Soap, lipsticks, chocolate or perfumes are difficult to perceive as products associated to deforestation and human rights abuses in the tropics. However, this can easily be the case when one of their components is palm oil, though few people outside the plantation areas are aware about this.
The first aim of this book is thus to highlight the impacts associated with large-scale oil palm plantations by providing a general overview of the problem and a broad range of country-level situations, ranging from articles to detailed case studies in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Other information
This book includes a selection of articles published in the World Rainforest Movement's (WRM) Bulletin on the issue of Forest Stewardship Council certification of tree plantations.
A draft “Revised Forest Strategy for the World Bank Group” was recently placed on the World Bank’s web page ( www.worldbank.org/forestry ). The draft strategy is scheduled to be discussed by a Sub-Committee of the World Bank’s Board in late September and to be adopted by the full Board by the end of 2001. Strategies intend to provide guidance for World Bank staff but their recommendations are not binding. Operational Policies (OP) on the other hand are binding documents and provide the most important yardstick against which civil society groups can hold World Bank staff accountable.
The World Bank has just forwarded its revised draft resettlement policy to the full Board of Executive Directors for discussion and approval. Starting August 20th, Executive Directors will be returning to their offices from a two week recess, and it is crucial to capture their attention immediately about the resettlement policy. We believe that it will be placed on their agenda shortly after the recess.
The indigenous Shawi people repeat their call for protests in defense of their territory in the tropical rainforest. This time the threat is in the form of the world's leading gold mining company: Barrick Gold Corporation.
The World Rainforest Movement widely distributed before the meeting of the Conference of the Parties an appeal which was endorsed by more than 180 people and organizations during the first week after being issued, which among other things states that:
The Third International Forum of Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities on Climate Change held on July 14-15 in Bonn produced a declaration (available in full at http://www.wrm.org.uy/actors/CCC/IPBonn.html). The following is a selection of quotes from the declaration:
This statement, endorsed by a large number of mainly international organizations, was released during the UN climate summit in Bonn (July 16-27) and warned "against a further weakening and distortion of the Kyoto Protocol, as governments try to accommodate the irresponsible position of the US (and a growing number of other countries)."
Global debates about the role of forests and plantations in climate negotiations have paid little attention to the views of the 300 million or so forest people who inhabit them. Historically marginalised and denied recognition of their rights, forest peoples are demanding that their voices be heard and that they be respected as the rightful owners of their forests.
The following description of work in plantations was written in 1987. Unfortunately, the situation has in general terms not improved much and it is therefore applicable to most of today's plantations.
In 1996, the World Rainforest Movement and the International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers' Association (IUF-UITA,IUL) made a joint statement to the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF) focused on the social aspects of plantation development, where "plantation workers are among the poorest and most exploited of all agricultural labourers."
Despite the numerous social and environmental impacts of monoculture oil palm plantations, the industry is continuously trying to increase productivity and lower costs, which can only lead to even more serious impacts on people and nature. It is the system's perverse logic. Within that logic, the obvious step forward is genetic manipulation of oil palms. Not only to increase productivity, but to alter the end-product: palm oil. And they are already working in that direction.