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WRM Bulletin
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OUR VIEWPOINT WTO: will corporate interest prevail over forest conservation? When the 1992 Earth Summit took place, it seemed as though governments had finally recognized that the world's environment was in trouble and that something needed to be done to save it. A number of important conventions were agreed upon regarding biodiversity, desertificaction and climate change, while forest conservation was taken up by the UN Commission on Sustainable Development. Although economic interest was present in all those processes, it seemed to be in relative balance with environmental concerns. But now the World Trade Organization has taken over the scenario and -unless opposition shows sufficient strength- will wipe out all the positive -though weak- steps taken during the past seven years for the protection of the environment. Regarding forests, the WTO has become the chosen arena to protect corporations' interest threatened by environmental rules. Some few powerful corporations have managed to introduce their agenda by means of some few powerful governments. Their message is clear: if forest protection implies less profits, then it must be declared illegal. Corporate interest must prevail and current national and international environmental legislation will be considered as anti-"free" trade and subject to reprisals. The corporate agenda includes the elimination of a number of "barriers to trade" in forest products. Those so-called barriers are tools that countries use to either protect their economy or the environment, or both. For instance, import and export tariffs increase forest products' prices and therefore lead to less consumption. Although cleary insufficient to address current overconsumption patterns, this is good for forests and bad for corporations. They are thus proposing further tariff reductions on forest products. There are also a number of measures which governments use to protect forests, such as import or export quotas, or even log export bans, which result in less logging. Again, these measures are good for forests and bad for corporations. Their proposal is therefore that these should be considered as "non-tariff measures" against free trade and should be banned. Even certification schemes and legislation requiring recycling and waste recovery could be seen as barriers to free trade and considered illegal. All the above -and much more- will be put forward in the coming ministerial conference which will take place next month in Seattle, USA, amid strong opposition from thousands of civil society representatives coming from all over the world to make their voices heard. The struggle will not be against trade in itself, but against the prevailance of corporate interest over the interest of peoples and their environment. People and nature are not mere "resources" for the achievement of profits regardless of the consequences to the local and global environment. Forests are not stands of timber waiting to be logged to increase corporations' profitability. They are the home of many peoples, the habitat of countless animal and plant species, a crucial element for climate stability, for ensuring fresh water supplies, for the conservation of soils. Their conservation must therefore prevail over corporations' economic profits. This is the message which will be present outside the meeting rooms and in the streets of Seattle. Government delegates will have to hear -whether they like it or not- the voice of the peoples. The future of humanity is at stake and they will have to define whose interests to defend: their peoples and nature or corporations and environmental destruction.
LOCAL STRUGGLES AND NEWS AFRICA War destroys forests in Angola Deforestation has become one of Angola's most important environmental problems, also resulting in freshwater shortages and soil erosion. The long civil war that affected Angola from 1975 to 1991 and the continuous hostilities among rival groups that have persisted since then, have determined not only human and material losses but also brought with them severe consequences on forests. Deforestation is considered one of the major environmental results of this state of violence and devastation. Between 1992 and 1994 about one million and a half people were displaced because of war. To satisfy their urgent needs for firewood for cooking and heating they cut down extensive areas of forests and tree plantations. Their forced nomadic state and lack of any means of survival and income earnings translates into an accelerated damage to the forests. The loss of the forest cover enhances land erosion. Deforestation affects all of Angola, but it is worse in the war-ravaged central highlands. There the heavy downpours of the rainy season wash out the fertile topsoil from the treeless plains. Considering that Angola is Africa's second oil producer after Nigeria, the population of this country should have easy access to oil as an alternative to fuelwood. Nevertheless, it is only available for the inhabitants of the capital Luanda, while peasants, who are the majority of the population, are still almost entirely dependent on fuelwood which, coupled with the consequences of war, has led to massive forest loss. Source: "Environment-Angola: Losing Trees to War", InterPress Service, 22/9/99.
Cameroon: structural adjustment promotes deforestation Logging is one of the most important direct causes of the accelerated loss of tropical forests. However, macroeconomic strategies implemented by Southern countries' governments under the pressure of powerful actors such as the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Trade Organization (WTO) provide an even stronger incentive for increasing unsustainable logging practices. Cameroon is but one of many examples showing the impacts of such policies on the disappearing rainforests. Cameroon is known as one of the most ecologically diverse countries on the African Continent. Between coastal mangrove swamps and Mount Cameroon, West Africa's highest mountain, lies a hot and humid southern region of dense tropical forests of mahogany, ebony and obeche trees. There are over 9,000 plant species in Cameroon, 150 of which are found nowhere else in the world. Cameroon's forest resources are estimated at 22 million hectares of which 14 million are tropical rainforest. Intensive logging, encouraged by IMF policy reforms, now threatens the country´s tropical rainforests and the habitat of over 40 species of wildlife including black rhinoceros, gorillas and elephants. In the late 1980s, the IMF imposed a structural adjustment programme on the government, which was supposed to solve the country's critical economic situation. Part of this programme relied on the promotion of non traditional exports -timber included- which was fostered by the devaluation of the currency. The IMF-recommended export tax cuts also played an important role in the increase of timber exports. Between 1994 and 1995 the number of logging enterprises increased from 194 to 351, while lumber exports jumped a 49.6% between 1995/96 and 1996/97. It is estimated that 200,000 hectares of forests are destroyed annually in Cameroon. The destruction of natural resources resulting from such policy goes together with poverty. Already in 1991 a report of the World Bank stated that by 1985, long before adjustment measures hit many incomes -many of them related to the direct access to forest products and services- 40% of the rural population were in a state of absolute poverty. A decade of structural adjustment has not but aggravated the situation of forest and forest-dependent communities. In a recent report the IMF itself has acknowledged the precarious nature of Cameroon's export strategy. Sources: Friends of the
Earth, "Environmental consequences of the IMF's lending policies", cwelch@foe.org "Underlying causes of deforestation
and forest degradation in Cameroon" by Wilfred J. Awung
The endangered primary forests of Gabon Gabon is one of the few countries in Central Africa where most of its forest still remains unlogged. But unless something is done soon, it will follow the path of neighbouring Cameroon, where two thirds of its forests have been logged at least once during the past few years. As loggers deplete African forests, they turn their attention to the few remaining frontier forests and Gabon seems to be the ideal candidate for those activities. Log production has already increased from 1 million cubic metres in 1975 to almost 3 million by the late 1990s. Gabon's forests hold high levels of endemism (species that do not occur elsewhere) and therefore deforestation implies the complete loss of those species. Selective logging of some few commercial species (50% of Gabon's timber exports concentrate on the tree species 'okoume') has enormous impacts on the forest, because it implies opening up extensive areas through a network of roads and trails to reach and extract the desired species. This transport network is then used by commercial hunters, resulting in an increase in the bushmeat trade, including endangered and legally protected species. The opening of the forest by roads and selective logging is usually followed by the conversion of forests to cash crop plantations. Logging in Gabon is a typically mining operation, generating few incomes in the country but huge profits for foreign companies. Almost all timber exports consist of raw logs, thus creating only few and badly paid jobs in logging and almost none in the wood-based industrial sector. Foreign currency obtained through roundwood exports is also low, due its the lack of added value. On the other side, just seven companies have access to more than a third of the country's remaining frontier forests. French company Thanry holds a 600,000 hectare concession; Malaysia's Rimbunan Hijau some 530,000 hectares; Germany's Glunz 500,000; three further Malaysian companies hold 650,000 hectares, while a company of unknown nationality (Bois et Scierie du Gabon/FOBO) has a 430,000 hectare concession. Source: "Buying Destruction. A Greenpeace report for corporate consumers of forest products", 1999
A positive change in oil activities in Nigeria? The Urhobo National Assembly (UNA), which represents the Urhobo nation in the Nigerian federal state, stopped all oil exploration activities in the region of the Niger Delta, where an oil spill fire destroyed last September a large area of fragile ecosystems. Once again the involved oil company is Royal Dutch Shell. It will remain expelled from several affected communities until an independent investigation on the explosion has been satisfactorily conducted and made known by experts from several Southern countries. The Urhobo also demanded for immediate clean up of all polluted land, as well as compensation. "When this spill occurred we thought we will be treated like human beings. But this has gone a long way to prove right what our other neighbours have been telling us about oil firms, especially Shell, about their insincerity" said a leader of the Ikeerre community. As usual, Shell has not assumed any responsibility for the peoples' suffering. A trustworthy source of Shell admited to ERA (Environmental Rights Action) at the Aluu-Agbada West flow station, that the pipes are very old and cannot withstand the much pressure. He attributed the frequent spills being experienced to this factor, among others. The last case of September 17 and 18 of 1999 has not been the only one in the Niger Delta. On December 12 of 1998 a blowout occurred on a Shell flow line leading to the Aluu-Agbada West flow station. The accident contributed to the pollution of the Onuigigbo river, which is the only source of drinking water and fishing for the Omuike people. In relation to the present situation of the country regarding communities and the environment, the Ijaw Youth Council stated that: "Nigeria is standing still on the ocean of oppression. We must move away from sinister waves of violence that have been let loose by the agents of injustice. We have only one option. We either march most relentlessly towards the finishing line of self-determination, resource control, environmental protection and a truly Federal Nigeria or be drowned." In a surprising move that can mean a positive switch, the Federal Government has blamed the situation in the Niger Delta on what it called "heinous environmental crimes" of multinational oil companies. It also traced the killing of Ken Saro Wiwa and other activists to the activities of the oil companies. The government's spokesperson has been the Minister of State for Environment, Dr. Ime Okopido, who on October 22 outlined strict conditions for oil firms in the Niger Delta and gave them a six-week ultimatum to clean up the communities' environment. Nevertheless, only the future actions of the authorities will reflect how much they are interested in defending their own people's interests. The Nigerian Government has been and is still being severely criticised at the national as well as at the international level for its violation of human and environmental rights. Sources: ERA-FoE Nigeria, 3/10/99; ERA Field Reports 41, 14/10/99; Oilwatch, e-mail: oilwatch@infoweb.abs.net
ASIA Thailand: eucalyptus and Jiang Zemin's coming lesson In the 1980s and early 1990s the monoculture plantations scheme -based on eucalyptus- faced strong opposition from farmers and environmental groups in Thailand, especially by the more than ten million people inhabiting National Reserve Forests, due to their detrimental social and environmental effects. Such massive protests led in 1992 to a ban on afforestation activities in those lands, and to the discouragement of both foreign and domestic investments in relation to large-scale eucalyptus plantations. Shell itself -which had planned to implement extensive pulpwood plantations- decided to leave the country as a result of the peoples’ opposition. In spite of this very recent background and while the plantation scheme is being severely questioned worldwide because of its proven negative effects, the Thai government is now in negotiations with China to establish 96,000 hectares of eucalyptus plantation as part of a proposal to form a Thai-Chinese pulp-production joint venture. The idea was discussed during the visit of President Jiang Zemin of China to Thailand last September. The raw material produced in the plantations would feed a pulp mill located in Praqchin Buri, which would produce 700,000 tons of pulp annually to supply the increasing demand of paper in the Chinese market. The Agriculture Ministry has earmarked an area of land of about 32,000 hectares in the eastern Chachoengsao Province to accomodate the first stage of the project. This land is property of Suan Paa Kitti Company and it is the only area near Bangkok that before the 1992 ban was allowed to locate a commercial tree plantation. This firm was involved in a great controversy about ten years ago, because one year after receiving the concession, it was proved that it slashed and burned forest land outside the concession area. A forest reserve in Tha Takiab Province has been selected as the second choice to house successive stages of the plan. Since the area covered by forests has greatly decreased in Thailand, the authorities say that fast-growing plantations are needed to increase forest cover and to avoid further pressure on forests. Nevertheless, reality shows that both arguments are false. On the one hand, the important task of increasing forest cover should be addressed by reforestation with native species, which is something completely different from afforestation with eucalyptus or any other exotic species. On the other hand, in Thailand, as well in many other Southern countries, huge areas of forests have been cleared to give place to exotic tree monocultures, while other areas have been cleared by people displaced by plantations from their own lands. Plantations therefore not only do not relieve pressure on forests but constitute a direct cause of deforestation. Villagers oppose the tree monoculture scheme based on their past experience, which shows that large-scale eucalyptus plantations displace or impoverish farmers since eucalytpus allows little intercropping, is useless for fodder, supply little firewood, can lower water levels in nearby ponds, wells and woodlands, and cause soil erosion instead of controlling it as their promoters say. In additon, they provide few of the varied forest goods that rural communities depend on for subsistence, while taking over community forest lands. Farmers also find plantation jobs unattractive since they are neither plentiful nor steady. As expected, the project has already generated protests at the civil society level. Pornpana Kuaycharoen, from the Foundation for Ecological Recovery, expressed that plantations would damage the countrys’ ecosystems and the peasants' water supply, as had happened a decade before. Pakphum Vithantiravat, from the Forum of Northeastern Farmers, supports this point of view and reminds that many farmers who planted eucalyptus under the 1985 promotion have already cut them and come back to rice cultivation. Pakphum Withantiwat, adviser of the Forum of the Poor, points out that eucalyptus are not planted in arid lands, but on fertile ones, so that they can grow faster. At the same time, the Alternative Farming Network expressed its opposition to the project because the eastern region of the country has got soils with a potential for rice production, which is much more important for local villagers than eucalyptus plantations. There is no doubt that the plantation scheme is connected to ongoing globalization. In January 1999, during a visit to Japan, Chinese President Jiang Zemin received a proposal by the Japan Federation of Economic Organizations (Keidanren) so that an afforestation programme is initiated in China by a group of Japanese companies, in a bid to secure greater quotas for emitting carbon dioxide under the Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol (see WRM Bulletin 20). Mr Jiang Zemin seems to have quickly learned the lesson and now he is proposing Thailand to implement a huge eucalyptus plantation project to supply the pulp industry with raw material. But he is probably unaware about the lesson he will need to learn: that the Thai people will strongly oppose this plan as they successfully did in the past. Sources: "Thai-Chinese plant needs huge areas for eucalyptus", Bangkok Post, 24/8/99; "Land found for China eucalyptus plan" by P. Hongthong, The Nation, 8/9/99; "State forest policies are in contradiction", Bangkok Post, 13/9/99; "Plantation initiative finds favour" by U. Noikorn and W. Techawongtham, Bangkok Post, 15/9/99; "Pressure groups in arms against eucalyptus scheme" by U. Noikorn, 22/9/99.
Thailand: letter to the Prime Minister on Rasi Salai dam Inhabitants of Mae Mun Man Yuen Village #2
affected by Rasi Salai Dam are demanding that the government reexamines the impacts of the
project and compensate 1800 families that are in danger of loosing their farmlands. The
protesters, who belong to the Assembly of the Poor, are prepared to stay in their village
until their demands are met (see photos at: http://www.irn.org/programs/mekong/rasi.photo2/index.shtml
). Those interested in supporting this struggle can send their endorsement of the following letter to Aviva Imhof ( aviva@irn.org ), including your name and that of your organization: October 1999 The Hon. Mr. Chuan Leekpai We write to express our support for the 1850 people currently facing submergence at the Rasi Salai dam on the Mun River in North-Eastern Thailand. These people intend to stay in their village, Mae Mun Man Yuen Village #2, and face the rising waters, until their demands are met. The Department of Energy Development and Promotion (DEDP) is currently filling the reservoir and the water level is at 116.8 metres above sea level. Already four houses and 80 per cent of the village's rice fields and vegetable gardens have been flooded. If the level reaches 117.5 metres, the village will be entirely submerged and people will drown. We are writing to urge you to direct the DEDP to immediately stop filling the reservoir, and to give due consideration to the people's demands. The villagers are demanding that the government reexamine the impacts of the project, drain the reservoir, determine the exact number of people affected by the dam, pay compensation to all affected peoples, and correct the environmental problems caused by the dam. If the government refuses to pay compensation, the villagers demand that the dam be removed. These people have been demonstrating for over six years, yet the government has refused to listen. On April 20 of this year, more than 1000 villagers affected by Rasi Salai dam occupied the dam site. Still the government did not listen. Now 1850 people are prepared to die in order to get the attention of the government. They have lost everything and they feel they have nothing more to lose. Rasi Salai has been plagued by problems and deceit ever since it was first conceived. DEDP failed to release any information to the public prior to construction, and stated that they would only build a small rubber weir 4.5 meters high, not a concrete dam 9 meters high. More than 100 square kilometers were inundated, yet no Environmental Impact Assessment was conducted, contrary to the Environment Act. Even though the dam was completed in 1994, and DEDP is currently filling the reservoir, the irrigation system is not operational, so the dam is effectively useless. The dam destroyed the fresh water swamp forest along the banks of the Mun River and blocked the migration of fish. The reservoir has been plagued by salination problems because it is located on top of a big salt dome. More than 3000 families have lost their farmland to the reservoir, and compensation was paid for private property only, not for lost customary land rights. After a long struggle General Chawalit's government paid compensation to 1154 families, yet more than 1800 families remain uncompensated. Please act now to protect the lives of these people and respect their demands. Thank you for your consideration of these important matters. Yours sincerely
India: "Gachha bina. (Without trees) . . . jeevana nahi (no life)" A conflict has arisen regarding 400,000 hectares of forest land in the Indian state of Orissa. Actors are the villagers who have recreated the forest from barren lands and government officials, who believe the area belongs to the state. Out of the total protected area, 60% are reserve forests and the rest are either protected or village forests. Sustainable forests management by local communities in the area started in the decade of 1960. Now 2,000,000 people belonging to 10,000 villages spread in the region are fighting to obtain from the state government their legitimate rights over the forests. The villagers have formed the Orissa Jungle Manch (OJM), a state-level forum, whose aim is to force the government to recognise their territorial rights. Coming National Assembly elections are a good opportunity for them to put forward such a demand, so the forum is also lobbying political parties to include the community rights issue in their manifestos. As part of its strategy, OJM has decided to circulate a charter of six demands accompanied with a detailed note on the peoples’ movement to all the political leaders, from village to state level. Such demands are: - Rights of protection and management of forests to be given to the communities. This means that no forest department official should be appointed to institutions monitoring protection activities at present; - Rights over collection, as well as over marketing and selling of non-timber forest products produce (NTFP) should be given to the communities; - Rights over domestic use of timber from the protected forests, without the permission of forest department officials; - Rights over fuelwood extraction from the village forests and to sell the extra fuelwood; - Communities living inside reserved or protected parks/sanctuaries should be given joint management rights over the area and all other rights listed above; - The government should survey all the forest areas and assign communities areas to be protected by them. Neither the peoples' movements for the conservation of the forests nor conflicts on the ownership and management of natural resources are new in India. Local communities' struggle for the forests in Orissa already started in 1937. For instance in Dhenkanal, one of the pioneers in the community forest movement of Orissa, occured a "prajameli" (peoples’ revolution) for complete rights over forest resources and abolition of forest tax, followed by a "kandhameli" (tribal revolution) to demand the same. The movement spread to other princely states like Nayagarh, Daspalla and some areas of Sambalpur. As a result the king at that time declared an equal division of the forest produce between the government and the community and suggested joint management of the resources. The situation of indigenous peoples living nearby and in the Rajiv Gandhi National Park, in Karnataka State (see WRM Bulletin 20 ) as well as the struggle of traditional fisherfolk communities at Chilika Lake in Orissa (see WRM Bulletin 24 ) which recently obtained a commitment from the state government to present a bill that would give them absolute fishing rights, are two examples of ongoing conflicts for natural resources in that country. When Joginath Sahoo, a 30-year old teacher in Kesharpur village in Orissa’s Nayagarh district, enters the classroom his students greet him by saying "Gachha bina...(without trees)". And he completes the sentence for them, "... jeevana nahi (no life)". To assure life for local communites, forests have to be under their direct control. Source: http://www.oneworld.org/cse/html/dte/dte990930/dte_analy.htm September 1999.
Philippines: Canadian mining company against indigenous peoples Even if logging has been the most important direct cause of deforestation in The Philippines archipelago -whose tropical forest area has been dramatically reduced to only 3% of the original cover- mining is also relevant for its depredatory effects. It is estimated that already 40% of the entire territory of the country has been given away by the government under the form of concessions to multinational mining companies. As in many other parts of the world, large scale mining has produced not only environmental but also social negative impacts on local communities and indigenous peoples in the Philippines (see WRM Bulletin 11 ). It was recently denounced that members of the Subanen indigenous peoples have suffered violence to the hands of the police and miners of the Canadian company TVI Pacific. The incident took place last September 6th, when a group of fifty Subanen blockaded a road into their ancestral territory in the mountains of Zamboanga del Norte, following which they were attacked by an armed group and beaten with gun butts and canes. In spite of such violence, the Subanen continue to block the road to prevent TVI from bringing drilling equipment onto the 1,235 acre (500 hectares) site to which they have been claiming ancestral rights since 1992. TVI's proposed mine will cut a deep quarry into the forested mountain and the ore will be processed with cyanide. The indigenous people -who are being supported by religious and civil society groups, local residents, including small-scale miners, and the UK based NGO Survival International- are willing to continue this action, since they have been suffering a continuous process of dispossession of their ancestral lands -which once extended all along Zamboanga peninsula- by settlers and loggers. They have denounced TVI for its actions of direct and indirect violence against local dwellers in the area since 1996. The company is also accused of violating the 1995 Mining Code, according to which every company is required to obtain the informed consent of affected tribal peoples before initiating new mining projects, as well as the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act of 1997, that promises land rights recognition and respect for indigenous peoples. Nothing of this has been adhered to. The success of the resistance of the Subanen indigenous people is considered very important from a strategic point of view, since it is feared that in case the company manages to continue operating in the area, similar abusive practices may be executed elsewere in the country. TVI has got land claims covering 2.9 million acres at more than 20 sites in The Philippines. Source: Drillbits & Tailings, Volume 4, Number 17, October 23, 1999.
Philippines: logging ban opposed by logger politicians Nowadays only 3% of the once dense area of tropical forests that covered the territory of the Philippines is still standing. Most of them occupy reduced patches and have even suffered a severe process of degradation (see WRM Bulletin 27 ). The government has done nothing to avoid this state of things. As a matter of fact it is now promoting further destruction. It has recently been announced that the proposed total logging ban will not be implemented. The authorities argue that the ban would result in a loss of revenues for the treasury estimated in U$S 15 million annually, and drain on foreign exchange. Antonio Ceriles, Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, said that part of this money is used to pay for wood imports, particularly from Malaysia. A total ban will likely aggravate illegal logging, he added. The announcement drew criticism from environmental groups who are lobbying for a total logging ban. They claim that the government has a poor environmental policy as reflected by the accomplishment of its reforestation programme, which has reached only 60,000 to 70,000 hectares a year while deforestation rate exceed in 10 times this figure, reaching 743,000 hectares annually. The Philippine Organization of Forest Stewards expressed that the economic gains cannot offset any environmental and social degradation in the near future. Criticism is also heard from government officials. Horacio Morales, secretary of agrarian reform, deplored the fact that the government is doing very little to protect the remaining forests and forecasted that in case logging continues, all the country's forests will be gone by 2010. The Upland Assistance Committee, a federation of non-governmental organizations working with communities, considers that the main reason for the government's inability to implement forest conservation is that many politicians are into the logging business. Ceriles himself owns a logging company in Southern Philippines. The logic behind the government's decision is unsustainable from an economic, social and environmental point of view. The value of forests as source of products and services is ignored, as well as the negative consequence of its accelerated loss. The money obtained at the forests' and local communities' expenses is in turn used to indirectly promote the destruction of neighbour countries' forest resources. Last but not least: to say that a total logging ban would enhance illegal logging reveals the ineffectiveness of controls performed by those who are supposedly in charge of taking care of the country's forest heritage. Not to mention the obscure connection between many politicians' private interests and logging. Source: Environment News Service, 5/11/99, http://www.ens.lycos.com Comments by WRM International Secretariat.
CENTRAL AMERICA Costa Rica: the depredatory practices of an oil palm plantation company Palma Tica is a company working in the area of cultivation, processing and production of oil palm products. It owns thousands of hectares of oil palm plantations (Elaeis guineensis) in the Central Pacific Region (Quepos Division) and in the Southern Region (Coto Division). To face the rapid advance of its competitor Agroindustrial Cooperative of Oil Palm Producers (Coopeagropal R.L.), Palma Tica started in 1995 an aggressive campaign of land purchasing in the communities of Colorada and La Palma de Corredores, located in the extreme south of the Coto Division. The company bought more than one thousand hectares, including several estates with oil palm already in a productive stage. In January 1997 Palma Tica began to expand its plantations at Hacienda La Palma estate after clearing a secondary forest area. The fact was denounced to the Ministry of the Environment and Energy (MINAE). Officials of the Ministry inspected the affected area and demanded Palma Tica to stop deforestation. The newspaper "La Nacion" published an article titled "MINAE recommends Palma Tica". In February, three members of the Surveillance Committee for Natural Resources (Comite de Vigilancia de Recursos Naturales - COVIRENA) of La Palma de los Corredores inspected the area, after being alerted by a neighbour of La Palma, who had been working for Palma Tica. The company had ignored the "recommendations" of MINAE and continued advancing to reach its main objective: an area of about one hundred hectares of wetlands and primary forests at the bottom of the La Palma gully. They found that a vast area of such wetlands had been deforested, and that a stretch of about one kilometre and a half long had been dredged at La Palma gully -where the Colorado River flows- with the purpose of draining the whole wetland. To complete the dredging works, the whole vegetation cover of the area -including the trees located at the right bank of the gully- had been destroyed, and the area converted in a quagmire. The waters at the gully were brown-coloured. Many lizards and turtles died, as well as fishes and crustaceans, that the inhabitants of La Palma used as food and leisure resources. COVIRENA went to Court to denounce this depredation. To preserve its public image, Palma Tica abandoned its previous idea of planting oil palm in that area, and currently the flora and fauna are slowly recovering. Even though the La Palma gully now seems to be relatively well protected, this experience does not seem to have served the purpose of improving Palma Tica's attitude regarding the environment and people. Given its obvious impunity concerning law compliance, Palma Tica has always applied an abusive and disdainful labour policy and continues doing so, through a sub-contracting system similar to that of the banana companies. Palma Tica hires contractors which lend themselves to foul play and, in exchange of money and privileges, assume the role of bosses. They then subcontract agricultural labourers in need of a job, who work to earn miserable salaries, without any social security or other benefits, and exposed to systematic dismissals every three months. Many of them are illegal workers -immigrants from Panama and Nicaragua- who arrive in Costa Rica with the illusion of finding better job opportunities. The presence of Palma Tica has provoked a stagnation of the economy and community disintegration at La Palma. Young people and adults have migrated in search of job opportunities. Crime has increased while poverty and insecurity reign. After the events that took place at La Palma gully, Palma Tica did not abandon entirely its original intention of expanding plantations at the expense of natural areas. The company recently moved to neighbouring Osa Peninsula, where local conservationist groups have already denounced illegal logging in several gullies in the locality of Canaza. The case of Palma Tica is typical of a very powerful company that hides itself under different names, so that it is practically impossible to identify those who are responsible for its depredatory actions. Uncertainty and distrust are so widespread that rumours are circulating that Costa Rica's President himself, Miguel Angel Rodriguez Echeverria, is suspected of being one of the shareholders of this big company, which makes profits at the expense of natural resources and that of the impoverished workers and people. To the world's eyes, Costa Rica has gained prestige as a country committed to the conservation of natural resources and the defence of social rights. However, those of us who live here know that a great part of that is pure demagogy serving the interests of those who hold economic power. By: Juan Figuerola, Coordinator of COVIRENA of La Palma de Corredores. Apdo. 1604-2050, San Jose, Costa Rica. Telefax (506) 283-7193; e-mail: juaneco@sol.racsa.co.cr
Honduras to "buy" Canadian carbon dioxide Last September Canada reached a controversial deal to "buy" oxygen from Honduras within the framework of a "debt for nature" swap and the Clean Development Mechanisms of the Kyoto Protocol. CIDA (Canadian International Development Agency) will "forgive" about U$S 680,000 of Honduras' U$S 11 million debt with Canada. In exchange, a so-called joint implementation office will be established in Honduras to promote tree plantations and monitor forest conservation programmes in that country. Canada will benefit by getting credit for "cutting" emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. As in other similar cases since the idea of forests and tree plantations as carbon sinks was launched as a possible way of mitigating global warming, the powerful hand of industry is behind this project. In fact, this allows a major carbon dioxide-producing country -such as Canada- to be able to avoid implementing real measures to either reduce carbon emissions at source or to implement the conservation of its own forests. Such measures would for sure be resisted by the Canadian industry, which emits huge volumes of CO2 to the atmosphere, as well as by logging companies, responsible for deforestation in numerous regions of the Canadian territory. The disappearance of the boreal forests in Quebec during this century is a good (bad) example of the way in which they act. In Honduras the idea was enthusiastically announced by the Minister for the Environment Xiomara Gomez, according to whom this is a good opportunity to obtain resources from developed countries for forest protection. Honduras is also expecting that the USA and Germany will come to similar agreements on "oxygen sales". Nevertheless, the Honduran authorities have not shown the same enthusiasm in protecting the country's forests from illegal logging or combating corruption at the forest administration level (see WRM Bulletin 27 ). Attractive as they may seem, these kinds of projects do not contribute to an effective solution to the global warming problem. Apart from the fact that it is very doubtful that tree plantations really absorb and store carbon (see article in the Plantations Campaign section), the carbon offset market is an idea which Northern countries -the real responsible over climate change- have put forward to avoid real changes to the current unsustainable social and economic model. Honduras, with its pressing needs, has been selected to act as a garbage dump for northern carbon dioxide ... for peanuts. Source: Christian Science Monitor, 23/9/99; http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/1999/09/23/fp7s1-csm.shtml
SOUTH AMERICA Brazil: Monte Pascoal National Park belongs to the Pataxo When the European conquerors arrived in America, they made a clear distinction between white people, black people and indians. While the former were human beings, the African slaves were declared animals. Although the indians were declared human beings, they were considered as children, whose lives needed to be governed by adults, who were those of European descent. No-one will now openely support the above distinctions, but in fact that kind of thinking is far from dead. The case of the Pataxo indigenous peoples in the state of Bahia in Brazil constiutes one of many possible examples. Their territory was completely taken over in 1951 -following the physical massacre of most of their people- and a large part of it was declared a National Park, while the rest was distributed to cattle ranchers. On August 19, 1999, the Pataxo decided to recover their traditional lands and took over Monte Pascoal National Park (see WRM Bulletin 26 ). The reaction of Brazilian society has been mixed. Some relatively few organizations and individuals expressed their unconditional support to this action, based on the simple fact that the Pataxo are the righteous owners of the park. A larger part of the population chose to either oppose, or ignore, or conditionally support the action. The explanation can be found in the deep racism still prevailing as regards to indigenous peoples. Even some organizations sympathetic to indigenous peoples' issues seem to mistrust the Pataxo's capacity to conserve the park. Apparently the park's conservation is to them more important than justice. More importantly, they seem to continue regarding the Pataxo as children which need to be guided by adults. Is this not racism? In a forest-destroying country as Brazil, no-one can blame the indigenous peoples of having been major actors in such scenario. On the contrary, they have been at the receiving end, having had their lives and livelihoods gravely affected by deforestation and forest degradation. The fact that Monte Pascoal -part of the Pataxo's territory- still had extensive forest when it was declared a National Park is proof of the above. But many are concerned that in the "indians'" hands the Park may now be destroyed. This needs some clarification. On the one hand, it must be stated that the Pataxo -the righteous owners of the land- have the same legal rights that other Brazilians have of logging the forest. On the other hand, that the Pataxo have declared that their aim is to conserve the forest and there's no reason to believe that they will not act in accordance with such statement. Monte Pascoal National Park means much to the Pataxo: it means the recovery of their ancestral territory and the possibility of regaining their dignity as a people. The Park also means much to conservationists, which see it as one of the few remnants of the almost entirely destroyed Mata Atlantica forest. At the same time, the Park is also a symbol of the "discovery" of Brazil by the Portuguese 500 years ago. The Pataxo have therefore put on the table crucial issues to be addressed by the entire Brazilian society: justice; equality between indigenous and other peoples; conservation and people; "discovery", encounter or conquest; racism; genocide. The Pataxo will need much support at the international, national and local levels. They are facing a large number of forces that will work to defeat them using all available means. As an example, the government has recently stopped funding its own agency's working group, which had been assigned the task of demarcating the Pataxo's territory. It has given lands to landless peasants within the Pataxo's territory, with the aim of generating conflicts between the two groups. The cattle ranchers surrounding the area are responsible for annual fires which will almost inevitably affect the park -as they have done in the past. The government may decide not to provide support to supress the fires, to show the inability of the Pataxo to preserve the forest. This is not a conservation versus destruction issue. It's a matter of repairing injustice and recognizing the Pataxo's right to manage their territory. They call on organizations, the Church, parliamentarians, municipal, state and federal bodies and concerned individuals to help them "build the future of our people within our traditional territory ... which is the only possible place for building our future with dignity." All those wishing to support the Pataxo's struggle can contact them through CIMI-Equipe Extremo Sul: cimi@sulbanet.com.br
Bolivia: good news regarding the Chiquitano forests Since 1998, Bolivian and international environmental and social NGOs, as well as academics, have been opposing the San Miguel-Cuiaba gas pipeline project of Enron-Shell which will cross Bolivia into Brazil, causing a negative environmental impact on the Chiquitano dry forest in eastern Bolivia, which is the world's last significant remnant of intact dry tropical forest. In spite of this opposition, in June 1999 OPIC (Overseas Private Investment Corporation) -a descentralized financial institution of the US government- decided to finance the project. Such decision was allegedly taken because some Bolivian, US and international conservationist organizations had negotiated with the promoters of the project their support to it if a Conservation Plan was implemented. This surprising attitute was severely questioned by a number of Bolivian environmental and human rights NGOs (see WRM Bulletin 24 ). Fortunately, some of those NGOs seem to have realized their mistake and recently the WWF announced that it would not continue supporting the above mentioned Conservation Plan. Such decision is the direct result of the concerned NGOs' work, which oppose the "green make-up" that was trying to be applied to this unsustainable infrastructure project. It is expected that WWF's new approach to the issue may convince OPIC to change its mind regarding financing of the project. Source: Drillbits & Tailings (Spanish version), 4-15, 25/9/99.
Colombia: violence and deforestation in the Choco region Colombian forests are undergoing a severe process of destruction. The civil war that is devastating the country can be considered one of the main causes of deforestation. Due to the prevailing state of violence in Colombia, entire rural communities are obliged to leave their homes and lands. Additionally to their effects from a social and cultural point of view, forced displacements also create conditions for further negative impacts on forests. The Pacific Region of the country, known for its abundance of natural resources and cultural richness, as well as for the constant process of depredation that it has suffered since colonial times (see WRM Bulletin 27 ) is victim of this type of activities. The Forcibly Displaced Afro-Colombian Communities of the Cacarica Basin of the Choco, provisionally settled in Turbo, Bocas del Atrato and Bahia Cupica have denounced the illegal and indiscriminate deforestation of their lands by the YIREH cooperative. This company is apparently operating in connection with the logging corporation Darien Woods Company (Maderas de El Darien). While the community resists returning to their lands until the Colombian government fulfills their list of conditions for what they call a "Return with Dignity", the above named company is taking advantage of their absence to log in the territories that have been legally awarded to the communities under Law 70 for Black Ethnic Communities. Moreover, the communities have reported acts of harassment by paramilitaries, who are trying to intimidate them so as to avoid their opposition to logging activities in their territory. It is important to mention that the Cacarica Basin borders the Los Katios National Park, which is home to one of the highest levels of biodiversity per square mile in the world. From August 19 to 21 a verification commission integrated by representatives of the communities, national and international NGOs, parliamentarians and delegates from government bodies, travelled to the area to investigate the ongoing deforestation process. The following is a translation of the Communities' testimony, published in their newsletter "Humanos del Mundo": "...We were witnesses, together with representatives from government bodies and institutions of the State, of the horrendous scenario of deforestation that Maderas de El Darien is causing in the region of the Cacarica. Before our very eyes we saw two boats pass by -belonging to this company- towing through the river more than 400 trees belonging to endangered species of the "catival" forests. We heard high-tech heavy machinery that does not sink into the muddy swampland; we saw how they continued opening channels to take out our natural wealth; we were sadenned by the occupation of our school buildings that have now been turned into camps for the workers. We are not lying: large companies are turning our territory into a cemetery for nature; no longer did we walk through the trees but rather with the sun hitting our foreheads. This is an Ecocide." According to testimonies obtained from the company's workers, CODECHOCO -the governmental body in charge of granting logging contracts in the region- is aware of the illegal deforestation and has done nothing to stop it. Such omission and negligence is collaborating with the massive destruction of the forest. An action at the international level is being carried out to stop this destruction. You can address the following Colombian authorities, expressing your concern on the accelerated deforestation and the suffering of the communities of the Cacarica Basin, and calling for an immediate suspension of every logging contract in the area: Mr. President Mr Minister of the Environment Source: Colombia Support Network, 12/10/00, e-mail: csn@igc.apc.org http://www.igc.apc.org/csn
Venezuela: the Pemons' struggle The Pemon indigenous people are opposing a project of construction of a high-voltage power line 470-mile long across Conaima National Park in the south-eastern Gran Sabana region. At the beginning of October they carried out a direct action by knocking down an electricity tower and blockading a key highway linking the country to Brazil. In a press release the Pemon, who call themselves "Rainbow Warriors", said they would continue to knock down at least one a day until they reach an agreement with the government. They also said that they had detained three trucks from state agencies that were being used to build the line. Their struggle is supported by environmental NGOs, which contend the line will damage the rich and fragile ecosystem of the Park and disturb indigenous communities. According to the official viewpoint, the power line means "progress" for the region since it will provide electricity to gold mining and to the indigenous villages themselves. Considering the environmental effects of gold mining on the environment -forests included- and the cultural impact of this kind of projects on the indigenous way of life, the power line construction will certainly not mean an improvement for the Pemons' lives and that's why they are strongly opposing it. A similar protest was conducted last year, which prompted the government to interrupt the works till last May. Indigenous peoples of Venezuela are at the same time actively participating in the process leading to a new constitution. On November 3, the 131-member Venezuelan National Constituent Assembly voted to include a chapter in the new constitution that establishes legal rights for indigenous peoples and indigenous communities in line with International Labour Organization Convention 169. Chapter VIII would guarantee "the right to exist as indigenous peoples and communities with their own social and economic organization, their cultures and traditions, and their land. The entire new Constitution will be submitted to a referendum vote on December 12. If -as expected- the new constitution is approved, the Pemon and other indigenous peoples will be in a much better position to protect their environment and their traditions against the destructive forces which until now have prevailed. Sources: Guillermo Holzmann, e-mail: gholz85@yahoo.com 3/10/99; Amazon Watch, e-mail: amazon@amazonwatch.org 4/11/99.
OCEANIA Australian NGOs do not support Minister Tuckey's intiative. The following letter is being circulated worldwide by a large number of Australian NGOs: "We the undersigned representatives of Australian conservation NGOs are writing to you to express our opposition to the approach taken by our Federal Minister for Forestry and Conservation, Mr. Wilson Tuckey, to regulate independent forest certification schemes at the international level. As you may know, Minister Tuckey has invited a number of government representatives to meet in New York in November to discuss the creation of an intergovernmental mechanism to regulate the operation of private, voluntary, non-governmental certification programs. However, Minister Tuckey has decided not to invite any non-governmental representatives, or in fact anyone who is directly involved in operating a certification program. We believe the closed nature of this meeting is highly inappropriate. Full transparency, and the meaningful consultation and participation of relevant stakeholders have been acknowledged by many institutions, including the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests, as essential components in credible forest certification and labelling schemes. Despite these widely accepted criteria, to date no Australian NGOs have been approached by the Australian Federal Government to seek their support for Minister Tuckey's initiative. Nor has the Australian general public been made aware of this scheme, we believe because the Minister knows it lacks fundamental credibility. Due in part to forest policies advocated by Minister Tuckey and others, certification has become a very controversial issue in Australia. We believe Minister Tuckey may be attempting to elevate our domestic controversies into the international arena by asking other governments to support his ill-advised proposal. We feel this would represent a serious divergence from recent directions in the international forest policy debate, and will surely trigger widespread NGO opposition. For these reasons we respectfully request that your government declines Mr Tuckey's invitation to attend the New York meeting. Sincerely Yours, To Date: Source: Native Forest
Network Southern Hemisphere; email: tcadman@nfn.org.au
PLANTATIONS CAMPAIGN Brazil: FSC certification of Aracruz suspended The news that giant bleached eucalyptus pulp producer Aracruz Celulose had applied for FSC certification had an enormous impact in the two Brazilian states -Bahia and Espirito Santo- where it operates. As a result, a large number of organizations and individuals concerned with the spread of extensive monoculture plantations in the region -which include those of Aracruz, Bahia Sul and Veracel- got together to prevent the company from receiving FSC approval. The ensuing networking activities brought people together at a seminar which took place in Vitoria, Espirito Santo, on October 15-16. Participants included representatives from indigenous peoples organizations, NGOs, trade unions, fisherfolk, academics, Afro-Brazilian communities, journalists, parliamentarians and others. The seminar analized the impacts of the activities of Aracruz in the framework of the FSC principles and criteria and agreed to actively participate in the consultation process being implemented by the certifying firm SCS. Given that SCS had not complied with a number of FSC's requirements for participation and consultation, they decided to send a letter requesting the postponement of the consultation meetings. The letter was sent on October 22nd (available at http://www.wrm.org.uy/english/plantations/material/Aracruz/report1.htm ) and to date (November 16) no reply has been received. FSC-Brazil has now informed that the certification process has been temporarily suspended due to the procedural deficiencies denounced by civil society organizations. At the same time, the "agreement" imposed by Aracruz on the Tupinikim and Guarani indigenous peoples in the state of Espirito Santo is beginning to be questioned and on November 11, the indigenous peoples staged a demonstration to show their discomfort. In spite of its enormous power, Aracruz is in a weak position. Knowing its record regarding indigenous peoples, it is trying to get FSC certification only for its plantations in Bahia, thus avoiding the issue of the dispossesion of indigenous peoples' lands in the neighbouring state of Espirito Santo. But even in Bahia, the impacts of plantations have shown to be so great, that it is highly improbable that it can be certified. For the FSC, its own credibility is at stake in this certification process. If Aracruz were to be eventually certified, most NGOs participating in the scheme would almost certainly withdraw, thus losing the necessary support to achieve credibility.
Tree plantations generate unemployment One of the arguments used by large-scale tree plantation promoters (with the pulp and paper industry at the forefront) is that they contribute to the well being of the rural areas where they are set up, by increasing employment opportunities. This is a crucial issue: unemployment is one of the most negative consequences of the ongoing globalization process, so any activity that promises to increase jobs can be perceived as being attractive by local people. In the case of plantations, however, the opposite has been proven true and one example is that of the extreme southern region of the state of Bahia in Brazil, where local communites and indigenous peoples are actively opposing plantations. An opinion poll was performed in that region to learn what different sectors of society were thinking about the establishment of a development plan based on the pulp and paper industry. At the time, 45% of the people interviewed were in favour of such initiative, and the generation of employment was one of the most frequent arguments for such support. Now, when three large corporations (Aracruz Celulose, Bahia Sul Celulose and Veracel) have taken over extensive areas and have planted them with eucalyptus, people think differently. A comparative study recently carried out on the jobs created in cattle-raising, industrial agriculture, small-scale agriculture, and eucalyptus plantations, showed that the first one employs on average 1 worker every 50 hectares; the first and second ones, considered together, employ 1 worker every 26.1 hectares, while small-scale agriculture employs 1 worker every 5 hectares. Eucalyptus plantations only generated 1 job every 60 hectares! Such figure results from dividing the total area of 371,156 hectares owned by the above mentioned three companies by the 6,212 jobs they created. But that's not all. Comparing the number of jobs created by the three companies with the jobs lost in cattle-raising and agriculture on the lands where the plantations were set up - 50,000 hectares formerly used by agriculture, 271,000 hectares by cattle-raising and 50.000 with no direct use- the result is even worse: 15,420 jobs were lost! This means that for every single job generated by the pulp and paper industry in that region, 2.5 jobs were lost. In sum, if job creation is a priority, plantations are not only the worse solution: they even aggravate the problem by generating yet more unemployment. Sources: Jose Koopmans, "Alem do eucalipto: o papel do Extremo Sul", Memorial das Letras, Salvador, 1999; Carrere Ricardo, "Ten replies to ten lies", World Rainforest Movement, Montevideo, 1999.
Environmental crime linked to Peugeot in Brazil The "environmentally concerned" French car producer Peugeot, decided to do something about the global warming effect of the millions of cars it produces. Of course, nothing as radical as switching to a different source of fuel. Instead, it decided to go the easy way: to plant "carbon sequestering" trees in the state of Mato Grosso in Brazil. The project began to be implemented last year, with the aim of converting 12,000 hectares of "degraded" pastures into plantations. According to Peugeot, the planted area would be able to remove 183,000 tons of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere every year. And very cheaply: for only US$12 million. However, the results have been very expensive for the environment and for local people. A local subsidiary of the French NGO "Office Nations de Forets" began operations and caused what may have been the worst ecological crime ever committed in the state. Hundreds of animals -including species facing extinction- were found dead in one of the plantation areas. The reason: the use of 5,000 litres of the "inocuous" herbicide gliphosate (Round Up) in an area of 1,500 hectares being prepared for the plantation. The disaster also reached two rivers (the Juruena and Teles Pires) resulting in the widespread death of fish. What's worse is that this has not been a mere accident. On the contrary, modern plantation technology strongly recommends the use of herbicides to eliminate competing vegetation -thus effectively eradicating much of the local plant biodiversity. The herbicide being extensively used all around the world for this purpose, on whose effects the company which produces it (Monsanto) has been lying for years, stating that it is less harmful than table salt, is precisely the one that caused this disaster. The above is the result of bogus environmentalism: the implementation of an allegedly "environmentally-friendly" activity -planting trees- publicized as capable of sequestering carbon dioxide and thereby mitigating the greenhouse effect. In order to avoid the really difficult decision of abandoning the fossil fuel-dependent economy, part of the academic community has come up with these clever schemes and provided them with "scientific" support. Fortunately, another part of the academic community seems to be honestly trying to assert whether plantations are or are not capable of acting as carbon sinks. Their answer is no (see article below). Source: Nelson Francisco, "Herbicida pode ter causado desastre ambiental. Centenas de animais selvagens foram encontrados mortos em fazenda de MT", O Estado de S. Paulo, 11/11/1999
New scientific findings: tree plantations may accelerate global warming The promotion of tree plantations as a means of combating global warming has received all kinds of criticism. On the one hand, plantations do not relieve pressures from forests -which are carbon reservoirs- but constitute a direct cause of their destruction. According to a satellite image analysis, in the 1980s, 75% of the new tree plantations in Southern countries in the tropics were made by replacing natural forest that had existed there ten years earlier. This meant an estimated additional release of 725 million tonnes of carbon dioxide to the atmosphere, thus contributing to global warming (see WRM Bulletin 18 ). On the other hand, when plantations are set up on grasslands they substitute a valuable ecosystem as carbon sink and reservoir. The amount of carbon stored by grasslands should be deducted from the volume of carbon allegedly retained by plantations. Furthermore in some cases -as that of the grassland vegetation of the Andean Paramos- recent studies show that natural ecosystems are more efficient that plantations regarding their capacity of absorbing CO2. Last but not least, the promotion of large scale monocultures under the guise of "carbon sinks" will not but aggravate the social and environmental negative impacts that similar plantations -aimed at producing fibre or wood- cause. Recently, the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) issued a report that can be the coup de grace for the idea of plantations as carbon sinks. According to scientists, planned new plantations will quickly become saturated with carbon and begin returning most of their carbon to the atmosphere through respiration. Since CO2 is the most important greenhouse effect gas, global warming would be accelerated instead of mitigated. These new findings mean a change in the IPCC's previous viewpoint concerning the issue. It had been assumed that as long as CO2 levels in the air went on rising, forest sinks would continue to grow due to the accelerating effect of the so-called "CO2 fertilisation" on photosynthesis. However, CO2 fertilisation may already have reached its maximum and respiration may be about to accelerate. Thus, large-scale tree plantations would in fact aggravate instead of mitigating the greenhouse effect. The above proves that planting trees to absorb CO2 is no substitute for cutting fossil fuel emissions at source and furthermore, to rethinking the present unsustainable production and consumption model that is threatening life on Earth. In spite of the efforts of their promoters to show them as a panacea, tree plantations are not a solution to the problem but a part of it. Source: http://www.newscientist.com/ns/19991023/newsstory8.html Comments by WRM International Secretariat.
GENERAL NGOs' action in Spain against shrimp industry During the "World Shrimp Market 99" recently held in Madrid, members of Greenpeace Spain and several Latin American NGOs expressed their protest against the expansion of this depredatory activity, by unfurling three large banners reading: "No new shrimp farms - Stop the shrimp industry", "Shrimp farming - Mangroves destruction" and "Shrimp Industry Meeting - Mangrove Death". " Fifty per cent of mangrove areas have already disappeared. At present the shrimp industry goes on jeopardising tropical coastlines of developing countries and their local communities, in order to put tropical shrimps on your table" expressed the activists to the media. Elmer Lopez from Greenpeace International and Jorge Varela from CODDEFFAGOLF of Honduras, who were at the same time attending the meeting, made a presentation of the environmentalists' viewpoint to those attending the proceedings. The Spanish authorities committed themselves to include mangrove conservation as a priority in their Araucaria biodiversity project, which is being carried out by the Spanish Cooperation Agency. Spain is the main consumer of Ecuadorian shrimp, whose production has nearly completely destroyed the mangroves of the Pacific coast in that country. Source: Elmer Lopez, e-mail: elopez@dialb.greenpeace.org 27/10/99
The Dutch NGO BothENDS has recently published "Forests for the Future: Local Strategies for Forest Protection, Economic Welfare and Social Justice", edited by Paul Wolvekamp, Ann Danaiya Usher, Vijay Paranjpye, and Madhu Ramnath. The book addresses the question of how local and indigenous communities can maintain the balance between their societies and their forest environments when faced with increasing external pressures, rising populations and growing demands for basic needs and cash. Causes of deforestation usually lie outside the forest. World demand for wood, paper and the raw materials determine the fate of the forest, rather than local peoples’ needs and forest conservation. As for the efforts by governments or corporations to restore and manage forest environments, they are often either non-existent or at best ineffective. And yet, within communities who depend on forests, there frequently exists a wealth of knowledge about rational land use and environmental protection. The case studies in this volume come from all around the world and include tropical, temperate and boreal zones. They describe the positive efforts undertaken to consolidate or adapt local forest management systems to a changing environment. One of the things that distinguishes this book is that its contributors belong to local groups involved in these efforts. The book presents their experiences and recommendations on how to re-establish community control over forest lands and preserve them for the future. "Any time you hear someone say there are 'no alternatives' to centralised state control of sensitive forest areas, reach for this book. Providing the sort of perspective that can come only from those closely engaged in the tough realities of local forest struggles, it both informs and inspires" commented Larry Lohmann, coauthor of "Pulping the South", on this new book. Those interested in ordering it, please contact: Mohammed Umar Source: Paul Wolvekamp, e-mail: pw@bothends.org 15/11/99
"The oil flows, the Earth bleeds" is the title of this Oilwatch publication. Oilwatch is an international network that supports the struggle of local communities and indigenous peoples facing oil industry activities in the tropics. The book presents a broad variety of examples of oil activities and resistance in Latin America (Ecuador, Colombia, Honduras, Peru, Guatemala, Bolivia, Brazil), Africa (Nigeria, Chad, Cameroon, Ghana), Asia (Bangladesh, India, Thailand), as well as general articles on the issue. Those interested in receiving a copy, please address your request to: oilwatch@uio.satnet.net
WRM GENERAL ACTIVITIES News from the International Secretariat Ricardo Carrere visited in October the states of Espirito Santo and Bahia invited by CIMI (Conselho Indigenista Missionario). During his trip, he participated at a seminar which took place in Vitoria on the impacts of eucalyptus plantations and the FSC. He later had a meeting in Monte Pascoal with Pataxo indigenous peoples' leaders (see article above) and offered them WRM's inconditional support to their struggle. After that, he spent a few days travelling around the plantation area of the three big companies established in the extreme south of Bahia (Aracruz, Bahia Sul and Veracel). Meetings were organized with concerned individuals and organizations which have either documented or suffered the social and environmental impacts of those plantations, as well as the struggles to oppose them. Visits were organized to see the dried up water courses, lagoons and wells, to hear about the disappearance of wildlife, to listen to direct witnesses of the deforestation activities that preceeded plantations, to hear about increasing unemployment rates and migration. In sum, to see the consequences of this unsustainable forestry model. Alvaro Gonzalez participated in the VII Environmental Journalists' World Congress held in Bogota, Colombia, from October 11 to 15, where he made a presentation on "Deforestation and afforestation: two names for the same problem." The Congress addressed a large number of other issues, including presentations by the U'wa and Embera indigenous peoples of Colombia on their struggle for land and livelihoods. Presentations and discussions were also made on the following issues: Towards a New Ethics, Genetic Resources and Biosafety, Globalization and the Environment, Communication and the Environment and Drug Trafficking and the Environment. Those interested in receiving further information on the Congress, please address: Max Henriquez, e-mail: senal131@openway.com.co On 5-6 November Ricardo Carrere participated at the Oilwatch Steering Committee meeting held in Quito, Ecuador. He later made a presentation at the Workshop on Trade and Deforestation organized by the Underlying Causes Initiative. Finally, he participated at the international seminar "Resistance: a way towards sustainability" (8-9 November), organized by Accion Ecologica in the framework of the International Assembly of Friends of the Earth, where he made a presentation on "Tree plantations as seen from the North and from the South."
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