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Issue Number 40 - November 2000

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OUR VIEWPOINT

- Those who did not "work it out" in The Hague

The Sixth Conference of the Parties of the Convention on Climate Change is finally over and nothing much appears to have been achieved to address global warming. This doesn't come as a surprise, given that the majority of government delegates -- with a few exceptions -- focused more on how to obtain profits for their countries and corporations from the new carbon trade than on finding true solutions to the looming climate disaster.

In fact, the conference was more like a weekend bazar than a United Nations meeting. A new generation of carbon brokers was out in force, adding their voices to more traditional "business NGOs" composed of oil corporations and other major polluters of the atmosphere. The nuclear energy lobby was also prominent in the event, trying to sell its "clean energy" as a solution to climate change.

Unfortunately, other, more respected actors, including environmental non-governmental organizations, were also laying out their wares in this marketplace, trying to sell forests and plantations as "emission cuts" or "carbon sink mechanisms". This generated some divisions among NGOs and Indigenous Peoples' Organizations, which weakened the position of those truly interested in addressing climate change. Southern governments, too, were divided on various issues, particularly the so-called Clean Development Mechanism.

The atmosphere was much more humane outside the conference centre. A demonstration organized by Friends of the Earth, for example, was a huge success. People from all over the world joined forces to pile up sandbags to form an enormous dyke in front of the conference centre. Although the dyke was originally conceived as a symbol of the rising waters which will come with global warming, it could also be perceived as a dyke to protect the world from the decisions -- of the lack thereof -- being taken inside the building.

And that was precisely the main problem: the lack of political will to begin to do what everyone knows needs to be done. Or rather, too much political will from the large corporations which dominate politics in the US, Canada, Australia, Japan and other industrialized countries, together with their armies of technocrats and tame civil servants. Thus French President Chirac's statement criticizing the trend of the negotiations was a welcome surprise. Among other things, he stated that since 1992, Parties had fallen too far behind in taking actions to combat climate change, and cautioned against further delays. Furthermore, he highlighted that the US produces a quarter of the world's emissions, and that the per capita US levels of emissions are three times higher than those of France. He called on the US to join other industrialized nations in making a successful transition to an energy-efficient economy. He said the EU had a duty to set an example by developing more economical forms of consumption and production in terms of natural resources.

The US delegates were obviously not at all happy to hear this. Nor did they like Chirac's support for an effective, equitable agreement that leaves room for future development, an independent and impartial compliance mechanism, effective cuts by Northern countries in their emissions, and assistance for the most vulnerable countries to adapt to the consequences of climate change. Noting that each country has a duty to build structures that cut its own emissions to a minimum on a sustainable basis, Chirac emphasized that setting up projects to reduce emissions in other countries should not be seen as a means to escape domestic measures. He called for a prudent approach to using carbon sinks to alleviate climate change, and said that the ultimate aim should be the convergence of per capita emissions.

Chirac's speech, however, was but a short parenthesis punctuating closed-door dealings aimed at undermining everything he called for. Emission cuts were never truly on the table. Neither was energy efficiency or renewables. Even less so equity and justice. Corporate lobbyists did their job well and visions of short-term financial gains for a few elites clouded the brains of many Southern delegates, whose countries and peoples will suffer most from climate change. Obtaining a few dollars from prominent polluters for forest and plantation projects was the aim of many -- never mind whether such schemes were effective or not in slowing global warming. The US and Japan, meanwhile, got their money's worth from these offers of bribes in the form of support for some of their positions.

"Work it out!" was the official slogan of The Hague Conference. A simple but meaningful slogan for anyone willing to understand and do something -- but apparently meaningless to most of the government delegates present at The Hague. Future generations confronted with climate change will remember them as those who did NOT work it out.

(*) Quotations from Jacques Chirac's statement downloaded from the Earth Negotiations Bulletin

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LOCAL STRUGGLES AND NEWS

AFRICA

- Gabon: The new Forestry Law and transnational companies

The draft Forestry Law being discussed by the Gabonese Parliament encourages the industrialization of wood within the country. According to the Ministry for Waters and Forests, the new law will establish more strict rules concerning the exploitation of the country's forests. Concessions to private companies will be granted for a longer period of time, allegedly to favour the regeneration of the forest. The government elected in December 1998 argues that its policy tries to conciliate the interests of different agents involved, with the aim of protecting the forests, and at the same time diversifying its products. The Gabonese forestry sector has until now strongly relied on the export of a single product: okoumé roundwood.

Even though this initiative, which tends to the diversification of the country's economy, can be considered positive from a macroeconomic point of view, capital questions remain unsolved. One of them is that of public control over the use of natural resources. In Gabon, as well as in other African countries, due to institutional structural constraints protection norms are poorly implemented and enforced. Does the new legislation create financial mechanisms to ensure that the companies' operations are effectively controlled on the ground?

The second relevant point is that of the so-called "stakeholders". While transnational logging companies, responsible for the destruction of tropical forests in the country, remain the most important actors, forest dwelling peoples continue to be ignored. Alternatives such as community forest management and locally-based processing facilities are not taken into account. Additionally, the new law appears to benefit specially --if not solely-- large logging companies. In fact Société Forestière des Bois Tranchés, Leroy Gabon, Thanry, Groupe Rougier, Société de Grumes de la Ngounie and other important companies will be granted concessions for even longer periods, and will almost certainly be the ones industrializing roundwood, thus reaping the benefits of added value to the product.

In the context of an economy heavily dependent on the exploitation of natural resources, massive foreign debt, and weak organization of rural communities and civil society, the colonial vision prevails of the forest as a mere source of wood managed and exploited by foreign private companies. The new Forestry Law does not seem to help to revert this situation.

Article based on information from: "Vers l'adoption d'une nouvelle loi forestière", Panafrican News Agency, November 3, 2000; "Slave and Enclave. The Political Ecology of Equatorial Africa", Marcus Colchester, WRM, 1994.

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- Kenya: Local peoples' land rights ignored

Even though indigenous peoples and rural communities are the ones directly bearing the brunt of the destruction of rainforests by intruders, most national governments portray them as squatters and responsible for the destruction of the forest and the extinction of wildlife, and threaten them with eviction or undertake direct actions to expel them from their homeland. This kind of abuse is often linked to forest concessions awarded to logging companies --which constitutes an absurd paradox if the aim of the authorities were to protect the forest-- or the declared intention of protecting endangered species, considering that nature conservation is only possible in the absence of human beings. Both types of abuses are happening in Kenya and the following are two such examples.

The Ogiek --a hunter-gatherer and harvester of honey people, dwelling since time immemorial in the Mau Forest and adjacent areas-- have once again been menaced by the authorities in order to force them to abandon their ancestral lands. In 1991 the state partially recognized their territorial rights to a portion of the Tinet forests, but this did not result in an improvement in their situation. Nowadays the Ogiek --numbering some 5000 people-- have been pushed into the last Forest Belt of the former Mighty Mau and Mt. Elgon Forests. This is the consequence of a process started in colonial times and continued after the country's independence until the present time.

The successive governments have systematically ignored the Ogiek's ancestral land rights, and allocated large areas of former forest lands to the ruling elites. Additionally, part of the remaining forest has been granted to logging companies, which would lead to their quick destruction. Even though Kenya ratified several international treaties related to the protection of the rights of indigenous peoples --like the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights-- they have not been respected when concrete policies are formulated and implemented.

A second example of abuse over land rights is related to conservation. A plan to be implemented by the Kenya Wildlife Service in the Tana River District in Coast Province --with financial support from the Global Environmental Facility (GEF)-- to protect the red-capped manabey, an endangered monkey species, is being resisted by residents of Ngao and Ndera locations. The official promise to compensate land owners has divided the local residents into two groups: one of them accepts to move from their farms along the river, while the other vows to stay, arguing that money cannot compensate for the loss of their land and the dramatic change in their lifestyle. In fact people are proposed to move to the semi-arid plains of Ozi and Kipini where there are no rivers.

Molu Shambaro, a local leader and member of Parliament for the district, who is opposed to the eviction, has expressed that local dwellers' rights have to be respected, and has proposed that the wildlife service involves local people in their campaign to conserve the Tana River mangabey instead of forcing them to leave their lands. Shambaro asserted that if local people get involved, wildlife conservation and traditional lifestyle in the area will become compatible. He also accused both the government body and its GEF counterpart of corruption, which is considered to be the main reason for the failure of conservation projects in the country.

Article based on information from: International Network of Forests and Communities, 27/10/2000, e-mail: network@forestsandcommunities.org ; http://www.forestsandcommunities.org ; Thousands Face Eviction to Conserve Kenya's Tana River Mangabey, by Naftali Mungai, http://ens-news.com/ens/oct2000/2000L-10-20-01.html

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- Nigeria: Shell's choice between profits and principles

Shell is continuing its clever misleading propaganda orchestrated through advertisements circulating in the most influencial press media of the North, in order to revamp its tarnished image and convince public opinion that it is an environmentally friendly company. The campaign "Profits and Principles: Is there a choice?" is based on beautiful photographs of wild animals, lush forests, and tender faces of African people accompanied by texts like: "Time and again at Shell we're discovering the rewards of respecting the environment when doing business". "If we're exploring for oil and gas reserves in environmental sensitive regions, we consult widely with the different local and global interest groups to ensure than biodiversity in each location is preserved." "At Shell we are committed to support fundamental human rights. We invest in the communities around us to create new opportunities and growths."

Nevertheless in the Niger Delta reality could not be more far away from the self image the company is making efforts to show. Since 1958, when Shell arrived to the region a nightmare began for the Ogoni, an indigenous nation of about 500,000 people living in the area. Counting on the support of successive governments Shell took hold of Ogoniland. As in other parts of the world where oil is exploited, the result has been high unemployment and poverty rates, environmental devastation and loss of livelihoods for the local people. Repression has been brutal. About 80,000 people had their villages destroyed and about 2,000 were killed by the state armed corps. Last November 10^th marked the 5^th anniversary of the murder of the environmental leaders Ken Saro Wiwa, Barinem Kiobel, John Kpuinen, Saturday Dorbee, Paul Levura, Nordu Eawo, Felix Nuate, Daniel Gboko and Baribor Bera. Their "crime" was to fight for the rights of their people against abuses commited by Shell and the Nigerian military government that was backing it (*).

In 1993 the Ogoni declared Shell "persona non grata" and got it out of their lands. But after an absence of seven years the company is menacing to return to Ogoniland. In April this year the announcement was made that the only aim of Shell was to remove its remaining facilities, which were causing environmental problems in the area due to the emission of poisonous gases and uncontrolled leaking. Nonetheless in October Shell admitted that its real intentions were to reactivate its 125 oil wells in the region. If this happens violence, collusion and misery will increase. It is clear that Shell has got an answer to the question of whether there is a choice between profits and principles. The answer is yes and the choice is profits.

(*) The full text of the memorial message from Ms. Gbenewa Phido, President of MOSOP-UK on 11/11/2000 to mark the 5^th memorial anniversary of the murder of Ken Saro Wiwa and other Ogoni leaders, has been included in our web site under: By country/Nigeria. Previous articles published in our Bulletin about the struggle of the peoples of the Niger Delta are available in the same section.

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- Tanzania: Impasse on commercial shrimp farming at Rufiji Delta mangroves

The Rufiji Delta in South Eastern Tanzania holds some 53,255 hectares of unspoiled mangrove forest. These mangroves are not only a key element for the environment in the region by stabilising the coastline, building land through accumulation of silt and the production of detritus, preserving the quality of water, and serving as windbreaks for the hinterland, but also constitutes the source of livelihoods for thousands of people living there (see WRM Bulletin 12).

In April 1999, Tanzanian NGOs were able to secure an interim order staying plans of the African Fishing Company's 10,000 hectare shrimp farm project at Rufiji Delta. Would the project have been implemented, one third of the whole Rufiji Delta would have ended up in the hands of the company for a period of no less than ten years, thus threatening the livelihoods of thousands of local farmers and fisherfolk living in the delta, and causing severe environmental impacts that would have put at risk the future of the region.

The panel of three judges chosen to hear and dictate on the case disintegrated when one of its members retired and another one was transferred. The case has not yet been assigned to another panel and it appears that at present there are not enough judges to constitute a new one. In the meantime, the company is said to be facing severe financial constraints which would have even forced it to sell part of its assets. Although the situation is not yet clear, it seems that the efforts carried out by concerned citizens and organizations have managed to save --at least for the time being-- the mangroves and local peoples' livelihoods.

Article based on information from: Late Friday News, 71st Edition, October 2000; e-mail: mangroveap@olympus.net 

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ASIA

- India: Mining and plantations put National Park at risk

The temporary work permit given to the Kudremukh Iron Ore Company (KIOCL) to continue the extraction of iron in the Kudremukh National Park, located in the Western Ghats region of the state of Karnataka, has given place to severe criticism from national and international environmental NGOs, which had been putting pressure on the authorities for the company's request to be denied.

KIOCL has been operating in the Aroli and Malleshwara regions of Kudremukh National Park, under a 30-year lease, which expired in July 1999. Since then, the company has been lobbying to obtain a 20-year extension on the lease, but it has only been granted two successive year long temporary permits.

Impacts of mining in the area are apparent. A report of the Indian NGO Environment Support Group (ESG) proves that many fish varieties have disappeared due to pollution, and points out that farmers complain about the decline in agricultural productivity downstream due to deposition of mine tailings. River pollution has provoked an increase in cases of disease among villagers. In 1987 a 67 metre long slurry pipeline broke and its leakage reached the Yennehole River, which led to severe environmental damage.

The only action supposedly undertaken by KIOCL to mitigate the impacts on forests and rivers in the area has been to plant alien trees! The company adduces having implemented a "reforestation" programme by planting 7.5 million acacia, eucalyptus and other alien tree species. If such claims were true it would make things even worse, since the substitution of a portion of forest by a plantation prevents the regeneration of the secondary forest, thereby impoverishing the environment. Both mining and plantations are a direct cause of deforestation. Nevertheless that of Kudremukh constitutes a particular case where both activities combine to destroy the forest.

At present the State Government has ordered an environmental impact study be undertaken before an extension on the lease is granted. However, this is not seen as a sufficient guarantee by local environmentalists. Leo Saldanha from the Environment Support Group says: "I sincerely believe that a systematic public campaign is the most appropriate option to ensure mining ends in Kudremukh. Nothing like the people's will to bend a government that is intent on violating public commitments and the law."

Article based on information from: Drillbits & Tailings; 18/8/2000. Volume 5, Number 13

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- Laos: Subsidies for Swedish profits in the forestry sector

On 7th November 2000 the formal opening of a US$2.9 million laminated-wood processing factory took place at Nabong Farm, 30 kilometres from Vientiane, the capital of Lao PDR. The factory will initially sell timber pallets to IKEA, the Swedish retailing giant, and in future will produce furniture under the trademark Vicwood. Financing came from a series of loans --US$550,000 from IKEA, US$800,000 from the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank, and US$300,000 from Swedfund, the Swedish IFC counterpart. The timber will come from Burapha's 1,200 hectares of Eucalyptus camaldulensis plantations, and from the Asian Development Bank's Industrial Tree Plantations project, which aims to establish 10,000 hectares of plantations in Laos.

Burapha's publicity materials claim that the factory will bring "beautiful hardwoods" to "discerning world markets without devastating the natural tropical forests". However, while IKEA has found a new source of cheap timber, with or without Burapha's factory project the logging of Laos' forests continues.

The Burapha Group is structured perfectly to gain the most from the subsidies available for plantation development in Laos. The company is a subsidiary of the Swedish forest industry company Silvi Nova AB, and in Laos consists of three companies: BAFCO (Burapha Agroforestry Co. Ltd.); NAFCO (Nabong Farm Co. Ltd.); and BDC (Burapha Development Consultants Co. Ltd.). The first two companies are commercial ventures --BAFCO produces and exports wood based products from its own plantations, and NAFCO is a dairy farm which supplies Vientiane with dairy products, chicken and eggs. BDC however plays a very different role, being the largest consulting firm in Laos, providing advice on financial analysis, engineering, environment, forestry, agriculture and livestock and rural development.

In the early 1990s Burapha Development Consultants (along with Jaakko Poyry) won a contract for consultancy services for the Asian Development Bank's US$16 million Industrial Tree Plantations Project. Today, the Burapha Group factory in Nabong buys timber from eucalyptus plantations established under the ADB project.

In 1995 Jaakko Poyry and Burapha produced a report for the ADB commenting on the Lao Government's laws on plantations, Directive 186. Among the consultant's recommendations were that export taxes and transport taxes should be reduced. In other words, the consultants recommend increasing their company's profits at the expense of villagers' land and livelihoods.

When the Lao Government gets advice from forestry consultants through a project funded by the Asian Development Bank, it may believe that it is getting the best advice that money can buy. In Burapha's case however there is a clear conflict of interest. The company is providing advice recommending more subsidies through the ADB to produce cheap timber which Burapha then buys and exports. No wonder that a Burapha representative in Vientiane said about the ADB project, "The project for Burapha has been a success, I'm not sure about the project as a whole".

By: Chris Lang, e-mail: http://chrislang.org 

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- Malaysia: Campaign against plantation and pulp mill project in Sabah

A plantation project that would occupy about 3% of the area of Sabah, in northern Borneo, and provoke the clearcutting of 6% of its dwindling primary forests is being promoted in Kalabakan by a joint-venture between the State-owned company Innoprise Corporation Sdn Bhd, Lions Group of Malaysia and the China Fuxing Pulp and Paper Industries of China. The plantation and pulp and paper mill megaproject, whose cost has been evaluated in U$S 1.1 billion, will require the felling of 240,000 hectares of forest to be replaced by a massive monoculture plantation of black wattle trees (Acacia mangium) --also known as dry acacia or mangium tree-- a fast growing tree native to Australia.

The project has sparked criticism because of its expected impacts and for not having even adhered to the weak legal environmental requirements existing in Sabah. According to the Sabah Conservation of Environment Prescribed Activities, any forest which is cleared for the felling of timber covering an area of 500 hectares or more or any development of forest plantation of 500 hectares or more requires an Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA). Nevertheless 12,000 hectares of the land of the proposed project have already been logged without a single EIA done. Innoprise Corporation has claimed that no EIA is required since the logging operation was approved before the State EIA requirement was enforced, and announced the logging of another 33,000 hectares. The company completely ignores the Federal Government's Environment Quality Act of 1974 and the Environmental Quality Order of 1987 which oblige to perform EIA for these kind of activities. Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM) --Friends of the Earth Malaysia-- has denounced that by allowing the logging to proceed without an EIA, the Sabah Government is completely disregarding the environmental impacts of the logging activities and is manipulating the law in favour of the interests of big companies and to the detriment of forest conservation.

It is reasonably feared that this huge plantation will provoke deletereous impacts on the environment. The plantation area will cut the biggest remaining block of continuous forest in the region which extends between the Danum Valley and the Maliau Basin, both classified as Class One Protection Areas. The area contains high biodiversity levels, including 120 mammal, 280 bird, and more than 2500 tree species. This biodiversity rich ecosystem is in danger of being substituted by a uniform and biodiversity poor agrosystem. Already wild animals are reported to have been sighted more often, probably fleeing from the logged area. Since the land of the proposed project is mostly steep, felling for plantations will expose the soil to direct erosion by rainfall. Sediments could reach the coastal mangrove vegetation in Cowie Bay, depleting marine resources. Consequences are already apparent: with only 12,000 hectares logged the Danum Valley has been recently flooded. Local microclimate will also be affected because often once the rainforest is replaced with a plantation it will dry and heat up. Additionally, this could create negative conditions for the plantation itself, which would become more prone to fires.

The effects of pulping and bleaching are also threatening. The use of chlorine in bleaching the pulp has caused the industry to be the third largest source of dioxin and its related compounds in the world. This problem is further compounded by the fact that Malaysia still has no policy on dioxin damage prevention. Carbon dioxide, sulphur oxides and chloroform are some of the polluting gases emitted by this industry. Furthermore about 300 chemicals, among them organic pollutants, chlorophenicols, acidic and organichlorine compounds have been identified in pulp and paper mill effluents.

To stop further destruction, SAM has called the State Government of Sabah and the Federal Government to halt all further logging activities, take action against the parties that are responsible for logging the 12,000 hectares of forest without an EIA, undertake a comprehensive EIA of the project, seek extensive and genuine feedback from the public in relation to the reviewing of the EIA, review as a whole given the magnitude and scale of its expected environmental impacts. Additionally an international campaign has been launched to oppose this project. Those interested in participating are invited to visit our new web site
( www.wrm.org.uy ) under Action Alerts - October 2000.

Article based on information from: "International alert to save Sabah Rainforests from Pulp and Paper project in Kalabakan" by Friends of the Earth Malaysia - Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM), October 2000. E-mail: meenaco@pd.jaring.my 

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- Malaysia: Where is Bruno Manser?

Since May 2000 Bruno Manser is missing. This human rights activist wanted to visit his friends, the Penan forest nomads in Sarawak, who are surrounded by logging companies, the army and the police. It seems he never arrived. Search parties have had no luck. Now the Swiss Diplomatic Corps has stepped in. Manser could have been arrested, had an accident or could have been murdered. We sincerely hope that none of those situations occured. In the meantime, we extend our wholehearted support to Bruno's family and friends.

Further information on Bruno Manser's situation is available in the "Information by country" section (Malaysia) in our web site at: http://www.wrm.org.uy 

Article based on information from: Ruedi Suter. "The Swiss Diplomatic Corps have started an official search for the rain forest protector". E-mail: info@bmf.ch  For detailed information on the situation of the indigenous peoples in Sarawak: http://www.bmf.ch/action/chronologie_2000_en.html 

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- Thailand: A diversity-based community forest management system

Among at least 400 modern "community forest" systems in the hilly upper Northern region of Thailand is that of Mae Khong Saai village in Chiang Dao district of Chiang Mai province. The system features 57 hectares of agricultural fields in which at least 10 different types of paddy rice are grown in stepped fields in the valley bottoms. Some 10 varieties of dryland rice are also cultivated in hill fields, which rotate on a cycle of 3-5 years.

Some 643 hectares of community use forest are carefully distinguished from 980 hectares of protected forest, between them encompassing six different native forest types. Some 58 herbal medicines on which villagers depend are locally cultivated, some in a protected pharmaceutical garden in the middle of the forest. Altogether, forest food and medicine yield the equivalent of US$700 per year for each of the village's 22 households. As well as providing wood for local use, the forests also help preserve the nature of the streams that lace the area, which provide water for agriculture and drinking, as well as the 17 carefully conserved species of fish which supplement the local food supply.

All aspects of the system --agriculture, community-use forest, protected forest, fisheries-- are interdependent. The whole pattern, meanwhile, relies for its survival on local villagers' protection. For example, the use of fire is carefully controlled by locals so that devastating blazes don't strike the local forest, as they often do the surrounding region's monoculture tree plantations.

Regular monitoring, together with a newly-formalized system of rules and fines covering forest, stream and swidden use, helps maintain the local biotic mosaic. Political vigilance is also crucial. In 1969, locals teamed up with concerned government officials to stave off a threat by commercial loggers to devastate the area. Today, Mae Khong Saai villagers are fighting a 1993 government decree ordering them out of the Wildlife Sanctuary which was established in 1978 on the land they inhabit and protect.

Mae Khong Saai's insistence on local stewardship is obviously good for the area's biodiversity. A recent rapid wildlife survey in and around the village resulted in sightings of many species --including a flock of Oriental Pied Hornbills (Anthracoceras albirostris)-- that indicate that the area is one of the most biologically diverse in Thailand. Animals including bear, dear, gibbon, boar and various wild cats, as well as over 200 species of birds, take advantage of the tapestry of local ecosystems.

Thoroughly integrated with lowland economies, polities and cultures, Mae Khong Saai couldn't be further from the romantic cliché of a completely isolated, self-sufficient community. As well as marketing forest products, many community members periodically take jobs far outside the community, some in distant cities. In their defense of local livelihoods and the biodiversity they rely on, moreover, Mae Khong Saai's residents depend partly on alliances they have fashioned not only with similar communities across Thailand's northern mountains but also with urban-based NGO movements. Arguably, the community owes even its current identity and way of life on the periphery partly to the history of uneasy relations between the Karen people who inhabit it and the modern, nationalistic, racialist Thai state which has developed over the past century. Whatever successes its forest stewardship system achieves will owe much to the way it is able to converse and negotiate with lowland and international powers in renewing its strategies for local control.

Article based on information from: Environmental Improvement Department, Northern Development Foundation, Project for Ecological Recovery, Northern Watershed Development Project, Northern Farmers Network, and villagers from three Northern Thai communities, Raayngaan Phol Kaan Wijay Rueang Khwaam Laaklaai Thaang Chiiwaphaap lae Rabop Niwet nai Khat Paa Chum Chon Phaak Nuea Tawn Bon, Chiang Mai, 1997. Summarized by Larry Lohmann with thanks to Montri Chanthawong for providing this book, which he helped compile.

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CENTRAL AMERICA

- Guatemala: Community forest concession initiative at Petén questioned

A new type of forest conservation initiative is being implemented in Guatemala since 1995. According to its promoters, it attempts to couple community-based sustainable development with the protection of the Petén forests in the multiple use zone of the Maya Biosphere Reserve, the largest protected area in Central America.

The government has recently granted five community organizations --formed mostly by subsistence farmers-- permission to log trees in their neighbouring forests over the next 25 years. The process is being monitored to see how effective these locally managed forest concessions will be, both in curbing deforestation and in providing cash to local residents. The Costa Rica based Tropical Agricultural Research and Higher Education Center (CATIE), the Guatemala's Park Agency, (CONAP), two national NGOs ("Naturaleza para la Vida" - Nature for Life and "Propetén") and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) are supporting these concessions in the area.

From the official viewpoint, the increase of the population in the Petén area is the main factor for forest degradation and destruction. The government argues that the population of Petén --which nowadays is composed of some 90,000 inhabitants-- is expanding at a high rate, and that since 1986 settlers have deforested nearly 10 percent of the reserve area. The rationale of the initiative is that communities with concessions which have a contract with the state will prevent other people from settling in the area or convert the forest to other uses, and at the same time obtain economic benefits from forest exploitation. Communities that do not adhere to their contracts would lose their concessions.

Nevertheless, such view ignores the influence of other activities provoking the degradation of the reserve, as for example oil concessions granted by the government itself (see WRM Bulletin 21) and illegal logging which has affected especially cedar (Cedrela odorata) and mahogany (Swietenia macrophilla).

Additionally, the above referred concessions are focused on timber production, ignoring that forests are not only a source of wood for local communities, which find many uses from the non-timber forest products provided by the forest. As a result, granting of concessions has focused exclusively on timber production. For example, the community of Uaxactún found it difficult to get a concession, since its plans did not include logging but the exploitation of non-timber products. Some communities which derived their livelihoods from the use of different forest products, mainly "xate" (Chamaedorea spp.) and "chicle" (Manilkara achras) are increasingly devoting themselves to log extraction, which has created internal conflicts between those who want to maintain their traditional lifestyle and those who prefer logging.

The concept of "sustainable forest use" is also under question because social and environmental impacts of logging have not been taken into account, and it is doubtful that in all cases a monetary gain will be obtained. There are also allegations that the activities of the accompanying NGOs have not benefitted the communities and are said to have focused on perpetuating themselves. At least one of them has been questioned for trying to interfere in the internal organization of peasant communities, while its activities should be limited to help them during the process of community forest management.

All the above has led to different opinions regarding this approach, which will need to be thoroughly analysed before moving forward. Local communities --and not external actors-- should be the real beneficiaries and non-wood products should be given priority over timber production in order to ensure the sustainable use of the forest and the well-being of the local population.

Article based on information from:  Carlos Albacete, 16/10/2000, e-mail: tropicoverde@guate.net ; Elmer López, 11/19/2000, e-mail: elmer.lopez@dialb.greenpeace.org ; http://headlines.igc.apc.org:8080/enheadlines/968724096/index_html 

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SOUTH AMERICA

- Argentina: A shady carbon sink project

While government representatives were discussing at the Hague the supposed benefits of including forests and plantations in the so-called Clean Development Mechanism of the Kyoto Protocol of the Climate Change Convention, an unusual project in Argentina was giving reason to those opposing such inclusion.

In February this year the company "El Foyel S.A.", the new owner of a plot of 7,800 hectares located in El Foyel, in the southern Province of Río Negro, addressed the Andean Forest Service (SFA) to apply for an authorization to open up and rehabilitate several kilometres of roads within a forest in the region, and to cut 300 hectareas of this valuable ecosystem in order to substitute it with oregon and radiata pine plantations. This forest borders the Nahuel Huapí National Park, close to the touristic city of Bariloche.

Three months later, even lacking the required authorization, the company began the logging operations. The SFA reacted accusing it of "blatant infringement of the law", causing the destruction of one hundred cypress trees, as well as "ñire" (Nothofagus antartica), "maitén" (Maytenus boaria) and other native tree species. Nevertheless, this episode is but the tip of the iceberg of a much more shady situation. In fact, the project implies the destruction, not of 300 but of 4,500 hectares of forests and their substitution by pines.

To present the undertaking under a "green" mask, the proponents claim that the project includes the "sustainable management" of 1,800 hectares of native forest, including species such as "lenga" (Nothofagus punilis) and cypress. However, its main objective is to make profits from both wood extraction and the sale of carbon credits.

The strong links of the involved businessmen with local authorities have made it possible that, despite the project's characteristics, the Provincial Office for the environment approved the Environmental Impact Study. The final decision on the project is now in the hands of the Forestry Department. For the time being, the project has been suspended as a result of the sanctions it received for having started the opening of roads without due permission.

Local villagers, academics and experts have expressed their opposition to the project. The NGO "Comunidad de Limay" is involved in a campaign to stop it, and has gone to court arguing that a process of public consultation has not taken place and that the project breaches the law, which protects native forests. Additionally Dr. Thomas Kitzberger and Dr. Estela Raffaele, of the National University of Comahue, warned that the project is located close to a national park, in an area where the North Patagonian Corridor is projected --aimed at protecting the mobility of species and thus to protect biodiversity. Their report also questions the "sustainable development" management techniques proposed to manage the 1,800 hectares of forest which will not be cut down. The Andean Forestry Service has underscored that the felling of ñire can adversely affect other native species --such as cypress-- which grow associated to it. Concern over the aggressive way oregon pine regenerates --leading eventually to the substitution of native species-- has also been expressed. Other scientists from the National University of Comahue point out that there is no evidence that pine plantations are more efficient than forests concerning carbon dioxide absorption.

On November 5^th the protest gained the streets, when environmentalist NGOs of Chubut and Río Negro organized a demonstration "in favour of the biodiversity of the Southern forests of the Planet". Proyecto Lemu, the Chubut Antinuclear Movement, Mapuche and Tehuelche indigenous groups, Greenpeace-Argentina, Puelo Bird Society, Atech and Cetera participated in the mobilization.

Even though Argentina is commonly associated with vast prairies, it is also true that at the beginning of the 20th century the country had more than 100 million hectares of forests. Nowadays there are less than 20 million hectares left, and half of them are suffering an accelerated process of degradation. The expansion of pine and eucalyptus monocultures poses a direct threat to these surviving ecosystems, and the case of El Foyel is but one in a long list of forest destruction.

The same as in other projects implemented in several countries, this "carbon sink" project clearly shows that such an approach is not the solution to global climate --since more carbon is released to the atmosphere through deforestation than that absorbed by tree planting-- and that it causes severe social and environmental impacts at the local level. Nonetheless, they are big business for a few businessmen, for whom the tragedy of climate change is but a new and excellent opportunity for making money.

Article based on information from: Lucas Chiappe, Coordinator of "Proyecto Lemu", 24/10/2000 y 19/11/2000; e-mail: lemu@elbolson.com ; Juan Carlos Villalonga, Greenpeace Argentina, 24/10/2000, e-mail: energia@ar.greenpeace.org ; "Algunos datos de los daños ecológicos en nuestro país" by Ramón Regés, November 2000.

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- Brazil: Aracruz caught red handed destroying native forests

For almost a decade, Aracruz Cellulose has been spending much time and money to portray itself as an example of a socially and environmentally responsible corporation. It has consistently denied the negative impacts of its operations in the Brazilian states of Espirito Santo and Bahia and has gone as far as to state that it has never carried out deforestation operations. A recent information proves the contrary.

On October 20, while a public hearing organized by the Centre for Environmental Resources (CER) was taking place to discuss the further expansion of Aracruz Cellulose's eucalyptus plantations in the extreme South of the State of Bahia, local civil society organizations were able to establish that native trees were being cut down in a property recently purchased by the company in the municipality of Caravelas.

This environmental crime was filmed by the organizations and presented on the same day at the public hearing held in Posto da Mata, Nova Vicosa. Several executives from Aracruz, including the company's environmental manager, were present at the meeting.

Melquiades Spinola --coordinator of local NGO CEPEDES-- said that this episode shows that the company's environmental discourse is very different from its environmental practice. "Aracruz underestimates civil society organizations and State agencies. Even during the process to obtain the licence for the expansion of its plantations, its field activities are carried out in a predatory manner", Spinola said.

According to activists from CEPEDES and from the Centre for the Defense of Human Rights --who presented the exact geographic coordinates of the written report-- Aracruz had recently purchased that land from Carlos Ancine Fae. Workers from the company contracted by Aracruz, declared that no-one from the environment department of the contractor had been present during the work carried out with the use of a tractor, nor during the application of herbicides.

Jose Augusto Tosato, representative of CEPEDES, stated that the CER needs to increase its monitoring of Aracruz, to find out if all the conditions imposed for the granting of the previous licenses had been fulfilled and particularly to continue carrying out the ecological and economic zoning of the extreme south of Bahia, as decreed by Governor Cesar Borges on 17 May this year, but that has still not begun to be implemented.

According to the coordinator of the Bahia Environmental Group, the government decided to suspend the licensing of Aracruz until the zoning process is completed. "We hope that this decision is carried out, because if zoning is implemented in a participatory manner and with the adequate instruments and methodologies, it will result in safeguarding the interests of the region's society as a whole, restricting the uncontrolled expansion of monocultures and guaranteeing better conditions for environmental conservation."

Article based on information from: Maiza de Andrade, "Empresa é flagrada destruindo árvores na região extremo-sul", A Tarde Online, 24/10/00 
( http://www.atarde.com.br/materia.php3?mes=10&ano=2000&id_materia=260036 )

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- Chile: Wine production threatened by pulp mill project

For decades small and medium scale peasants of the Itata Valley have developed economic activities based on wine production. Wines produced in the area have recently obtained a high quality export product certification. As a result of their hard work during years, the population of the region has been able to generate an activity having enornous economic and social potential.

In January this year the Regional Commission for the Environment (COREMA) of the VIII Region rejected the application for the project "Industrial Forestry Complex Itata", to be located in the area. The project comprises several activities related to the forestry sector, including the setting up of a pulp mill at the Itata Valley. The reason for the denial of the authorization was that such project would generate negative environmental impacts. The proponent company --Celulosa Arauco y Constitución S.A.-- belongs to the Angelini Group, one of the most powerful economic holdings in the country.

Celulosa Arauco appealed to the National Commission for the Environment (CONAMA). According to the Chilean Basic Environmental Law, whenever such situation occurs, the body in charge of making a final decision on the viability of the questioned project is the Cabinet Meeting. The Cabinet is advised by a Consultative Council which --in theory-- is formed by representatives of different sectors, such as NGOs, scientists, independent academic centres, workers, companies and the government. However, their delegates are not democratically elected by the organizations, but directly nominated by the country's President.

In a surprising move, a few days ago the Consultative Council decided to recommend to the Cabinet Meeting that the environmental permit for the project be granted. How can this be explained? Several public services, as well as an Expert Panel of the Catholic University of Chile especially contracted to study the project, had concluded that the establishment of the pulp mill in the Itata Valley is incompatible with the current economic activity prevailing in the area: grape and wine production. The implementation of the project would result in a conflict between two incompatible economic activities: the current wine-tourism activity versus industrial forestry.

Additionally, from the very beginning the project has been strongly opposed by the five communities living nearby the projected site of the Itata Complex (Ranquil, Coelemu, Trehuaco, Quillón and Portezuelo). Far from being groundless, their opposition is based on the fact that the installation of a pulp mill would produce high levels of pollution. The industrial production of cellulose implies the use of chemicals containing chlorine which are highly toxic. Additionally, dioxines are emitted to the air. These substances have proved mutagenic and carcinogenic. This means that not only the environment would be negatively affected, but also severe damages would impact on the health and life quality of the people living in this valley.

An argument frequently used to promote this type of investments is that of job generation, which currently constitutes a severe problem in Chile. Nonetheless, also in this regard the recommendation of the Consultative Council is not appropriate, since at present grape and wine production provides 3,000 permanent jobs, while the Itata Forestry Complex would generate only a total of 1,200 jobs.

Many questions remain unanswered. What is really being evaluated? Is it the lobbying ability and the power of one of the major economic groups in the country or the environmental impacts of the project? Are community interests and local economies really taken into account when deciding what is best for them?

Now the responsibility lies in the hands of the Cabinet Meeting. Its decision will in fact reveal what the real environmental and economic policy of the Chilean government is.

By: Flavia Liberona, RENACE, 10/11/2000; e-mail: alerce.renace@rdc.cl 

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- Weyerhaeuser's president promotes plantations in Guyana

Dr Conor Wilson Boyd --president of Weyerhaeuser Forestlands International, a company owning a total of 28 million acres of forest in North America and established in 32 countries-- made a presentation during a meeting organized by the Iwokrama International Rainforest Centre for Rainforest Conservation and Development last October in Georgetown.

Weyerhaeuser president's presentation was largely focused on the promotion of plantations. However, if --as Dr Boyd said-- "the business perspective of companies should take into consideration the social and environmental impact on communities", then it should be clear that tree plantations should not be promoted at an industrial scale, which is precisely what companies such as Weyerhaeuser do.

Large scale monocultures --these are the plantations currently being implemented by companies such as this throughout the world-- have already proven to have deletereous effects on both people and environment, among which deforestation. Plantations do not "ease the pressure on the indigenous forests." On the contrary, they constitute the final step of a process of forest degradation which ends by substituting the diverse local forests with alien tree monocultures.

The above is not only an "environmental" issue: it is a social one. Forest and forest-dependent peoples view plantations as an even worse disaster than logging, because plantations expropriate their whole territories permanently. This means that they are deprived of all the resources provided by the forest, including food, medicines, fibres, firewood, building material, etc.

Dr Boyd also said that tree plantations provide employment, and further stated that they provide more jobs than intensive agriculture projects. This is in fact totally untrue. Plantations provide very few, seasonal and low quality jobs and even those only during the plantation phase. Once the trees are planted, employment drops dramatically until harvest. But even at harvest, the current technology in use implies that only few workers are needed to operate the modern harvesting machines.

The real problem that Weyerhaeuser is now facing --the same as other logging companies-- is that they have depleted the world's forest resources through unsustainable forest mining practices and they now quickly need vast amounts of cheap raw material to continue in business. In line with that, what they are now doing is moving South to find cheap land, cheap labour, low environmental standards and fast tree growth in order to ensure their own --not "the world's"-- provision of wood to continue promoting unsustainable levels of consumption in the North. The same discourse as the one presented in Guyana is being deployed by company executives throughout the South. In the meantime, local people and the environment continue suffering from the impacts of the "sustainable" plantations that those companies promote for their own benefit.

Article based on information from: Andrew Richards, "Plantations seen as vital to forest sustainability", Stabroek News, 26/10/00

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OCEANIA

- Australia: Woodchipping old growth forests for "renewable energy"

In 1997 the Australian federal government issued a regulation for Tasmanian forests, abolishing export woodchip quotas. Consequently North Limited --the biggest woodchip exporter in the country-- announced plans to raise woodchip production from Tasmanian native forests, that currently reaches around 3,4 million tonnes annually. Tasmanian environmental NGOs expressed their concern that this measure would open the gate for the destruction of old-growth eucalyptus forests in the island, which constitute part of the Australian National Heritage (see WRM Bulletin 7).

A new threat is now pending on Australian already scarce primary forests: a government proposal included in the Renewable Energy Bill, which promotes electricity generation by chipping old growth forests --considered a "renewable energy source"-- with the aim of reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The amendments proposed by other parties represented in Parliament to use other sources of renewable energy --such as solar and wind-- instead of native forests were rejected by representatives of the government and the main opposition party. The Australian Greens severely criticised the initiative, and accused both parties to be in the hands of woodchip companies and Senator Brown stated that the initiative was the result of pressures from the woodchip companies, which needed new outlets as they were facing stiff competition from South American plantations for the Japanese paper market. This shows how perverse the pulp and paper global market is: huge pulpwood plantations in South America result in extensive environmental and social impacts in that region, while at the same time they become the indirect cause for the destruction of native forests in Australia. And all this to feed the voracious Japanese paper industry.

Given the relatively small area occupied by forests in Australia such initiative appears to have no reasonable justification. Additionally, it is contradictory with Australia’s position in the recently celebrated COP6 at The Hague, where its delegates expressed their stong support for the inclusion of forests in the so-called Clean Development Mechanism to mitigate global warming. It doesn't seem to make sense to us, but it certainly does for the chipping companies, that will greatly profit from this "green" bill.

Article based on information from: Worldwide Forest/Biodiversity Campaign News, "Australia Promotes Native Old-Growth Woodchipping as Renewable Energy", 8/10/2000; e-mail: grbarry@students.wisc.edu 

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- Aotearoa/New Zealand: Logging company's dirty tricks revealed

The recent publication in the USA of a book, detailing a conspiracy between government, industry, and various public relations firms to discredit environmentalists in New Zealand, has produced surprise among environmental and official circles in that country.

"Secrets and Lies: The anatomy of an anti-environmental PR campaign" is the result of a research by journalists Nicky Hager and Bob Burton, based on leaked internal documents from the state-owned Timberlands logging company and its consultant in public relations, the New Zealand subsidiary of the giant British-based firm Shandwick. The book reveals that the main priority of the Timberlands public relations campaign was to neutralise the discourse of the environmental groups that threatened its logging plans. Timberlands has been deliberately trying to discredit environmentalist groups involved in the campaign by saying that they were small, extreme and spreading misinformation --even though it knew very well that major environmental groups, including some with a conservationist view, were opposing its activities-- and by making legal threats to discourage people from joining the protests.

Shandwick New Zealand, was paid by Timberlands to monitor all opposing actions and media statements and devise ways to counter them. Contractors were paid as well to remove graffiti and posters from walls and lamp posts in the city of Wellington, which constitutes a violation to freedom of speech. There are also proofs that Timberlands tried to manipulate local communities in the West Coast region, making them promises of improvement in infrastructure and services, to get their support for its native forest logging plans, and at the same time reviling "extremist" environmental groups. For example it aimed to provide assistance to the West Coast Principals Association in return for gaining the opportunity to get the support of local schools for Timberlands and its operations.

Not only civil society was targeted by the manoeuvres of Timberlands. The company has also been trying to reverse the direction of the Labour Party policy, fearing that a change of government in November 1999 would have led to its native forest logging being stopped. In fact the newly elected government --a coalition formed by the Labour Party, the Alliance and the Greens-- forced Timberlands to withdraw its plans to log extensive areas of beech rainforests on the west coast of the country's south island (see WRM Bulletin 30). The strategy of Timberlands to this regard also included providing supply to its allies --among them some academics, the New Zealand Furniture Association and other timber organisations-- for them to write letters to the Labour leaders attacking conservationists and the party's anti-native forest logging policies.

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* GENERAL

- Concerns over the revision of the World Bank’s Indigenous Peoples policy

The World Bank’s 1991 Indigenous Peoples Policy (Operational Directive 4.20) forms one of ten so-called "safeguard policies" that aim to ensure that Bank-funded operations do not cause adverse environmental and social impacts in borrower countries. OD4.20 seeks to ensure that Bank staff, borrower governments and implementing agencies take positive action to safeguard indigenous rights by: securing land tenure and resource access; mitigating negative development impacts; guaranteeing participation; and assuring receipt of benefits.

Since the mid-1990s, OD.420 and other safeguard policies including the Forest Policy, have been undergoing a process of revision as part of a Bank-wide "conversion" The Bank argues that simplifying and streamlining its policies is necessary because clearer guidance will improve the quality of compliance with safeguard provisions.

Consequently, the Bank circulated an "Approach Paper" on the revision of OD4.20 to Indigenous Peoples Organisations and NGOs in 1998. The paper proposed that revision should concentrate on clarifying definitions and procedures. In response, indigenous peoples and indigenous rights advocates made clear to the Bank that any revised policy must be stronger than the existing directive, particularly as regards land rights and the right to self-determination. Civil society organisations have also been urging the Bank to carry out a thorough implementation review so that any policy revision takes into account indigenous views and addresses the real difficulties the Bank has had in implementing the policy on the ground. However, the Bank resisted pressure to carry out a proper review. Meanwhile, the revision process has been bogged down within the Bank for two years.

To demonstrate the need for a full implementation review, in May 2000 the Forest Peoples Programme and Bank Information Center (a major US-based NGO that tracks the Bank) organised a workshop in Washington DC on "Indigenous Peoples, Forests and the World Bank." The workshop discussed eight case studies from Latin America, Africa and Asia prepared by indigenous peoples about their own experiences of different Bank-assisted operations affecting their communities and territories. The primary goals of the workshop were to examine the quality of the implementation of OD4.20 during the 1990s and contribute to the current revision of the World Bank’s policies on Indigenous Peoples and on Forests. (*)

The workshop found that compliance with OD4.20 is often weak and sometimes highly unsatisfactory, especially with regard to the critical needs for indigenous people’s participation and secure land rights. For example, there was not one case where indigenous peoples felt they had participated in a meaningful way during the project preparation phase. The workshop demonstrated how indigenous peoples still often find themselves worse off after Bank projects due to repeated patterns of poor compliance that include:

- No harmonisation of borrower policies with international standards and Bank policies

- Baseline studies superficial or absent in project preparation

- Required legal reforms omitted

- Procedural oversights in appraisal

- Required capacity-building elements missing

- Indigenous peoples’ land and resource rights not secured

- Required ‘Indigenous Peoples Development Plan’ omitted

- Inadequate benefit-sharing

- Ineffective supervision

- Disinclination to enforce loan agreements

Additional case studies undertaken by NGOs and presented at the workshop revealed that where OD4.20 was implemented effectively in Bank operations, this has been the result of long project preparation times, intensive staff inputs, willingness to pay unusually high ‘transaction costs’, stronger borrower government commitments to reform and genuinely participatory decision-making both in project preparation and implementation.

The case studies also exposed the structural and financial obstacles to effective implementation. It was noted that Bank staff lacks the time, resources and incentives to adhere properly to safeguard policies like OD4.20. A central conclusion of the workshop was that clarifying policies alone will not improve implementation. It is essential that the World Bank also undertakes major reforms to the incentive structure and budget framework for its safeguard work. More effective compliance will also require:

- A revised Indigenous Peoples policy which adheres to international law, follows the principle of prior and informed consent, recognises and secures indigenous peoples’ customary rights to lands and resources, and provides mechanisms for the resolution of conflicts.

- Stronger enforcement mechanisms to back up conditions in loan agreements

- Greater accountability of both the World Bank and borrower governments to indigenous peoples, with agreements that are enforceable in the national courts

- Independent monitoring and supervision, with agreed performance-based indicators

- Clearer guidance to staff on the interpretation and application of the policy

- Stronger mechanisms for participation and access to information in appropriate languages

- Application of the policy to structural adjustment lending.

All indications are that the First Draft of the revised Indigenous Peoples Policy (now to be called OP4.10) will be released publicly early in 2001 when the Bank will launch a series of regional consultation meetings to discuss the Draft with indigenous peoples and civil society organisations. Based on the "conversion" of other safeguard policies like the Involuntary Resettlement Policy, indigenous groups and their supporters are worried that the revised Indigenous Peoples policy might actually be weaker than OD4.20. The fear is that the policy may be hot on some issues like participation and benefit sharing, but sidestep tough issues linked to land rights and self-determination. The concern is that the Bank will adopt a more ambiguous "Panel proof" policy which will not provide indigenous peoples with firm grounds for redress through the Inspection Panel. We need to be vigilant to prevent this happening.

By: Tom Griffiths, Forest Peoples Programme, e-mail: tom@fppwrm.gn.apc.org 

(*) The full FPP-BIC workshop report is available from www.wrm.org.uy , www.bicusa.org or www.gn.apc.org/forestpeoples . Hard copies of the summary workshop report, copies of individual indigenous case studies and more detailed briefings on the revision of the Bank’s Indigenous Peoples and Forests policies can be obtained from the Forest Peoples Programme at info@fppwrm.gn.apc.org  

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- Films on forests and plantations receive award

Three films related to forest conservation and the problems caused by pulpwood plantations received an award at the 17th International Environmental Film Festival that took place from 18 to 22 October 2000 at the Friedrichsbau-Lichtspiele in Freiburg, Germany.

Ökomedia Award "Golden Lynx" for the Best Journalistic Achievement was given to the film "The dirty business with white paper", by the German Inge Altemeier and Reinhard Hornung, which deals with cellulose production in Indonesia. The diseases suffered by the indigenous population, the misappropriation of land and the destruction of the rainforests are documented. The film also traces responsibility back as far as the headquarters of major German companies and the very heart of government.

"Ancient yet modern: cork, a natural product" won the Ökomedia Award "Golden Lynx" for the Best Nature Film. Its author, the Swiss Vadim Jendreyko, presents the example of the cork oak to show the use of a renewable raw material in our everyday life. The film emphasises the need to maintain the valuable cork-oak woods in southern Europe.

The conflict prompted by the arrival of a Malaysian logging company to a village community on the Solomon Island is portrayed in "Since the company", by the Australian Russell Hawkins, who won the Promotional Prize of the City of Freiburg. The author brings key conflicts out into the light --conflicts between those who want to go on leading a traditional lifestyle and those prone to sell their precious forests for money.

Article based on information from: Ökomedia Institut 2000, 25/10/2000; e-mail: oekomedia@t-online.com.de  (Those interested in obtaining copies of these films can contact: Ökomedia Institut, Nussmannstrasse 14, D-79098 Freiburg, tel ++49-761-52024, fax ++49-761-555724)