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LOCAL STRUGGLES AND NEWS
Brazil: NGOs request wide debate on the expansion of tree plantations In a letter sent to President Lula on 20 March, numerous institutions warn on possible socio-environmental risks involved in increasing the area of tree plantations recently demanded by the sector, unless appropriate planning is established. The Working Group on Forests of the Brazilian Forum of NGOs and Social Movements for the Environment and Development sent a letter to President Lula on 20 March, stating their concern over the proposal to extend the area of tree plantations in the country, recently submitted to the government by companies in this sector. The document was sent with copy to the Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva and to the Minister of Agriculture, Roberto Rodrigues. Mainly composed of alien species such as pine and eucalyptus, tree plantations supply, inter alia, the paper and cellulose and building markets. The companies propose increasing the area covered by tree plantations from the present 5 million hectares, to 11 million hectares. Additionally, the sector, presently subordinated to the Ministry of the Environment, is claiming links with the Ministry of Agriculture, through the establishment of a Secretariat for Planted Forests. In the letter sent to Lula (which is reproduced integrally here below), the NGOs request that the proposal for increasing the sector should be analysed and planned with extreme caution, and that the preparation of a policy for the sector should take into consideration the precepts of effectively sustainable development, later going on to quote the socio-environmental and economic consequences of this activity, particularly for the Mata Atlântica and the Cerrado ecosystems. For the coordinator of the Working Group on Forests, Adriana Ramos of the Socio-Environmental Institute (ISA), it is necessary to discuss the bases for the expansion of the sector with discernment to prevent undesirable impacts occurring, such as land concentration and hydrological alterations. The Group hopes that the government will establish an agenda for discussions on the issue with the broad participation of civil society. In a report published on 25
February in the newspaper "Valor Econômico" and
reproduced in the Brazilian Association of Renewable Forests (Abracave)
site, reference is made to the fact that although the companies
know that the sector's proposals are supported by the Vice-President,
José de Alencar and the Minister of Agriculture, they are
aware that they must demolish the opposition of the Minister of
the Environment, who at the beginning of the month had already defended
the proposal that sectors such as paper and cellulose and the iron
and steel industry will have to modify their form of producing timber
from plantations, switching from the plantation of large areas to
dispersed plantations, with family agriculture characteristics,
guaranteeing sources of employment for small rural farmers. Letter from the Working Group on Forests of the Brazilian Forum of NGOs and Social Movements for the Environment and Development, addressed to President Lula: His Excellency, Mr. Luiz Inácio
Lula da Silva, President of the Federative Republic of Brazil Your Excellency, The Working Group on Forests of the Brazilian Forum of NGOs and Social Movements for the Environment and Development, gathering the country's main non-governmental institutions interested in the subject, met in Brasilia on 12 and 13 March. On this occasion, it agreed to transmit to Your Excellency its disagreement with the "Proposal for an Agenda for the Brazilian Sector of Planted Forests" submitted by the companies of this sector to Your Excellency. The agenda presents requests that do not take into consideration the need to prepare a specific policy for the sector, linked to environmental, agrarian, credit, generation of employment and income and struggle against hunger policies. The activities of the "planted forests" sector, fundamentally based on the plantation of alien species such as pine and eucalyptus, have serious consequences on social, economic and environmental dynamics, particularly in the region of the Mata Atlântica and the Cerrado, where most of these monocultures are concentrated in Brazil. Considering that these biomes conserve a scant 7% and 30% respectively of their original cover, the mass expansion of those plantations, from five to eleven million hectares, must be analysed and planned with extreme caution, in the framework of a government policy that is in harmony with the precepts of effectively sustainable development. There is much to be included in the equation of economic benefits and social-environmental liabilities of this activity, as shown, for example, by the many labour-related proceedings involving companies from this sector. At a time when the Brazilian government, through its National Forestry Programme of the Ministry of the Environment, is carrying out negotiations with the World Bank on a loan for the forestry sector, it is critical to establish a process of discussion of a policy regarding tree plantations. It would be a great risk for the country to follow up on the demands for "planted forests" without previously defining a government policy for the sector, ensuring that the activity will be carried out in an environmentally sustainable and socially just way, effectively benefiting the local population and guaranteeing the precautionary principle. We emphasize that any policy for the expansion of "planted forests" must avoid increasing the concentration of land, the elimination of native vegetation, hydrological alterations and occupation of food-producing lands. In addition, planning of the activity must be based on technical and scientific information, proven and widely discussed with society. We are sure that the government of Your Excellency is willing to promote the necessary debate to channel this issue in the best way possible and remain at your disposal to participate in the relevant discussion process. Yours sincerely, Grupo de Trabalho Florestas do Fórum Brasileiro de ONGs e Movimentos Sociais para o MeioAmbiente e o Desenvolvimento, Amigos da Terra Amazônia Brasileira, Associação de Preservação do Meio Ambiente do Vale do Itajaí (Apremavi), Central Única dos Trabalhadores (CUT/RJ), Centro de Estudos e Pesquisas para o Desenvolvimento do Extremo Sul da Bahia (Cepedes), Centro de Trabalhadores da Amazônia CTA / AC, Federação de Órgãos para a Assistência Social e Educacional (FASE), Fundação SOS Mata Atlântica, Fundo Mundial para a Natureza (WWF), Grupo Ambientalista da Bahia (GAMBÁ), Grupo de Trabalho Amazônico (GTA), Instituto de Estudos Sócio-Econômicos (INESC), Instituto de Manejo e Certificação Florestal e Agrícola (Imaflora), Instituto do Homem e do Meio Ambiente da Amazônia (Imazon), Instituto Socioambiental(ISA), Rede de ONGs da Mata Atlântica, Rede Deserto Verde, Os Verdes, Vitae Civilis-Instituto para o Desenvolvimento, Meio Ambiente e Paz. Cc: Minister of the Environment, Marina Silva, Minister of Agriculture, Roberto Rodrigues Article and letter published
by the Socio-Environmental Institute, 20/03/2003 http://www.socioambiental.org/website/noticias/noticia.asp?File=Brasil\2003-03-20-18-01.html
Chile: Mapuche defend their land from forestry companies The Mapuche held off European incursions onto their land for centuries. Now, relegated to reservations --called "reductions"-- most Mapuche work as impoverished farmers or field hands or live as a marginalized minority in Chilean cities. However, they are fighting back. "Our objective is the recuperation of the territory of the Mapuche people," Ancalaf, 40, said in a jailhouse interview with journalist Héctor Tobar of the Los Angeles Times. "We want to control our destiny and shape our future according to the cosmology of our people." Held without trial since November under anti-terrorism laws passed during the dictatorship of Gen. Augusto Pinochet, which deprive detainees of the right to a speedy trial and allow prosecutors to withhold evidence from defense attorneys, Ancalaf and a dozen other militant leaders have become heroes to many Mapuche, even those who disagree with their tactics. In the Chilean media, the modern "Mapuche conflict" is most often portrayed as a struggle between the order and reason of the country's European heritage and an indigenous culture dominated by "superstition" and violence. Smoldering for decades, the conflict over land began to catch fire again in the late 1990s. Many view the globalisation of the Chilean economy and the government's free-trade policies as the cause. The grain and dairy farms that were once the cornerstone of the regional economy have been hard hit by cheaper US exports and many farmers are forced to leave land fallow or sell out to the forestry companies. Mapuche lands are increasingly covered or surrounded by eucalyptus and pine planted in old wheat fields or where native forests stood. Most of the trees planted in the region are Monterey pine --a species native to California-- and eucalyptus from Australia, and are harvested by machine, processed into lumber and paper pulp and sent to North American and Asian markets. The concentration of large-scale fast-growing plantations causes ground water to disappear and wildlife is affected by the lack of undergrowth crucial to its survival. A number of species of native trees, integral to Mapuche production and cultural activities, are being driven toward extinction. According to one Chilean government study, all native trees outside national parks could disappear by 2015. In November, Mapuche activist Edmundo Lemun, 17, was shot and killed by police during a protest at tree farms in Ercilla (see WRM Bulletin 64). On January 20, more than a dozen hooded Mapuche with homemade shotguns and Molotov cocktails invaded forestry company Mininco workers' camp outside the town, setting fire to the living quarters. As elsewhere, water shortages contribute to the conflict. "Twenty years ago, I don't think anyone in our community imagined that one day we would have to bring in water trucks to provide for the basic needs of our families," said Alfonso Rayman, a leader of the Nagche Mapuche, a subgroup that includes several communities around Lumaco. A few days earlier, in a small act of defiance, a group of boys had set a fire in a hillside meadow near the town, Rayman said with a slight smile. The blaze ran up the hillside and killed hundreds of saplings. Today, several leaders from the Lumaco area are behind bars, charged with destroying forest company property. However, no institutional authority condemns the clear-cutting of Mapuche property --their land, their forests-- carried out by forestry companies in order to make way for their large-scale monoculture tree plantations. As Chilean activist, defender of forests Malú Sierra denounces (see WRM Bulletin 66) "Chile is a mountainous country and therefore clear-cutting, which always has a negative impact on soils, is twice as serious here". On the contrary, some of those companies are entitled to go on with their profitable business under the label of "certified" plantations by FSC standards. And even worse, in the case of the Millalemu company, it is being nominated to the National Environment Award granted annually by the Chilean National Environment Commission! Things are clearly upside down. The traditional owners of the land are evicted and imprisoned for taking action to get it back. The companies responsible for the social and environmental destruction of the region are certified and nominated for environmental awards. A real farce. However, in spite of all their power, forestry companies are increasingly isolated in a growing sea of Mapuche protest. Which will certainly continue to grow. Article based on information
from: "Where Forests Are Foes", Héctor Tobar, Los
Angeles Times, March 12, 2003, sent by MAPUEXPRESS - INFORMATIVO
MAPUCHE, e-mail: mapuche@mapuexpress.net,
http://www.mapuexpress.net
; "Postulan al Premio Nacional de Medio Ambiente a forestal
certificada por FSC", Comunicaciones ICEFI press release, e-mail:
prensa@icefi.cl
Ecuador: The Sarayacu people request support against ChevronTexaco's operations Imagine an oil spill twice the size of the Exxon Valdez disaster. It happened indeed in the Amazon region of Ecuador between 1971 and 1991, when Texaco routinely dumped toxic wastes from its operations into the pristine rivers, forest streams and wetlands. As a result, 2.5 million acres of rainforest were lost (see www.amazonwatch.org/megaprojects/ec_chevtox/). Indigenous peoples of the region
continue to suffer an exploding health crisis, recording cancer
rates 30 times higher than in non-oil producing areas of Ecuador.
Between 1999 and 2001, the level of petroleum in the rivers, on
which local residents depend for daily use, was 200 to 300 times
higher than the limits set for human consumption (See Texaco merged to become the colossal ChevronTexaco, and today it keeps pushing its oil operations deeper into the Ecuadorian rainforest. Keenly aware of the company's history of devastation, the Kichwa Sarayacu community is drawing a line at its borders. Numbering about 2,000, the Sarayacu live in Ecuador's south-western Amazon, downstream from ChevronTexaco's devastating path. "We still maintain our rivers, our forest, our biodiversity and our natural resources free from contamination and take care of this land," reads a Sarayacu community declaration. "Sarayacu has title to our lands, and the company cannot ignore this." The company is, however, ignoring it in order to carry out explorations in Block 23, which covers the entire Sarayacu territory. In partnership with the Argentine oil company CGC, Chevron Texaco started conducting seismic tests in Sarayacu last Fall, detonating explosive charges day and night. Sarayacu elders, men, women and children formed a human chain along their borders to keep the oil workers out. "We only have defended our territory against the aggression of the oil companies CGC/ChevronTexaco according to our customary rights, the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador and International Conventions. The petroleum company attempts to slander us as terrorists to sway the attention away from the abuses they commit against our rights", declares Hilda Santi, vice president of Sarayacu. In November an indigenous delegation of 600 filed a complaint with the federal Ombudsman or Protector of Constitutional Rights (Defensoría del Pueblo). They won a temporary injunction that prohibits the company from entering Sarayacu territory until Ecuador's newly elected president resolves the conflict. This legal protection was immediately violated by CGC/Chevron-Texaco; the company continues seismic activities and is contracting private armed security guards to enter Sarayacu territory, and intimidate the people, who have formed "camps of peace and life" where Sarayacu people and non-violent "witnesses" will stand against further company encroachment. The supposed support by other communities within Block 23 toward the petroleum activity does not impress Sarayacu. "They achieved to bribe the leaders of some communities. Right now there are people that speak in the name of communities and in the name of the company. We lament the situation, but we don't meddle in the internal affairs of other communities. Now they have finished the seismic exploration phase in their territories, and we have not lifted one finger to put obstacles. What we defend is what belongs to us." In an message from the Yachaks (medicine people) of Sarayacu, Sabino Atanacio Gualinga Cuji, Yachak Representative, says: "In the course of our existence, we are responsible to use what nature has offered us in a rational manner so we may be able to exist harmoniously. Everything that exists in the world has a reason for existing; natural resources are no exception, petroleum is no exception. Nature has its own life, the rivers, lakes, mountains, trees and all that exists in nature. In the time of Shell Company's oil explorations [1940's], part of our nature already perished. With much pain we observed the extinction of many species. In the lakes we would find dead the immense anacondas, dolphins, freshwater seals, crocodiles. Little by little the beings of the rivers and mountains sought refuge. Recently these beings are recuperating because the wise Mother Nature recovers herself, but this takes many years and perhaps many of the species that existed before will not be found again. I earnestly ask you to help us take care of humanity, respecting the earth and Mother Nature. If each individual does their part, it will be enough and life will continue." "CGC/ChevronTexaco has
no right to violate, intervene, destroy our life and our future.
It has to leave immediately, so we may re-establish harmony. We
ask for support, solidarity and justice," says the declaration
of the Kichwa Tayja Saruta Sarayacu Community. The Sarayacu people
are requesting support by writing a letter to the president of Ecuador,
with a copy to the CEO of ChevronTexaco, asking him to cancel contracts
for oil exploration and give permanent protection to the Sarayacu
territory. If you wish to send your support, please visit Global
Response's web site: http://www.globalresponse.org/gra_index/gra0103.html
Uruguay: The absurd injustice of promoting tree plantations The forestry plan launched in 1988 by the government --based on the promotion of large-scale tree monocultures-- promised the generation of jobs and the entry of foreign currency from increased exports. To achieve these objectives, the Uruguayan State made considerable investments, including direct subsidies, tax breaks, soft loans and investments in infrastructure. By the year 2000, the State had allocated 69.4 million dollars to the sector under the form of direct subsidies. The total tax breaks (on the planted area and on imported goods) amounted to 55.8 million dollars, while soft loans were estimated at 55 million dollars. Finally, investments in infrastructure totalled 234.1 million dollars. In short, Uruguayan society, as a whole has contributed 414.3 million dollars to forestry development. The question is then: what benefits has Uruguayan society reaped? Regarding employment, the result is a total failure. Of all agricultural and livestock activities, large-scale cattle and sheep farming were always considered in Uruguay to be the worst option as to the number of jobs generated per hectare. This is no longer the case: afforestation has shown itself to be even more negative. According to figures from the year 2000 agricultural and livestock census, the number of permanent workers per thousand hectares of tree plantations is 4.49. Cattle-raising for meat generates 5.84 permanent jobs over the same area of land, while sheep-raising provides 9.18 jobs. And these, together with rice-growing (7.75) are the worst figures. At the other end of the range we find production for self-consumption (262 jobs per thousand hectares), poultry farming (211), vine-growing (165), horticulture (133), pig-raising (128), while in the middle of the range we find dairy cow production (22), machinery services (20) and cereal and industrial crops (10). Faced by these figures, the forestry sector usually argues that it generates many seasonal jobs, both at the time of plantation and harvesting. However, even considering these workers, the comparative figures with cattle and sheep-raising are practically identical, as these also generate seasonal workstations. To this should be added the deplorable labour conditions of these seasonal workers. Summing up, over a total area of 660,000 hectares, tree plantations have generated 2,962 permanent jobs. Nothing could be worse. But even so, if one considers that tree plantations have displaced other agricultural and stock-raising activities, the conclusion is that this activity has signified a net loss of permanent jobs in the agricultural sector. In fact, assuming that the area under afforestation had continued to be occupied by cattle or sheep raising, in the first case, jobs would have amounted to 3,854, while in the second place, they would have amounted to 6.058. It is therefore clear that the remedy has been worse than the disease and that afforestation has contributed to evict workers from the rural environment. Regarding exports, the situation is not much better. In fact, 80% of the exports linked to the tree plantation sector consist of logs (unprocessed roundwood), while the remaining 20% are made up of sawn lumber. That is to say, 80% of what is exported does not generate any industrial workstation, while the other 20% consists of a minimum transformation of raw material that does not generate any considerable number of jobs either. In turn, income from these exports does not imply any considerable amount of foreign currency if compared with the area of land occupied by the sector. In fact, annual values of forestry sector exports amount to between 35 and 45 million dollars, figures that come lowest in the export basket (which averages an annual total of 2,000-2,500 million dollars). If compared with rice --a sector which does not generate many jobs per hectare either-- it will be seen that, with an average area sown of some 150,000 hectares --that is, four times less than that occupied by the forestry sector-- some 200 million dollars are generated from exports, that is to say, five times more than that obtained by the forestry sector. In sum, afforestation promised much but has not fulfilled its promises. Of course there have been beneficiaries, in the first place the major firms, particularly transnational corporations. Gigantic companies such as the US-based Weyerhaeuser (Colonvade) the Anglo-Dutch and Finnish company Shell/Kymmene (La Forestal Oriental) and the Spanish company, ENCE (Eufores) together with a considerable number of Chilean and Canadian companies, as well as other nationalities, have benefited from the conjunction of cheap land, cheap labour, rapid growth of the trees, subsidies, tax breaks, soft loans, investment in infrastructure and research. For them, together with a handful of large national companies, afforestation has been and continues to be good business. Anyone can make money this way. With all the benefits granted to the forestry sector, any agricultural activity would have been good business. In the present situation of severe crisis, this situation is an absurd injustice. Absurd because these enormous companies do not need to be subsidised by an impoverished country such as Uruguay, and unjust because the scant resources of society are granted to subsidising an activity that does not generate jobs nor wealth, while they are denied to other activities, which are much more positive for the country and its people. It is amazing that, under these conditions, the local governments of inland departments, and particularly the most planted departments (Rivera, Tacuarembó, Paysandú, Rio Negro, Lavalleja) have not informed public opinion nor the government that precisely one of the main causes of their deficit resides in afforestation. In fact, this activity does not pay rates on real estate, one of the departmental governments' major sources of income. Thus, the larger the area under tree plantations, the smaller the income received by the departmental governments. It is also amazing that the directives regarding "cuts" in expenditures and jobs, "adjustments" to the fiscal budgets, "decreases," in state-run services coming from the IMF, the World Bank, the Inter American Development Bank, President Jorge Batlle and the Ministers of Finance, have never mentioned --and still less touch-- the huge resources that the State has allocated and continues to allocate to this activity. The silence of parliament --including the country's four political sectors-- in this context of total crisis, makes it the accomplice to this absurd injustice of handing out resources to those who do not need them and denying them to those who are in the most complete despair. How long will this go on? Article based on information
from: "Algunos datos sobre el impacto económico-social
de la forestación", Joaquín Etchevers, October
2002, study commissioned by Guayubira Group
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