STATEMENT
OF UNITY
Mekong Regional Conference
on Tree Plantations
Hor Bunny Hotel, Kratie, Cambodia
November 21-22, 2006
We, people from five countries
from the Mekong region including Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand, Vietnam
and China, and friends from other countries gathered together on November
21-22, 2006, in Kratie, Cambodia, to share experiences and lessons
learned on the issue of industrial tree plantations and their impacts
on local peoples' livelihoods. We also shared ideas and suggestions
to resolve the problems arising from tree plantations.
During our time together, we heard
directly from local community representatives from twelve provinces
in Cambodia and also from other countries in the region about how
their lives, livelihoods and environments are affected by large plantations
in their respective areas.
We learned about the importance
of forests, lands and other natural resources for the livelihoods
and cultures of communities who depend on them for food, medicinal
plants, income and spiritual security. Plantations are not forests.
When forests are replaced by plantations, the livelihoods of numerous
communities who live in and around these forests and protect and nurture
them are lost. Plantations impoverish communities and their environments.
We found that there are many common
elements in how plantations impact the lives of communities across
the region and further afield. In particular:
1. There are
close relationships between the companies that obtain forest and land
concessions for plantations, and governments at various levels.
2. Plantations
severely limit the amount of land available to rural communities for
agricultural production. Many plantation concessions allow companies
to take prime fertile land away from villages and divert it for mono-cultural
production. This has serious negative impacts on local environments,
including loss of biodiversity, soil degradation, increased aridity
and pollution of local water sources.
3. The application
of existing laws tend to favour companies' interests and investments
more than those of local communities; in many cases, concessionaires
do not respect and follow national laws and are not prosecuted nor
penalised.
4. In many cases,
there is evidence that concessionaires are breaching their contracts
and are encroaching on and appropriating village lands, common/public
lands and forests used by communities. Not only does this restrict
the abilities of villages to meet their livelihood needs in the present
day but also it affects the growth of village communities since there
is no land left for future generations.
5. Contrary
to government claims that plantations contribute to national economic
development and poverty alleviation, plantations have increased poverty
by displacing entire communities, destroying crucial livelihood resources
and preventing the access of communities to natural resources.
6. Promises
made by both companies and governments that local people will be employed
in plantations, get roads, schools, health centres and electricity,
and have better livelihoods, were all broken. At first, people believed
in what companies and governments told them but were let down by them.
7. In many cases,
plantations have come into communities with a certain level of violence;
in some cases the violence has been open and obvious as in killings
and imprisonments; in other cases, communities are subjected to intimidation
and threats in order to frighten people so that they do not take action.
The very act of taking land away from villagers is an act of violence.
When communities stand up for their rights, they are often repressed
by the police, local authorities and even at times, the military.
8. In all cases
the only way to create change has been through peoples' struggles.
Struggle does not mean violence; it means the different ways that
local people adopt to secure and defend their rights.
9. Using the
law is very important, but laws alone do not guarantee that peoples'
rights are protected.
10. The most
effective strategies for peoples' struggles come from the affected
communities themselves,
not from NGOs and other outside groups.
11. By working
together with other communities and finding common positions, people
can strengthen their cause.
12. The role
of NGOs is to support peoples' struggles, not take their place; leadership
has to come from the community.
The social, political and economic
conditions in each of our countries are different and we must all
find a variety of ways to address the problems caused by tree plantations.
At the same time, based on our sharing and learning over the past
two days, we identified the following important principles.
1. The people
who know most about forests, lands and the negative impacts of plantations
are village residents in and around plantation areas; we must listen
to them; all policy makers must listen to them.
2. Peoples'
security—physical, economic, cultural and political-- must be
protected.
3. Learning
processes among communities about laws and regulations that can protect
their rights, land and natural resources must be supported.
4. The abilities
of communities to organise, share information and build networks with
other communities facing similar problems must be supported.
5. The terms
of plantation concessions and contract farming agreements must be
made public and in particular, must be given to affected communities
in their local languages.
6. Community
and government decision makers must be made aware of the serious negative
impacts of plantations and contract farming.
7. Affected
communities have the right to determine their strategies to solve
problems arising from plantations.
8. Village residents
have the right to participate in the formulation of policies that
affect their resources and lives.
9. International
Financial Institutions (IFIs), bilateral donors and multilateral agencies
(including UN agencies) should stop promoting large scale or industrial
plantations.
10. Governments
must recognise and accept that adequate compensation is due to local
communities affected by plantations.
11. Natural
resources on which communities are dependent should be protected by
law and not destroyed by development projects.
12. Tree plantations
that have been shown to seriously affect social, economic, cultural
aspects, as well as livelihoods of local communities should be cancelled.
On the basis of the lessons that
we have learned from the many different communities represented here
and the principles we have developed together, we are stronger in
our resolve and can move forward in our struggles. We recognise the
importance and value of regional exchanges such as this and we support
the creation of further exchanges between people's organisations in
the region to continue our learning and develop our strategies. The
media can play an important role in exploding the myths about plantations
and presenting accurate information to the public, based on the real
experiences of local people. We will share our findings and principles
with all our movements, networks and governments.
**The Mekong Regional Conference on Tree Plantations was jointly organised
by:
NGO Forum on Cambodia;
Oxfam Great Britain (Cambodia);
Towards Ecological Recovery and Regional Alliance (TERRA);
and World Rainforest Movement (WRM).
