In Malaysia, women plantation workers appear to have been neglected in the Government’s plans to eradicate poverty and enhance the status of women. The progress achieved so far in empowering women has been unequal. Women plantation workers still lag behind, since they are unable to free themselves from the vicious cycle of poverty they find themselves in.
Bulletin articles
The world is becoming aware of the situation of the Indigenous Peoples living in isolation in the Amazon. It seems incredible, but some animals are better protected than the human groups seeking to preserve their isolation. There is no doubt that this is a basic human right that the peoples in isolation have the faculty to exercise and defend and we to respect.
According to Recommendation no. 01 of 18 November 2005, the Federal Public Ministry, through the Attorney of the Republic in Ilheus-Bahia, is demanding the removal of eucalyptus plantations in a radius of 10 (ten) kilometres in the buffer zones of the Conservation Units of the Do Descubrimento, Monte Pascoal and Pau Brasil National Parks, as determined by Brazilian legislation.
Following the adoption of the Forestry Bill in Congress, it was sent for presidential sanction on 13 December 2005. President Alvaro Uribe objected to 12 of the articles of the Law and it was expected that the text would be returned with the objections for discussion by Congress as set out in the procedure.
A new FSC certificate of a major logging operation has again raised eyebrows among foresters, environmentalists and human rights activists. In Guyana, the Swiss certification company SGS Qualifor has just granted an FSC certificate to the Malaysian-Korean logging giant, Barama Company Limited (BCL), which operates a 1.69 million hectare concession in North West Guyana.
Biodiversity loss is rapid and ongoing. Over the last 50 years, humans have changed ecosystems faster and more extensively than in any comparable period of time in human history. Tropical forests, many wetlands and other natural habitats are shrinking in size. Species are going extinct at rates 1,000 times the background rates typical of Earth’s past. The direct causes of biodiversity loss --habitat change, overexploitation, the introduction of invasive alien species, nutrient loading and climate change-- show no sign of abating. ...
The situation is much the same in many southern countries: people and supporting organizations are trying to protect the forests against government-corporate alliances. Well known causes of biodiversity loss such as industrial logging, fossil fuel exploration and exploitation, mining, hydroelectric dams, industrial monocrops, road opening and shrimp farming continue being promoted for the almost exclusive benefit of large corporations.
Contrary to the corporate “mining” approach to forests which invariably implies their destruction, stand out the diverse uses transmitted from generation to generation of indigenous and local communities which have developed a wide and deep knowledge (beyond science) of the forest that have allowed them to benefit from it in a sustainable manner.
Industrial logging is one of the main direct causes of forest biodiversity loss. Many organizations and governments have focused on illegal logging and less so on destructive legal logging (see WRM Bulletin Nº 98). In this respect, a recent report (“Legal Forest Destruction. The Wide Gap Between Legality and Sustainability”) provides a broader perspective by looking at the Dutch timber trade, its focus on legality and the impact of legal logging on forests.
The Cayapas-Mataje Ecological Mangrove Reserve in the Province of Esmeraldas covers an area of 51,300 hectares and within it is the Majagual mangrove covering 28,367 hectares. The mangrove is the habitat of crustacean species including oysters, blue crabs and shrimps and of tree species such as the red, black, white and jeli mangroves.
At a cost of 1,600 million dollars, the Camisea mega project for natural gas extraction from an area located on the banks of the Camisea River -one of the world’s richest areas in biodiversity- has the Inter-American Development Bank as its main public financer. However, it has not brought any benefit to the local communities. As denounced in WRM Bulletin No. 95, the Camisea project will be carried out at the expense of forest destruction, river contamination and noise pollution, soil erosion and the consequent degradation of flora and fauna in the project’s area of influence.
Earlier this year, a rare thing happened: West Papua hit the headlines. The news was the discovery of a new species of honeyeater bird, a "lost" bird of paradise, a nearly extinct tree kangaroo, 20 new species of frogs, four new butterflies and five new species of palms. The species were found during an expedition to the Foja Mountains organised by Conservation International and the Indonesian Institute of Sciences. "It's as close to the Garden of Eden as you're going to find on Earth," said Bruce Beehler, co-leader of the group.