese law, exclusively imported wood can be used to this aim, and this raw material comes from the neighbour countries, being Cambodia one of them (see WRM Bulletin 18). Vietnamese loggers obtain cheap raw material and part of the money goes to fund Cambodia's "parallel" military budget, since members of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forced are in charge of protecting illegal logging activities. While an accelerated process of deforestation and forest degradation takes place, local communities are negatively affected because logging damages farming and fishing. They are denied access to logging concessions which have taken over land and forests on which they have relied for their livelihoods for generations, and in some cases they are even intimidated or murdered. At the same time the treasury is losing about U$S 180 million a year due to these illegal operations. Under the motto "Made in Vietnam, cut in Cambodia" last March Friends of the Earth and Global Witness started a campaign in the UK to boycott the sale of Vietnamese garden furniture. The objective of this campaign, based on the follow up of the production chain of wood coming from Cambodian tropical forests is to provide public opinion with a holistic view of the problem and to raise awareness among Northern consumers. The Government of Cambodia has recently begun to control this obscure business, which results not only in environmental destruction but also in losses in government revenues. Nevertheless the Government's move does not seem to address the core of the problem. In this regard, Global Witness has issued the following press statement: "Since the February meeting of the Consultative Group, the Royal Government of Cambodia (RGC) has mounted several well publicised operations to crack down on illegal logging operations. Whilst this demonstration of political will represents probably the most prolonged and robust anti-logging measures yet taken by the RGC, and has undoubtedly resulted in a reduction in illegal logging activity, it is probable that the RGC are missing the prime targets. There are disturbing reports that small sawmills operating for local use have been targeted and closed down by the RGC, resulting in a shortage of, for example, building materials and a corresponding increase in the price of timber. At the same time the major perpetrators of unsustainable and illegal logging, the military and the legal concessionaires, remain largely unaffected. This state of affairs gives rise to the potential that the Cambodian public will see the logging crackdown as an infringement of their rights and livelihood, rather than as a serious effort to bring industrial scale operators under control for the benefit of the entire country and its population. Any resulting public opposition to forest policy reform will seriously undermine the reconstruction of Cambodia. The RGC needs to address this issue. The military: The removal of various military leaders from their posts due to their involvement in illegal logging operations is welcomed, but Global Witness' intelligence indicates that military controlled logging operations are continuing in many areas including Bokor and Aural protected areas, Stung Treng, Koh Kong, Kompong Thom, Pursat and Kratie. Legal concessions: Global Witness has frequently documented serious infringements of Cambodian legislation and forestry management regulations by virtually every forest concessionaire in Cambodia. The recent cancellation of concessions targeted inactive operators or areas already too degraded to be economically viable. The most serious perpetrators of bad forest management and illegal activities remain unaffected. It is imperative that all concession activity is suspended pending the results of the ADB concession review process, due to take place in mid 1999. The RGC has the legal right to terminate the concessions of those companies that have breached the terms of their concession contracts. If the RGC continues to target small operations whilst ignoring the major perpetrators of illegal logging, the logging crackdown has no long term future and will be largely cosmetic, whilst at the same time causing financial and other hardships to the rural population. The implications for the preservation of Cambodia's forest resources are severe." Sources: Sarah Tyack, Friends of the Earth, 26/3/99; Late Friday News, 33rd Edition, 27/3/99; Global Witness Press Statement, 24/3/99, email: gwitness@gn.apc.org , Internet: http://www.oneworld.org/globalwitness .
Thailand: support requested for peoples' rally Four thousand representatives of rural, poor and ethnic communities within the upper nine provinces of Northern Thailand rallied at the Provincial Office in Chiangmai early on the 25th of April. These representatives of the people have released the following statement: Stop the violation of community rights and protect the dignity of human beings Thailand announced the acceptance of the new Royal Thai Constitution in October of 1997, a decree of the commitment to the protection of the rights and liberties of the Thai population in many categories including the civil rights of all people within Thailand and the right to utilize resources. However it has been almost two years since the acceptance of the current Constitution and the protection or acknowledgement of the expressed rights of villagers have yet to been seen. On the contrary the rights of the people have been continually violated, the rights to manage their resources and the basic right to citizenship as shown by the intimidation and threats used by government officials and the emergence of increasing tension and conflict between village communities and other sections of Thai society. In the management of natural resources throughout Thailand government employees continue to use the policies and laws which date from half a century before the new Constitution in the claiming of the power to violate the rights of the people, and local communities living in forested areas by forbidding the communities to use the local resources even for basic needs in maintaining their livelihoods. In addition to this there have been moves to relocate communities from their residential and cultivation areas which they have inhabited for many generations. An aspect of the violation of the rights and intimidation of communities are the instances of the abuse of their legal rights. For instance the officials of the Royal Forestry Department, using the authority of the Forest Law of 1941, arrested Mr. Mongkhol Rukyingprasert from the Wang Watershed area in Chiangmai Province for harvesting timber from the community forest area for the construction of a house. In another instance Mr. Pol Payoe, a member of the Karen, or Pgakenyaw, ethnic group in Chiangdao District of Chiangmai Province was arrested for his collection of dead timber over a period of ten years, timber used for repairs on his home. A third example of this phenomenon is the increasing demands for, and use of influence and power to force the relocation of the Hmong communities in Pha Klang sub-district, Pua district in Nan Province, although this is but a single example of a much wider phenomenon. Regarding the violation of the civil rights of all Thai people, there still exists the legal power to perpetrate these violations. A recent example can be found in the arrest of community members belonging to the Palong ethnic group in the community of Pang Daeng in Chaingdao District of Chiangmai Province. Fifty six members of this community were arrested without any statement of the reason for their arrest. Another instance is the continued practice of treating members of ethnic communities as separate from the Thai majority and using this as a pretence, or excuse, for the removal of their lands. The Northern Farmers Network in the name of peoples networks to conserve the forest who face a violation of their rights resulting from the declaration of protected forest areas which enclose areas traditionally used for cultivation, and the Assembly of Ethnic Minorities, Northern Thai Section in the name of peoples networks of ethnic minorities who face a violation of their human rights resulting from discrimination by government officials have combined with a number of democratic peoples organizations. These organizations combined to peacefully protest these violations according to the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand, Article 44, and have the following demands: 1. The Government must implement changes in the forestry laws, specifically in the following four legal instruments; Forestry Law of 1941, National Reserve Forest Law of 1964, Wildlife Sanctuary Law of 1964, National Park Law of 1961 and the Cabinet Resolution of the 30th of June 1998. All these laws violate the existing rights of the people over the management of resources, are not in line with reality within Thailand and are in conflict with the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand, the highest law in the Kingdom. 2. The Government must immediately implement the issuance of the Community Forest Bill in order to give the rights of conservation and forest management to local communities and to restrict the authority and power of government officials so that they are unable to use their authority to continue to exploit local resources for personal gain. 3. The Government must review and change the laws regarding the issuance of citizenship and issue citizenship to ethnic minorities within Thailand. This must be done with review of international laws, declaration of revolution and/or regulations and other legal instruments pertinent to the issuance of citizenship. The restrictive, limited and repetitive nature of citizenship registration laws must be examined and amended including details of the Citizenship Issuance Committee, their mandate and the criteria for qualifying for citizenship. In the meantime the continuing project issuing alien status to all ethnic minorities according to the law passed on the 3rd of October 1995 should be slowed as it is applied to all areas and peoples uniformly, until the laws can be amended. 4. The Government must withdraw the legal documents, uncertain by law, which deny the existing areas of public or communal use and halt the declaration of public ownership in traditional cultivation areas. 5. During the process of resolution of these problems arrests based on current laws, intimidation, threats and the violation of the rights of local communities should be immediately stopped in order to prevent the tension and conflict already existing from escalating further until the appropriate changes have been made to the laws in question and statutes are in place to solve the problems. In solidarity: Northern Farmers Network, Assembly of Thai Ethnic Minorities, Assembly of the Poor Temporary Coordinating Office: email: ethnet@loxinfo.co.th web page: http://www.cm.ksc.co.th/~cesd/ The people gathered at the Chiangmai rally request our readers to send a letter of support for their cause to the Prime Minister of Thailand, Mr. Chuan Leekpai, expressing both your support for previous efforts of the government to solve these problems and your hope for immediate movement on this issue. A copy of any letters you might write should also be forwarded to the temporary coordinating office of the peoples' rally and the following cooperating organizations in order that they can be translated and shared with the people as a demonstration of international support. Please send your letters to: Mr. Chuan Leekpai, Office of the Prime Minister, Government House, Bangkok, Thailand, Fax : 66 2 629 9211 Northern Development Foundation and the Northern Farmers Network, Fax : 66 53 810 623 - 4, email: ndf13@chmai.loxinfo.co.th Northern Farmers Network, Fax : 66 53 212 617 Assembly of the Poor, Fax 66 2 281 1916, email: fopthai@asiaaccess.net.th
Thailand: two approaches to forest conservation During a high-level seminar on "The Forestry Department Chief's Vision" held in March 21st Plodprasop Suraswadi , Head of the Forestry Department, proposed giving logging concessions to companies to develop degraded forests, arguing it would stem encroachment and generate income for the state. To his view the problem with deforestation was that the government was bound to yield eventually to encroachers' demands and recognise them as rightful owners of forest land. So instead of giving forest land away for the exclusive use of a group of people, a concession should be made available so all sides could benefit. Concessionaires should be large companies with sound financial standing and should have to invest in tree-planting in designated deteriorated forests. The companies should also be required to function as cooperatives, allowing locals to take up a stake and share in the returns when the trees matured and could be felled and processed commercially. Wildlife conservation is supposedly also taken into account by the proposal; for instance, endangered species could be bred in these forests to be possibly sold as pets. Environmentalists and farmers' groups reacted considering his proposal as "impossible" and "unrealistic". They think that such measures would not solve the issue of forest encroachment, which is actually a social problem, not a business conflict. Decades of uncontrolled large scale logging have caused that forest lands in Thailand decline from almost 60% to only 25%. Such extensive destruction derived in devastating floods, which in turn resulted in the loss of human lives and the destruction of villages and people's livelihoods. The plantation of vast eucalyptus monocultures to increase "forest cover" was not a solution to the problem. On the contrary it brought many environmental and social problems with it. The national parks policy adopted --supposedly aimed at ensuring the conservation of forests-- focused exclusively on "nature protection" and considered people living in the territories declared protected areas as actors to be excluded and expelled from them. It proved to be completely inadequate both for the forests and for the people. During the Asian workshop on the underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation held last December in Berastagi, Indonesia, a case study on Thailand was presented, that proposed a number of solutions for the three communities studied. They included supporting alternative agriculture, watershed management and networks, and promoting good managing of forests by stopping removing people out of the forest, supporting community forests and allowing local communities and civil society to participate in natural resource management at all levels. We believe this to be an equitable and realistic way of addressing the problem: focusing on the local level, taking into account local peoples' views and interests and having a holistic approach to forests, that are not only wood factories. Unfortunately, Thai authorities seem to prefer to make market-oriented unrealistic proposals. Source: Late Friday News, 33rd Edition, 27/3/99.
Thailand: Local people resist dams Dams are one of the most important causes for forest and agricultural land destruction, which usually goes together with the loss of their land by local communities caused by forced displacement. This unsustainable model is applied worldwide, from South America to Asia. Thailand is not an exception. On March 23, five thousand people from eight different groups affected by existing dams, planned dams, and land rights issues united in a struggle for justice by seizing the Pak Mun Dam in Ubon Ratchathani Province. This dam was chosen because it has provoked and continues to provoke serious negative environmental impacts on the people of Isarn in North-East Thailand. For a long time villagers have been suffering fresh drinking water shortage. They set up a temporary village on the left bank of the Mun River and decided to remain in the place until their demands have been met. The activists are part of the Assembly of the Poor, a coalition of Thai peoples' movements to fight for the rights of the people to participate in the country's environmental and development policies. Their most urgent demands are focusing on the solution to two specific problems: the drastic reduction in the number of fish in the Mun River, which affect the livelihoods of 3080 families since dam construction, and health problems such as a 50% increase in the incidence of intestinal fluke, an unknown increase in the incidence of liver fluke, and a potential spread of schistosomiasis from snail vectors inhabiting the reservoir. Demonstrators also demand land compensation of 15 Rai (2.4 acres) per family for the lost fisheries income. Dams are nowadays a widespread problem all over the country. Sirindhorn Dam, also situated in Ubon Ratchathani Province, is damaging 2526 families, which have received no compensation since the dam was built in 1969. Lam Can Chu Dam, in Chayapum Province, is responsible for the loss of natural forest areas, which provided the villagers with food and income, for water shortages downstream due to the storage of water in the reservoir and river channelization, and for the lack of an irrigation system in the downstream areas. Additionally, the Royal Irrigation Department has never paid compensation to the peasants for the loss of their land, fruit orchards which resulted from the building of the dam. At the same time villagers in Amnat Charoen Province are demanding land compensation for the resettlement that followed the flooding of their lands by Huai Pai Dam. In relation to the projected dams of .Phrong Khun Phet in Chayaphum Province, and .Phrong Khun Phet in Ubon Ratchathani Province, root based organizations are demanding that they are definitively shelved. Source: Aviva Imhof, South-East Asia Campaigns, International Rivers Network, e-mail: aviva@irn.org , 26/3/99, 5/4/99.
Thailand: one year of struggle against Yadana gas pipeline In late 1995 the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT) started a survey of the route for a gas pipeline between the western province of Kanchanabuti and Myanmar (ancient Burma). It was only after eight months that they admitted that the pipeline would be built. Since its very beginning this project was strongly resisted by villagers living near the route of the pipeline, who feared an explosion since the required security standards have not been reached. Now resistance has reached a national level and many civil society organizations have joined to object its economic feasibility and to protest against the environmental impact expected because of the works. A seminar was held on March 7th in Bangkok to discuss on the polemic pipeline. More than 300 people --among them members of various environmental and grassroots organizations, representatives of ethnic minority groups and student groups-- attended the event. The PTT and the government were accused for the lack of transparency of the project, for the agreement reached with a cruel dictatorship like that ruling Myanmar, and for their non fulfilment of the promises made regarding environmental restoration of the affected territory. Vast areas of forests were felled to give place to the pipeline and the authorities had promised that a reforestation plan was to be undertaken. Among the speakers was Sulak Sivaraksa, the social critic who launched a solo sit-in protest at the pipeline site when it was being constructed. He was sent to jail and charged with trespassing, and his case is still pending in court. Mr Sulak said that the peaceful struggle against the pipeline project had not ended, and that the PTT must be forced to reveal fully what he called its "shameful contract" to buy gas from the Yadana field in Burma. However, he said the "real enemy" was not the PTT or the Thai government but transnational corporations which intend to exploit the region's natural resources, regardless of the peoples' interests. Speaking on behalf of the anti-pipeline coalition --that is formed by more than 500 different organizations-- leading opponent Pibhop Dhongchai said that the problem arose due to lack of public participation in the planning and implementation of the country's energy policy and demanded that the public takes that role. The coalition also demanded that the PTT and the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand postpone all their projects, including the Thai-Malaysian joint development project in the Gulf of Thailand, because it had become clear that there was an oversupply of gas and electricity in the country. It also demanded the cancellation of the three power plant projects in Prachuap Khiri Khan. Sources: Oilwatch Secretariat < oilwatch@uio.satnet.net >, 19/3/99, based on: Bangkok Post, March 8, 1999; "Yadana pipeline: PTT is telling us lies", Watershed Vol 3 Nr 1 July - October 1997.
Malaysia: opposition to dam megaproject A big campaign is being pushed ahead to stop a dam project in Selangor, Malaysia, which will not only destroy rainforest but also evict indigenous people from their ancestral homelands. The campaign is aimed at protecting 600 hectares of rainforest from being devastated by this project. The Sungai Selangor Dam, which is being projected to meet the expected water demand in the States of Selangor and Wilayah Persekutuan, will flood pristine forests, rubber plantations and orchards. It will also inundate lowland forest, two thriving Orang Asli villages, some private land, recreational and picnic spots along the Sungai Selangor, a section of the Kuala Kubu Baru-Fraser's Hill road, among other tracts of land. The area affected is the ancestral heartland of the Temuan indigenous people. Its loss means the disappearance of these people as a culture. According to a Temuan legend: "When the Orang Asli (Original People) are no longer visible, the world will end." The residents of Kuala Kubu Baru remember the tragedy that occurred over a century ago in 1883, when a much smaller dam across the Selangor River burst and destroyed the entire town. Selangor is an area where flash floods and landslides have increased dramatically in recent years, due to irresponsible logging upstream. Local residents will never again be able to sleep peacefully during the rainy season, and property prices will plunge. Not only local people will lose with the projected dam. With pollution and stress levels rising in the Klang Valley, more and more people have been seeking relief every weekend in the idyllic green sanctuary of Pertak, Ulu Selangor. Once the dam is constructed, the area will no longer be useful in this regard. Even if tasteful landscaping turns the area surrounding the man-made lake into a scenic park, it will no longer have the powerful healing effect that only raw nature can provide. And since the Selangor Dam will only supply the water needs of the Klang Valley for three to six years at most, it cannot be regarded as a viable long-term solution. The disastrous environmental impact of large dams has drawn heavy criticism worldwide. Experts now admit that damming up rivers is extremely destructive to our fragile ecosystemic equilibrium. Tampering with the natural flow and topology of rivers is a very dangerous business. The negative impact is far-reaching, unpredictable, and usually irreversible. In the case of the proposed Selangor Dam, it is quite possible that the wetlands and famous firefly colony near Kuala Selangor will be adversely affected. The negative impact of inundating nearly a thousand hectares in montane forest of Pertak cannot be adequately assessed or quantified. The Selangor Dam will also have far reaching consequences on the geomorphology and the hydrology of the area. It will distort the geomagnetic field of the area, resulting in drastic long-term climatic and seismological changes --including the possibility of earth tremors in hitherto stable areas. Additionally the streams and tributaries feeding the Selangor River --already polluted by recent logging on the hillslopes-- will pour so much debris into the reservoir that it will need to be desilted every two or three years, adding to the enormous cost of maintaining the dam. Furthermore, constructing a 5 km (3 mile) stretch of new road through hilly forest reserves to replace the inundated stretch will cause further environmental degradation, apart from greatly increasing the enormous cost of the dam project. The Consumers' Association of Penang (CAP) has studied the Environmental Impact Assessment study [EIA] for the proposed development that was prepared by SMHB Sdn. Bhd for the project proponent, Konsortium TSWA-Gamuda-KDEB. According to CAP, there are serious questions that need to be addressed before one can accept the validity of the water demand projections, which is object to much criticism because of their fundamental assumptions and methodology. The project does not address at all the fundamental issue of long-term, integrated, sustainable water resources planning and management on a regional/national basis which has been identified as an urgent priority for the country already in the early 1980s. The EIA in particular has not addressed the capital issue of proposing alternatives to dam construction. The NGO Magick River, responsible for the campaign, is not only strongly criticising the dam megaproject approach, but also putting forward sustainable alternative solutions to water supply. They are small scale, do not involve timber concessions or megaconstructions, and respect the environmental and cultural vision of the Temuan. Sources: Magick River web sites: http://www.xlibris.de/magickriver/dam.htm ; http://www.xlibris.de/magickriver/doecap.htm ; Mary Maguire, 24/3/99.
Dams generate environmental and social destruction in Laos Hydropower megaprojects in several Southeast Asian countries are frequently preceded by devastating logging operations in prospective inundation zones. This kind of practices cause an extensive negative environmental impact and damage indigenous communities, that are forced to abandon their lands and are resettled somewhere else. In Laos current and pending dam projects are being used as cover to evict village people from intended reservoir areas and from upland watersheds (see WRM Bulletin 8). A report recently issued by International Rivers Network demands an urgent rethink of the "one-sided" policies of the Laotian Government and its United Nations, World Bank and Asian Development Bank supporters. According to the report, there are "fundamental problems" at all six projects visited, including doubtful financial viability, uncontrolled logging and growing mortality among ethnic minorities forced to resettle, often with little or no compensation. Possible starvation of fish ponds is feared. Social problems, as prostitution of displaced indigenous women, have also been reported. "It is irresponsible of the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank to be pushing ahead with the funding of individual hydroelectric power projects as 'aid'" states the report. The Laosian government intends to sell much of the power generated by the Nam Leuk project to Thailand and possibly Vietnam. However, the collapse of the Thai economy has forced the Electricity Generating Authority of that country to reassess future demand estimates and such sale is nowadays doubtful. The report warns that the region's largest planned dam, the controversial Nam Theun Two project on the Nakai Plateau in central Khammouane province, may not even go ahead --despite the already widespread destruction of its catchment area. The viability of the four other projects studied remains also in doubt due to the economic crash, a fact that can be considered positive since it can allow crucial room to manoeuvre in carving out new more sustainable policies for the energy sector, the people and the environment. Source: Aviva Imhof, South-East Asia Campaigner International Rivers Network, Email: viva@irn.org
OCEANIA Papua New Guinea's Rainforests Threatened Papua New Guinea constitutes another good (bad) example of current trends regarding forest conservation. While the world declares its concern over the rate of deforestation which affects the planet as a whole, that same world does very little to address the problem. On the contrary, apparently "neutral" forces such as "the macroeconomy" or the "market forces" or "international trade" continue destroying forests, while governments and international organizations continue agreeing --on paper-- on the need to protect them. The result is not development but further impoverishment of people, further degradation of the resources they depend upon and further enrichment of transnationals and local elites. Measures can and must be taken to allow countries to be able to increase the quality of life of their people while at the same time conserving the planet's life-support systems. The world community should show its commitment to forest conservation by assisting countries such as Papua New Guinea instead of allowing a few transnationals to obtain large profits at their expense. In the next 2 to 3 months it will be decided whether Papua New Guinea remains a contiguous, largely intact wilderness --one of the four most important on the Planet-- or whether all the operable forests are allocated and the destructive deforestation process begins. What follows is a press release from the Committee for a Prosperous and Sustainable PNG, which details the current dramatic situation: March 28, 1999 (Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea)-The government of Papua New Guinea (PNG) has taken a series of actions over the past months which severely weaken forest sector governance, while seriously jeopardizing rainforest sustainability and its citizen's future development potential. Papua New Guinea's (PNG) rainforests are of global significance, comprising one of the last major tropical rainforest wildernesses in the World. This forest ecosystem is responsible for storing massive amounts of carbon and regulating global climate. In merely 1% of the world's land mass, it is estimated that PNG contains 5-8% of global biodiversity. In recent years, there had been some progress made in putting in place legislation and institutions to regulate a timber industry that had been described in the late 1980s as being composed of "robber-barons". Now PNG, faced with an economic crisis fuelled by years of poor governance, has embraced a deliberative policy of liquidating its forest resources in a desperate attempt to stabilize its economy. On the advice of a high paid foreign economic advisor, the government is pursuing a misguided forest and economic policy which allocates for export logging essentially all major remaining forest resources-primarily to maintain the value of its flagging currency. Recent forest sector deterioration is indicative of ongoing and worsening poor governance. Extremely valuable forest resources are being illegally allocated with no public input and little if any benefit to the country. Details include: Log Export Tax Eliminated. The rate of log export taxation was reduced in late 1998 from an average rate of 33% to 0-5% today. PNG log exporters are paying virtually no log export tax, and thus government revenues have plunged. 800,000 Hectare Give Away. The Forestry Board has decided to grant 800,000 hectares (about 2 million acre) in Western Province, known as Kumula Doso, as an "extension" to an existing 600,000 hectare logging area held by the Malaysian logging company which dominates the industry. This huge and highly valuable resource area is being tendered non-competitively. This extension lies within one of the largest and most significant remaining lowland rainforests in the Asia-Pacific, and effectively guts the area, ensuring eventually that the whole area will be logged-one huge extension at a time. Illegal Logging Area Allocation. At least 12 new industrial logging operations, and perhaps as many as 17, are being "fast-tracked". This means that on the instructions of the current government, millions of hectares of priceless rainforest --most of the country's remaining rainforest resources-- are to be allocated with great haste, and outside of forest legislation and regulations. It is expected, and there are already indications, that exasperation over the slow pace of approving these projects is leading to concerted efforts by the Forest Minister to weaken forest legislation and regulations. No Export Log Monitoring. For the past several years, log exports have been independently monitored by SGS, the Swiss inspection and monitoring firm. This had proven to be one of the most successful efforts to reform an out of control timber industry. The government has chosen to not renew the contract, despite the fact that it is estimated that the monitoring pays for itself many times over in increased revenue collection. As of April 1st, there will be no monitoring of log exports --and it is fully expected that illegal misdeclaration of exports and other frauds will escalate. Dismantling of Professional Forest Service. Those within the Forest Service that insist upon proper forest allocation procedures are being demoted or otherwise silenced. The widely respected General Manager of the Forest Authority, who has insisted upon adherence to correct procedures and has worked hard to maintain a log export monitoring capability, has been demoted within the past week --it appears without proper process. After several years of improvement in forest sector management, PNG is poised to return to the days where its timber industry runs rampant with essentially no benefits for the country. This is both a national and global catastrophe, for which many generations to come will pay. ACTION ALERT: Concerned about the situation? Forward the above press release to media organizations in your area. Write polite yet forceful letters to the Prime Minister of PNG, to the World Bank's President and to the PNG media using the information above. The situation continues to deteriorate daily, so there is a strong sense of urgency to get your letters out as soon as possible to: Prime Minister Bill Skate Fax: 675 (country code) 327 6630 Senator the Hon. Robert Hill Tel: 02 6277 7640 You can also send your comments to http://www.environment.gov.au/environment/search/feedback.html Source: Ecological Enterprises < pngdeforest@hotmail.com > For additional information, contact Brian Brunton. < gpacific@datec.com.pg >
SOUTH AMERICA Brazil: The power of Aracruz Celulose On March 23rd the Government of the State of Espirito Santo, Brazil, issued Decree 4428 with new regulations related to "reforestation" (plantations) in that state. Plantations occupying an area of more that 100 hectares will require a permit form the Agriculture and Forestry Defence Institute (IDAF), while plantations of less than that area will not need a permit. Additionally, the decree establishes maximum percentages for plantations in different zones, which can reach 50% in the central hilly, extreme northern and north-western regions. According to the text, the aim of the norm is that the area of "planted forests" in the state increase from 3 to 6%. High priority is given to eucalyptus, that already represents 97,8% of existing plantations. The following day, State Parliamentarian Claudio Vereza presented a draft bill proposing the cancellation of the above referred decree. To his view, the decree elaborated by the Secretary for Agriculture contravenes the Environmental Law of Espirito Santo, which establishes that an environmental impact assessment is to be performed in the following cases: plantations that exceed 100 hectares, plantations that occupy a significant percentage of land area regardless of their extension, and plantations established in environmentally sensitive areas. According to the new decree, a plantation company can even set up, for example, 100 different plantations of 50 hectares each --reaching a total of 5000 hectares-- without needing a permit! Additionally, according to Mr Vereza, the Constitution of the State establishes that every activity of exploitation of forest resources involving areas of more than 100 hectares need a permit from the Agriculture and Environment Commission of the Legislative Assembly. Biologists and environmentalists have also expressed their concern for the expressed objective of promoting eucalyptus plantations in the extreme northern region of the state to cover 50% of its total area, considering that this region is prone to intense droughts. It is important to highlight that the main plantation company in Espirito Santo is Aracruz Celulose, which owns 70% of the plantations in the state. It is also remarkable that the Secretary for Agriculture, Mr. Pedro de Faria Burnier, reponsible for Decree 4428/99, is former executive of Aracruz Celulose. He efficiently served the company in that position and now continues to do so! Aracruz Celulose launched an aggressive media campaign trying to show that there is no doubt that eucalyptus do not cause any negative impact on the environment. According to one of the company's foresters, the opposite is true: eucalyptus can be a solution for the northern region, highly affected by drought and could even "improve rain distribution in the region, that would become constant instead of being concentrated only during some months of the year". Additionally, to the company's view, producing eucalyptus is much more profitable than growing traditional crops. Following an initiative from Member of Parliament Vereza, on April 15th a public audience of the Legislative Assembly of the State was held. During the audience, both Mr Vereza and members of civil society strongly criticized the new decree. The Federation of Rural Farmers of Espirito Santo also condemned the norm. They consider that the production of food for the market should be given priority to the production of eucalytpus for Aracruz. The Attorney General also expressed criticism to the decree considering it unconstitutional. As only three representatives of civil society were given the opportunity to speak during the event, Mr Vereza requested a new audience. It seems difficult that the opposition to the decree will be able to achieve its cancellation, considering the close relationship existing between Aracruz Celulose, the government of the state, the Legislative Assembly, industry, the Association of Foresters and the media. The power of the company is so strong, that the media decided to boycott the public audience of April 15th, which went practically unnoticed in the newspapers. In short, the power of Aracruz Celulose now extends itself all over the state of Espirito Santo. This explains the difficulties which the local indigenous Tupinikim and Guarani peoples have faced in trying to get their lands back from this company, whose struggle has been highlighted in numerous articles in the WRM bulletin (for an overview on the issue, see WRM Bulletin 13). Source: Conselho Indigenista Missionário - Espírito Santo
Chile: establishment experts and reality During the "Intersessional experts meeting on the role of planted forests in sustainable development" held in Santiago, Chile, from 6 to 10 April 1999 several voices, from governments and forestry companies, advocated in favour of tree plantations (See "Our viewpoint" in this issue). In this regard, the representative of CORMA (Wood Corporation of Chile) Mr Fernando Raga made a presentation highlighting the role of "forest plantations" as "an effective and ecoefficient response to the human beings with sustainable volumes of timber, as they are established on relatively small spaces of land". He also stated that tree plantations "contribute to the conservation of vast expanses of natural forests that satisfy the need of soil conservation, biodiversity, recreation and other services". The harmonization between tree monocultures and natural forests, that seems to be the new strategy adopted in the discourse of the promoters of plantations, can be considered interesting and even appealing. Nevertheless it does not to correspond to what is happening on the ground. While the meeting was taking place in the capital, the conflict resulting from the expansion of plantations in the Southern region of the country, which invaded territories that traditionally belonged to the Mapuche people was going on: land occupations by groups of indigenous men, women and children; confrontations between the occupants and police forces that defended the interests of forest companies; unrest among peasants that feared occupations; a peaceful demonstration by a group of Mapuche in the Metropolitan Cathedral of Santiago during Easter trying to call the attention of the Catholic Church on their tragedy; the hunger strike of seven Mapuche people at the Workers Union headquarters in Concepcion, supporting their peoples' struggle; arbitrary detentions, violation of Human Rights and accusations of subversion against Mapuche activists. Nevertheless the "experts" as well as Chilean authorities -the CONADI (National Indigenous Corporation) included - chose to turn a blind eye to such reality. In an open letter dated April 11th Arnaud Fuentes, researcher of the University of Perpignan, France, who visited the southern IX Region of Chile as part of his study of the historial process of land expropriations to the detriment of the Mapuche people, denounces the abuses performed by the police against the Mapuche of Temulemu and on himself during his one and a half month long stay in the region. The area, that is the scenario of strong conflicts between the indigenous communities and Forestal Mininco, belonged to the Mapuche till 1979. A law promoted by the military dictatorship dispossessed the communities of their land and paved the way to its appropriation by the company. As a result of Mr Fuentes' declarations, the authorities of the IX Region started procedures for his expulsion from the country, accusing him of subversion. In spite of those pressures, the Chilean Court of Justice ruled in his favour. Conflicts caused by tree monoculture plantations in Chile are not new. Nor is the tragedy of the Mapuche nation, now linked to their expansion. Chilean temperate forests have suffered a severe reduction in their area to the hands of plantation companies. Their biodiversity is being progressively substituted by green deserts of trees. The claimed harmonization between plantations and natural forests does not actually occur, neither in temperate nor in tropical areas. As a matter of fact --as stated by the members of the NGO Forest Working Group present at the Santiago experts meeting-- large scale commercial plantations are a major direct cause for deforestation in many Southern countries. Additionally, the argument that plantations only occupy "small spaces of land" is false; on the one hand, because the area of plantations has been rapidly increasing and on the other hand, because the problem is not how many hectares are planted at the global level, but to what extent plantations affect people and the environment at the local and regional level, regardless of their area in absolute or percentual figures. The Chilean case exemplifies --among many other things-- the role of hired "experts": to justify "scientifically" what needs to be justified to favour either the forestry profession's corporate interest or, more importantly, the interests of large forestry corporations. All arguments against plantations --their impacts on people, water, biodiversity, soils-- will be dismissed by them as "scientifically unproven", even when supported by empirical evidence. Fortunately, there are also in Chile other experts, whose work is aimed at protecting the environment and at supporting local peoples' rights. Among these, we wish to highlight Rodrigo Catalan and Ruperto Ramos, whose presentation at the Latin American Workshop on Underlying Causes of Deforestation and Forest Degradation (available in WRM's web page), highlight the negative social and environmental impacts of plantations in Chile. This proves that, in spite of the establishment experts' hard work, reality is proving hard to be hidden much longer and the Chilean people are becoming increasingly aware of the lies which they have been fed with to support a socially and environmentally unsustainable forestry model. Sources: "Plantations and sustainable development: the case of Chile", Fernando Raga, CORMA, March 1999; "How to see the forest through the trees", A contribution of the NGO Forest Working Group, Santiago de Chile, 6-10 April 1999; Mapulink, 13/4/99; Jorge Calbucura, 1/4/99, 3/4/99, 7/4/99.
Chile: more than scientific evidence on plantations' impacts When confronted with allegations that plantations entail social and environmental impacts, most foresters will argue that there's no scientific evidence to support such allegations. For us, the following testimony from Ruperto Ramos Antiqueo, a Mapuche from Southern Chile, has much more weight than most so-called scientific studies: "When in past times I visited those mountains, there was an abundance of native trees everywhere: elm, 'hualle', oak, hazel. As plantations arrived the forest was lost. We used to walk about eight kilometres to arrive there. We went there to get plants, fruits and animals for food, such as rabbits, hares and birds. There were many. Nowadays, because of plantations, the birds have disappeared. I feel sad when I go there. There used to be deep water, good for bathing and drinking. We strolled all day long looking for fruits and enjoying nature since that was nice; everything was normal. There was no reason for fear. All was peaceful. But now, as soon as one enters the area, one can feel the danger, because the guard can seize you, or make his dogs attack you or shoot you. This is what they do nowadays. There is a water shortage for the communities living downstream, where there used to be wetlands that could be crossed only through bridges. Now one can easily cross them walking on the stone beds. Communities now lack water and for that reason families are abandoning their lands. Plantations have invaded them. Birds are also flying away because there is no place for them, there is no food because the trees that provided them with fruit have turned into pines and eucalyptus. There is no more food for them. Several species of birds have disappeared, especially pigeons and 'chucaos' that are nowhere to be seen. Foxes are also rarely seen. It is a sad thing to go there, to observe how it used to be and what it is like now. One can see entire mountains that have been set on fire, their waters have gone . . ." Source: "Pueblo mapuche, bosque nativo y plantaciones forestales", by Rodrigo Catalán and Ruperto Ramos (forthcoming book)
Venezuela: Smurfit's changing strategy After years facing strong opposition from local communities resulting from the social and environmental impacts of its activities in the State of Portuguesa, Smurfit Carton is now trying to profit from the recent political changes in Venezuela. Strange as it might seem this company, which short time ago was a declared enemy of today's President Hugo Chavez, is trying to use the "Plan Bolívar 2000", a social initiative launched by the new government, with the aim of weakening the peasants' organization and opposition to its monoculture tree plantations. Through "Plan Bolívar 2000" the government is using military contingents in community work in poor neighbourhoods and rural communities to assist them in the sanitary and infrastructure fields. Smurfit, that in 1997 and 1998 opposed Chavez and its political movement and even developed espionage activities on him, is now sponsoring the government's assistance plan. The implementation of such plan started on February 27th in Morador. Smurfit has donated medicines and is involved in the reparation of the local school as a way of showing a new image of the company to the community. Peasants and environmental organizations have warned that this is not but a new misleading strategy of the company, which is highly interested in eliminating social unrest in the area only to continue with business as usual. The serious economic situation that Venezuela is facing is a threat to the company's expectations regarding high revenues. It seems difficult that this year's economic results for Smurfit will be as good as in 1997 and 1998, though not only because of recession but also due to the fact that strong opposition from local communities, has forced the company to halt its deforestation activities and therefore has limited its access to cheap raw material from tropical forests. The communities of Morador and Tierra Buena have obtained national and international support to their struggle. In the neighbouring cities of Guanare, Acarigua and Ospino, graffitti have appeared claiming that lands are granted to the peasants and that deforestation and plantations by Smurfit are definitively halted. Responding to the request of local communities and organizations, the WRM has started an international campaign to call President Chavez's attention on this problematic situation (see sign-on letter in this issue). Our readers are kindly asked to address the Venezuelan Embassy in their respective countries expressing their support to Morador and Tierra Buena communities' demands and enclosing a reprint of the two relevant articles published in this issue of WRM Bulletin. Sources: Asociación Civil Comisión de Arborización, Grupo Ecológico Tacamajaca, Grupo Ecológico Morador, Comité de Tierras de Morador y Tierra Buena, Junta para la Conservación, Defensa y Mejoramiento del Ambiente del Municipio Ospino, 16/4/99.
Venezuela: sign-on letter to President on Smurfit On April 8th, the WRM sent the following letter to Venezuela's new President Hugo Chavez. Our Venezuelan friends request your support by adding your signature to the letter, which will be resent to the President followed by the signatures of all those who are willing to support it. Please include name, organization and country and send that data to: wrm@wrm.org.uy LETTER TO PRESIDENT CHAVEZ (translation of Spanish original) We would like to express our concern regarding an issue which we consider to be extremely important, while at the same time we request you to personally intervene to find a solution to a conflict in the State of Portuguesa. For a long time, peasants from that State and specifically those from the villages of Morador and Tierra Buena have been in conflict with Smurfit Carton of Venezuela, a subsidiary of the Ireland-based transnational Jefferson Smurfit. Among the multiple problems generated by this corporation in that region, the more apparent are those related to the impacts of its extensive monoculture tree plantations on water, flora and wildlife, which result in serious problems for local peoples' livelihoods. Moreover, there is ample evidence that the company has been deforesting, both directly or though third party agents, the few remaining forests of this Venezuelan State, with the aim of supplying raw material to its pulp plant located in Yaracuy State (MOCARPEL). As a last resort to put a stop to this predatory activity, a group of over a hundred people blockaded a national highway in January this year to denounce this fact and the National Guard thereby detained a dozen of trucks loaded with tropical wood which were on their way to Smurfit's industrial plant. Even worse, the company is implementing plantations in clear violation of the legal regulations, because the authorization to occupy the territory provided to Smurfit by the Ministry of the Environment is illegal, given that it allows afforestation in areas of clear agricultural land use, thus violating the State of Portuguesa's Territorial Management Plan. In addition, the authorization was issued by government officials with no authority over the matter. Additionally, there is also a violation of the constitutional precept which bans the existence of large estates, given that the corporation currently owns 34,000 hectares of land in the States of Portuguesa, Lara and Cojedes. The purchase of the estate "La Portuguesa" (2,700 hectares) by Smurfit resulted in its peaceful occupation by local peasants on July 14 1997, with the aim of obtaining from the government the allocation of the land which they require for their survival. However, the response was a brutal repression from the National Guard and many of the consequences are still being suffered by those who participated in the action. All the above and much more has been duly investigated and documented by the Environment Committee of the Venezuelan Senate. In spite of this, a solution seems impossible, because the company and local people are in a situation of confrontation, while the State Government and the National Guard of Portuguesa seem to have taken a position in favour of the company, without taking into account the needs and rights of peasants or the environmental impacts of the company's activities. Consequently, if a solution is to be found, it appears to be necessary that the peasants' desire to be allocated land in "La Productora" estate is fulfilled --which we believe to be in accordance with the advanced agrarian legislation of Venezuela-- and that the aggressions to the environment resulting from the activities of this company be halted. On the other hand, we feel that it is relevant to highlight that this problem is a consequence --common in many Southern countries-- of the large scale tree plantation model, which is everywhere creating problems similar to those which have occurred in the State of Portuguesa, as well as similar confrontational situations. In accordance with the above, we are confident that the government which you preside will take matters into its hands and will be able to revert a situation which, in case of continuing in its current course, will only lead to confrontations which will benefit no-one. We look forward to hearing from you. Yours sincerely,
Venezuela: social and environmental demands to new President On 22 April (Earth Day), a demonstration was staged in Caracas to put pressure on the new government on a number of crucial social and environmental issues. The demonstration included environmental and other groups, as well as representatives from indigenous communities facing the destruction of their forests, rivers and culture resulting from the activities of mining, oil, logging and electricity corporations. Indigenous peoples' delegates came from their faraway communities in Gran Sabana, Imataca and the Orinoco Delta. Some of the slogans voiced during the demonstration --which received support and applause from the public-- reflect the different types of problems which need to be addressed by the government: "President Chávez: a new type of country is impossible without environmental conscience"; "Solidarity with the Yupca, Bari, Pemon and Warao indigenous peoples in defence of their environmental and cultural heritage"; "Economic development is impossible if Nature is destroyed"; "Water, forests and soils are the true riches"; "Imataca yes, transnationals no"; "Respect for indigenous territories". The demonstrators reached the Presidential Palace and given the absence of the President, continued their march to the Foreign Office, where the Chancellor agreed to meet them and expressed his support for an open dialogue between the relevant government officials and the organizations involved in the issues raised at the demonstration. Among the main issues to be addressed in such dialogue are: the support of the Governor of Zulia to activities damaging to the indigenous peoples of Sierra de Pirajá; President Chávez's support for mining in the Imataca reserve, the government's support to coal and other mining activities in different regions, the lack of government policies to help the poorest State of Venezuela (Delta Amacuro) and the widespread problems derived from oil exploitation activities. Source: AMIGRANSA, 23/4/99; e- mail: amigrans@ccs.internet.ve
Support to the U'wa people in Colombia The U'wa of the Colombian cloud forest are in a life-and-death struggle to protect their traditional culture and sacred homeland from an oil project slated to begin on their land at anytime. The U'wa are adamantly opposed to the drilling and warn that the project will lead to an increase in violence as seen in other oil regions of Colombia. Despite this, Los Angeles-based Occidental Petroleum and the Colombian government continue to move forward with plans to drill. The U'wa have made a call for international support; now is the time for us to answer. The U'wa's opposition to the oil project is so strong that they have vowed to commit collective suicide if Occidental Petroleum and the Colombian government proceed with the oil project on their ancestral lands. The U'wa, a traditional people some 5,000 members strong, explain they prefer a death by their own hand than the slow death to their environment and culture oil will bring. A core tenet of U'wa culture and spirituality is the belief that the land that has sustained them for centuries is sacred. They strongly believe that to permit oil exploration on these sacred lands would upset the balance of the world. In the words of the U'wa, "Oil is the blood of Mother Earth...to take the oil is, for us, worse than killing your own mother. If you kill the Earth, then no one will live." The U'wa people's struggle recently exploded into the public arena with the tragic March 5th murders in Colombia of three indigenous rights activists: Terence Freitas, Ingrid Washinawatok and Lahe'ane'e Gay. Terence had devoted the last two years of his life to supporting the U'wa in their campaign to stop Occidental's oil project, reclaim their ancestral homeland and protect their traditional culture. Ingrid and Lahe'ane'e were coordinating with the U'wa to launch an educational project designed to maintain and promote the U'wa's traditional way-of-life. The U'wa fear that the recent murders are but a harbinger of the wider physical violence the oil project bring to their people. Throughout Colombia, oil and violence are linked inextricably. Occidental's Cano Limon pipeline, just north of U'wa territory, has been attacked by leftist guerillas more than 500 times in its 12 years of existence, spilling some 1.7 million barrels of crude oil into the soil and rivers. The Colombian government has militarized oil production and pipeline zones, often persecuting local populations the government assumes are helping the guerrillas. Oil projects have already taken their toll on many other indigenous peoples of Colombia, including the Yarique, Kofan and Secoya. The current drilling plans threaten the survival of both the U'wa and their environment. The U'wa's cloud forest homeland in the Sierra Nevada de Cocuy mountains near the Venezuelan border is one of the most delicate, endangered forest ecosystems on the planet. It is an area rich in plant and animal life unique to the region, and the U'wa depend on the balance and bounty of the forest for their survival. Where oil companies have operated in other regions of the Amazon basin, cultural decay, toxic pollution, land invasions and massive deforestation have followed. Occidental first received an exploration license for the 2 billion barrels oil field the equivalent of three months of U.S. consumption-- in 1992. Since then, the U'wa have voiced their consistent opposition to the oil project. They have taken a variety of actions to halt the project including the filing of lawsuits against the government in Colombia, petitioning the Organization of American States to intervene, appealing directly with Occidental's top executives, and reaching out to company shareholders. Currently, Colombia's Ministry of the Environment is considering Occidental's application for a drilling license, the next hurdle the company must clear to proceed with the project. In the face of mounting violence in the region and Occidental's pressure on the government to approve the drilling permit, the urgency of the U'wa's struggle has never been so great. "We are seeking an explanation for this 'progress' that goes against life. We are demanding that this kind of progress stop, that oil exploitation in the heart of the Earth is halted, that the deliberate bleeding of the Earth stop." --Statement of the U'wa people, August, 1999 A number of actions are being organized by the U'wa Defense Working Group, whose members are: Amazon Coalition, Amazon Watch, Action Resource Center, Earthjustice Legal, Defense Fund, EarthWays Foundation, International Law Project for Human Environmental & Economic Defense, Project Underground, Rainforest Action Network, Sol Communications. Those interested in participating in these actions, please contact any of those organizations. Source: Rainforest Action Network U'wa Work. For additional information: email < HelpUwa@ran.org > or web page www.ran.org
Bolivia: concern over the fate of forests During a meeting held on March 16th in La Paz, with the participation of NGO representatives and government officials on the situation and perspectives of forests in Bolivia and on the draft decree for awarding concessions for the exploitation of most forest lands, a number of concerns were raised on the policy regarding forest conservation in that country. It was pointed out that there are no clear objectives in this regard. The participation of civil society was considered vital in the formulation and implementation of such a policy, that should always give priority to the interests of local communities and to the promotion of sustainability. Revealing mistakes were detected in the draft version of the decree. It was detected that even if a Forestry Law and other norms exist on paper, there is a lack of political will to implement them. In the meantime, the country's forests are being destroyed. It is feared that new concessions will mean uncontrolled exploitation and further deforestation. Additionally, communities of the provinces of Beni and Pando have denounced that the problem of property rights on forest lands has not been adequately solved. Community property rights over forests are not recognized, while large landowners occupy more and more lands and threaten peasants' livelihoods. The process of land concessions in that province lacks transparency and usually large companies invade peasants lands, as recently happened in the region of Puerto Rico and Conquista. The Bolivian lowlands are covered by 440,000 km2 of rain tropical forests which represents 57% of the lowlands total surface. The country's deforestation rates are of 168,000 hectares/year (0.3%/year) and the promotion of export crops has been identified as its main cause. Source: Bolivian Forum for Environment and Development (FOBOMADE), 5/4/99. e-mail: fobomade@mail.megalink.com . Pablo Pacheco B., "Extent and causes of deforestation and forest degradation in Bolivia", Case Study. Underlying causes of deforestation and forests degradation, 1998.
CENTRAL AMERICA Pristine Belize forests threatened by dam project With 22,960 square kilometres and 220,000 inhabitants Belize is the smallest and less populated country in Central America. 83% of its territory is covered by forests, most of them in a pristine state, and 40% of the country is now protected as parks and reserves. As in many other Southern countries dam megaprojects are a major problem for Belize's forests and people. The Chalillo Dam projected in Belize would flood 1,100 hectares (2,718 acres) of primary forest, engulfing the valleys of the Macal and Raspaculo rivers in the Central Maya mountains, near the Guatemalan border. The works would destroy this fragile ecosystem that is a site very rich in biodiversity. The dam's flood waters would also bury archaeological sites of the Maya civilization dating from the 5th century. Opponents to the project argue that there are alternative answers to the country's energy needs, such as better energy collaboration policies with neighbouring Mexico. A 1992 Environmental Impact Assessment produced by Agra CI Power Ltd., estimated that "over 90 percent of the riparian habitats would be destroyed," if the dam were built. The report also predicted that serious environmental damage would occur downstream from the proposed dam site, impacting the lives of rural villages which depend on the river for sustenance. The assessment also found that the dam could kill fish by generating sulphide gases as vegetation rotted in the reservoir, and by changing seasonal river flows. Ecotourism, which is one of the largest contributors to Belize's GNP will also be affected by the project. Source: Sharon Guynup, web site: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/apr99/1999L-04-06-01.html . Olman Segura et al, "Politicas forestales en Centro America", IICA, San Salvador, 1997.
Jorge Varela, co-founder of the Committee for the Defence and Development of Flora and Fauna of the Fonseca Gulf (CODEFFAGOLF), a grassroot organization of small fishers and peasants in Honduras, is one of the seven environmental and human rights activists that have been awarded with the Goldman Prize 1999. This NGO has focused its activities in the defence of the Fonseca Gulf area against industrial shrimp farming, that has provoked the destruction of mangroves and other coastal wetlands, the pollution of estuaries, the loss of fisheries and the shortage of food for local villagers. As concrete results of its struggle CODEFFAGOLF has achieved two moratorium to temporarily halt shrimp farms' activities and is about to obtain the declaration by the government of 107,000 hectares of coastal wetlands and marine ecosystems as protected areas. Additionally, the organization has played a crucial role in helping the population affected by Hurricane Mitch. In July 1997 the Oxford Office of the WRM addressed the president of Honduras asking him an extension of the moratorium on shrimp farming in the area. In December 1997 by means of a letter addressed to the National Congress of Honduras, the WRM International Secretariat supported the inclusion of the Fonseca Gulf into the National Protected Areas System. Every year, the Goldman Environmental Foundation, based in San Francisco, USA, gives awards to anonymous activists engaged in the defence of human and environmental worldwide. A Canadian fisherman advocating for sustainable exploitation of codfish in Terranova, two aboriginal women of Australia that have faced uranium mining activities in Jabiluka, a young woman belonging to the Karen ethnic minority in Burma engaged in the defence of her country's people and forests, an activist of Cameroon who defends the second largest tropical forest in the world, and a Slovakian hydrologist that is opposing a dam megaproject are the other individuals that will receive the Goldman Prize 1999. A token of the thousands of activists at different levels that fight for a more sustainable and humane world. Source: Honduras Popular Support Group, 22/4/99; e-mail: gaph@ea.oac.uci.edu NORTH AMERICA Mexico: mangrove destruction by tourism and shrimp farming The expansion of tourism has meant the increase of the possibility of enjoying leisure time for many people wordwide. Nevertheless, tourism usually brings negative social and environmental consequences with it and more so in the case of the fragile mangrove ecosystems. The mangroves and beaches off the Caribbean Coast of Mexico, known as the Maya Riviera, are being destroyed by more and more infrastructure for tourism built at a quick pace. Some people consider that this may benefit --at least temporally-- the local economy as this creates jobs and stimulates cash flow, but the long range results are devastating. In one weekend, working night and day, an entire building site can take over a healthy thriving mangrove. This aquatic forest ecosystem, vital to the life of the coast, reef, and food chain to so many mammals, is being sacrified for the benefit of investors in hotels, malls, golf courses, convention halls, and shopping centres that are being erected at the cost of one of the world's precious natural resources. Even if these developments were to be placed on the hard land, behind the mangrove wetlands, negative effects can be expected, due to the runoff downstream of chemical and pesticide effluents. The NGO People of the Mayan Cancun Corridor, with the support of Mangrove Action Project, are leading a campaign to halt the project to build a big hotel that will affect the Quintana Roo's mangroves in the Caribbean Coast. They are asking all interested people to address the following Mexican authorities expressing their concern for the fate of this fragile area: 1. President Ernesto Zedillo, Residencia Oficial de los
Pinos; Puerto Central, Primer Piso, Col. San Miguel; Chapultepec, CP11850, Mexico D.F.
MEXICO 2. Julia Carabias, President of Semernap carabias@servidor.dgsca.unam.mx 3. Sr. Oscar Espinosa, Secretaria de Turismo; Avenida
Presidente Masarik, 4. Gobernador Hendricks; Calle 22 de Enero: s/n Palacio de Gobierno; Chetumal, Quintana Roo - 07000 MEXICO Mangroves at the Pacific coast are also menaced. The situation in San Blas Nayarit in the area of Marismas Nacionales (National Swamps) is continuing to be critical, partly as a consequence of the indifference shown by the authorities. The international agreements for the protection of this fragile area are not enforced. The Grupo Ecológico Manglar has denounced that in this case the direct responsible for destruction is the shrimp farming company Aquanova Farms. Only once -in October 1998- the authorities gave a response to the many complaints expressed by the environmentalists, and it consisted of a justification of the firm's activities, since it stated that the official investigation found insufficient proof that violations occurred, and for that reason the case was closed. Additionally the case was submitted to the Commission of Environmental Cooperation Canada-USA-Mexico, that committed itself to study it. Meanwhile a large area of mangroves is being lost every day because of the drying of waterways and lagoons caused by the expansion of Aquanova's shrimp cultivation ponds. Source: Late Friday News, 33rd Edition, 27/3/99
GENERAL The Penang Declaration: 10 years later Ten years ago, the World Rainforest Movement met in Malaysia and issued the Penang Declaration. Much of what it stated was at the time original thinking and challenged the "received wisdom" of most national and international experts. It is therefore important to take stock of the changes that have occurred since then in order to identify the changes that still need to be implemented to save the world's endangered forests and to ensure the livelihood of the people that depend on them. The Penang Declaration begins by stating that "Forests, both temperate and tropical, are an integral part of the life support systems of the planet, performing numerous ecological and social functions that are essential for the continuation of life as we know it on earth. Those functions include: regulating climate at both the regional and global level; providing a habitat for the majority of species on earth; providing a homeland and spiritual basis for millions of forest peoples; maintaining and conserving soils; regulating hydrological cycles and ensuring water supplies." The above quote is now accepted by most people. In practice, however, many decision-makers continue visualizing forests as either wood for industry or as occupying a space which can be dedicated to other productive activities. Such attitude is accounted for in the Penang Declaration which states that "The current social and economic policies and practices that lead to deforestation throughout the world in the name of development are directly responsible for the annihilation of the earth's forests, bringing poverty and misery to millions and threatening global ecosystems with collapse. Such policies and practices include: plantations, both for industrial forestry and for export crops; ranching schemes; dam projects; commercial logging; colonisation schemes; mining and industry; the dispossession of peasants and indigenous peoples; roads; pollution; tourism." All the above practices continue being major causes of deforestation. However, there has been an important shift in opinion. Ten years ago, those practices were accepted by most people as necessary to achieve development. Nowadays, there is strong and growing opposition to such "development" activities, which in many cases has succeeded to impede their implementation. At the same time, many international organizations and processes have accepted their responsibility over forest destruction and have taken some --yet insufficient-- steps to modify some of their destructive activities. The World Bank, for instance, has recognized the negative impacts on forests of some of its policies and projects and has incorporated environmental and social guidelines to its lending activities in some forest-related sectors. The FAO has to a certain extent modified a type of forestry thinking which was in fact leading to deforestation and which sparked the creation of the World Rainforest Movement to counter it. The Intergovernmental Panel on Forests has come up with a set of proposals for action to save the world's forests and the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests is now working on their implementation. Although much more needs to be done, the above can be seen as signals that the times have changed. Regarding the consequences of deforestation, what the Penang Declaration said ten years ago is now widely acknowledged as almost common sense by most people. This is another major change, which paves the way to finding solutions. The Declaration stated that "The immediate and long-term consequences of global deforestation threaten the very survival of life as we know it on earth. Indeed, the scale of deforestation and its impact now represents one of the gravest emergencies ever to face the human race. Such consequences include: the disruption of climatic equilibrium and the acceleration of global warming; a loss of biological diversity on an unprecedented scale; the destruction of forest-based societies; increasing droughts, floods, soil erosion and desertification; the dispossession and displacement of peasants and forest peoples through floods and the other ecological impacts of deforestation." As respects to solutions, there has also been a major shift from the situation at the time, which denounced that "Official solutions to the problem of deforestation have ignored or played down the fundamental causes of deforestation and have instead adopted policies that blame the victims of deforestation for their plight, while simultaneously pursuing solutions that can only result in the further degradation of forests and croplands through the promotion of industrialised forestry." Although there are still some supporters of the "blame-the-victim" approach, they have become increasingly isolated and there is now broad consensus over what are currently called the underlying causes of deforestation and forest degradation, which include --amongst others-- causes such as external debt, international trade rules, overconsumption, structural adjustment, agicultural policies, land concentration and landlessness, which are now being viewed as some of the root causes of deforestation processes. What remains almost identical from ten years ago is the fact that "Throughout the world, the victims of these policies are taking action to arrest deforestation and reverse the process of destruction. In Sarawak, Amazonia, the Himalayas, Thailand, the Philippines and elsewhere, people are standing up to protect the forests and their societies. Such peoples have proved that they are able to use the forests in the only way that is compatible with their preservation. It is not corporations, aid agencies and banks, which should be entrusted with the design and implementation of the protection and regeneration of the forest wealth of the planet." Almost identical is also the dispossession --and frequently the repression-- carried out against local people by many governments to hand out the forests and forest lands to corporations, with support from aid agencies and multilateral banks. The difference lies in the fact that such actions are becoming known worldwide and that networking efforts are l |
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