Trade liberalization is being promoted by governments and multilateral agencies as the panacea for the world’s economy. The idea has also reached the forest sector and it is clear that what it really would mean is further forest degradation and destruction. A group of concerned environmental NGOs have issued the following statement:
“NGO Statement of Oppositon to the Proposed Liberalization of the Forest Products Sector
May 1999
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Member organizations of the Industrial Shrimp Action Network (ISA Net) participated at the Global Biodiversity Forum (GBF) 13 and the Ramsar COP7 held in San Jose, Costa Rica from May 7 to May 18, 1999 and at the World Meeting of the NGOs, Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples that also gathered in San Jose on May 7-9.
Andrew Gray, a life-long campaigner in support of the rights of Indigenous Peoples was lost in an air accident in the sea off Vanuatu on May 8th. Andrew was in the middle of a networking trip in the South Pacific linking up with Indigenous Peoples and their organisations in the region as part of IWGIA's expanding programme in support of the rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The WRM will soon publish in hard copy this Plantations Campaign Briefing Paper in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French. In the meantime, it is available in electronic format in our web page (in English), under Plantations Campaign/Plantation Campaign Materials/Briefing Papers. Anyone wishing to receive it through email please let us know and we will send it immediately.
Fletcher Challenge Forests, International Paper, Monsanto Company and Westvaco Corporation announced on April 6th their intent to form a forestry biotechnology joint venture to produce and market tree seedlings that will allegedly improve trees' health and productivity for the forestry market worldwide. The four companies will spend U$S 60 million for the joint venture over five years. The companies also announced their intent to contract with Genesis Research and Development Corporation Limited -a New Zealand biotechnology research company- to provide genomics research.
The International Forum on Globalization's newsletter (IFG NEWS) called the American Forest and Paper Association (AF&PA), the main lobby arm of the U.S. timber industry, to clarify a few things about the World Trade Organization (WTO) wood prodcuts agreement now being negotiatied for finalization in Seattle, December, 1999.
Forests Monitor is an NGO which aims to provide detailed, accurate information on the corporate structures and environmental and social records of forestry sector companies. This information is intended to be used as a tool by civil society at local, national and international levels to help promote sustainable and equitable use of forest resources.
On May 6th we sent a fax to Mr. Martín Villa, president of Endesa Spain, expressing our support to the campaign of RIAP (International Network of Support to the Pehuenche People and the Biobio) in their long conflict still pending against the hydroelectric project of Ralco in Chile.
The International Secretariat of the WRM supported the campaign for the conservation of Papua New Guinea's rainforests by sending faxes dated May 19th to Mr Bill Skate, Prime Minister of that country, and to Senator Robert Hill Australian Minister for Environment and Heritage.
Ten years ago, the World Rainforest Movement met in Malaysia and issued the Penang Declaration. Much of what it stated was at the time original thinking and challenged the "received wisdom" of most national and international experts. It is therefore important to take stock of the changes that have occurred since then in order to identify the changes that still need to be implemented to save the world's endangered forests and to ensure the livelihood of the people that depend on them.
The Pan European Forest Certification Scheme (PEFC) was presented on April 20 at a seminar in Wuerzburg Germany. The scheme, set up by forest owners and part of forestry industries, is meant to present an alternative to the FSC (Forest Stewardship Council Scheme) scheme. Forest owners claim the FSC scheme is not suitable to deal with small-scale forestry, and is too much led by NGOs.
On April 7th we endorsed a letter signed by a number of international civil society organizations and addressed to the World Trade Organization's Third Ministerial Conference to be held next November in Seattle, USA, which expresses opposition to the expansion of the powers of the WTO through a new comprehensive round of trade liberalisation, and asks governments to review and rectify the deficiencies and injustices of the present trade system and the WTO regime itself.
By Larry Lohmann
Forest degradation is associated with the activities of loggers, timber consumers, paper companies, and multilateral agencies. Often overlooked is the role of a much lower-profile set of actors: forestry and engineering consultancy firms.