By way of this document we want to bring to the attention of the Minister of Justice, Iris Resende, the documents no. 08620.1352/97-74 and no. 08620.1353/97-10, which refer to the unification of the indigenous lands Caieiras Velhas and Pau Brasil, and the extension of the indigenous land Comboios. The extension in total of our lands will be more than 13,579 hectares.
Bulletin articles
Invited by the Thai NGOs PER and TERRA, Ricardo Carrere went to Thailand last November. The trip included visits to the Northeastern provinces of Thailand, where Eucalyptus plantations have generated strong social and environmental impacts and an equally strong resistance movement against them. Ricardo was able to learn from the local experiences and to have a first hand view of the impacts of both plantations and the Phoenix Paper pulp mill. In contrast, villagers also showed Ricardo their experiences in community forest management, aimed at securing local people's livelihoods.
"Join Us in a Shrimp Break, Putting the Brake on Industrial Shrimp" is the motto of a campaign launched by ISA-Net (Industrial Shrimp Action Network) to join this newly created international network in support of environmental and community groups in developing countries fighting against the spread of destructive industrial shrimp farming (see WRM Bulletin Nr. 6, 12/11/97).
“Mangrove Ecosystem Studies in Latin America and Africa” is a publication edited by B. Kjerfve, L/D. de Lacerda and El Hadji Salif Diop and published this year by UNESCO, ISME (International Society for Mangroves Ecosystems) and the Forest Service of the USDA. It includes several scientific case studies -most of them in English- in these two regions. Individuals and organizations involved in the issue can request a free copy to:
As a response to our fax dated 31/10/97 requesting information on the arrest of Nnimmo Bassey, the International Secretariat of the WRM received on 15/12/97 the following answer from the Embassy of Nigeria in Buenos Aires, Argentina:
“Arrest and detention of Mr. Nnimmo Bassey
I am directed to acknowledge receipt of your faxed letter dated 31st october 1997 on the above mentioned subject matter and to request you to please check your facts properly as we are not aware of the arrest and detention of Mr. Bassey as stated in your letter under reference.
Alvaro Gonzalez participated in a Seminar on Rural Development organized by the German foundation DSE, from 24/11 to 5/12. The Seminar included a journey to Mindo -a small town to the West of Quito- where the Project Mindo-Mandillo Protective Forest was evaluated. This Project is being implemented by a local NGO -”Amigos de la Naturaleza” (Friends of Nature)- with support from WWF. Their aim is to protect a 19000 hectares of natural forest -90% of which still primary- from logging for coal production and clearing for cattle raising.
The Forest Stewardship Council has suspended the forest certification activities of SGS Forestry, an FSC-accredited pioneer of independent forestry assessments. The suspension may indicate a rift at FSC Board level. The decision was taken despite an earlier finding by the Council´s executive director Dr Tim Synnott that SGS had "identified and addressed" weaknesses in the West African Leroy-Gabon forestry operation.
Nnimmo Bassey, President of Oilwatch Africa, was detained on Sunday 26 October, when returning to Nigeria from the meeting of the International Committee of Oilwatch in Ecuador.
UPM-Kymmene of Finland and Singapore-based Asia Pacific Resources International Holdings Ltd.(APRIL), have agreed to establish a strategic alliance to develop jointly their respective fine paper operations in Europe and Asia. In Europe, UPM-Kymmene will hold 70% and APRIL 30% of a new company called UPM-Kymmene Fine Paper, which will comprise UPM-Kymmene's fine paper units, Nordland Papier in Germany and Kymi in Finland. This new company will be the largest fine paper producer in Europe with a combined annual capacity of 1.7 million tonnes of paper and 460,000 tonnes of related pulp.
Extensive mangrove areas at Pazhayangadi, Kannur District in Kerala, are under threat of logging. Local groups and activists have been taking legal steps like getting a stay order from the court and writing to various Government bodies on such destructive practises.
About 30 transnational corporations are in the process of developing projects for gold exploration and exploitation in Costa Rica. Included in this list of mining companies are the Canadian Placer Dome Inc. and American Barrick Gold, listed among the six largest gold mining corporations in the world.
The Rainforest Action Network is embarked on a new campaign to drive old growth wood products out of the marketplace. The term “old growth” refers to products derived by logging any primary forests worldwide.
The campaign started during World Rainforest Week '97 (October 18-26) with demonstrations and other activities taking place in every state in the United States and in other countries. Its goal is to project the vision that the planet's remaining primary forests -that in fact occupy a very limited area- must no longer be viewed as resource extraction zones.