Bulletin Issue 1 – May 1997

Last February the Colombian Environment Ministry issued an authorization for oil exploration by Oxy, a branch of the US company Occidental, to start in indigenous territory on the border with Venezuela, considered one of the largest oil fields of the hemisphere. To stop the beginning of the activities of the company, about 4,000 members of the U'wa tribe recently threatened to commit mass suicide if oil exploration takes place on their ancestral lands.

Shell Oil has plans to start drilling for natural gas this July in a rainforest area that Peru's government set aside as a homeland for so-called "uncontacted" indigenous people, inhabited by the Nahua and Kugakopori in the Urubamba River valley, a biodiversity rich area. Even if - to avoid any possible charges of environmental damage- Shell has vowed to refrain from causing any negative environmental impact, some charges of environmental damage, like alteration of the water and problems in hunting and fishing have already begun to come in.

An enormous pulp mill - PT TEL- is being established in South Sumatra by a syndicate of foreign banks and export credits from Europe, North America and Japan. The agreement for nearly US1billion was signed in March. PT TEL involves a number of Barito Pacific subsidiaries, President Suharto's daughter Tutut and Japanese companies. Mature rainforest, local people's plantations and farms are being destroyed to make way for the paper pu lp mill at Tanjung Enim and the industrial timber estates to supply it. Local communities have been forced off their land with little compensation and no alternative means of making a living. Source: Down to Earth Newsletter Nr. 32, February 1997.

David Hathaway (Brazil), has informed us that a volume of the Global Biodiversity Assessment (UNEP), entitled "Cultural and Spiritual Values of Biodiversity" is being prepared. It will include opinions and experiences of indigenous, traditional and local communities. Articles, poems, art works, pieces of music, photos on this issue are welcome to show that biodiversity is a comprehensive concept beyond the narrow economic and institucionally centered dominant point of view. The deadline is June 15th. All who consider that this initiative could be important can contact: Dr. Darrell A. Possey Oxford Centre for Environment, Ethics and Society Mansfield College - University of Oxford Oxford, UK

A large Mapuche and Pehuenche march took place in Santiago on May 14th against the actions of the Chilean government in order to deny indigenous rights guaranteed by the Chilean law. The present protest was preceeded by the occupation of the headquaters of CONADI (Commission of Indigenous Development) last April and the cancellation by President Frei of the II Conference of the Indigenous Peoples Fund to be held in Santiago on May 14-15th. Indigenous from Chile are critical regarding the "development" projects of the government that, being supported and financed by the Inter-American Development Bank and other funding agencies, menace their territories. To express your solidarity to the indigenous peoples from Chile you are invited to send messages to:

"Indigenous Peoples, Forest, and Biodiversity" is a book published by the International Alliance of Indigenous-Tribal Peoples of the Tropical Forests and the International Working Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA), that brings together statements and interventions made by the former organization at various international fora, included CSD, IPF and CBD. Those interested in the publication, please contact IWGIA.

As we will soon become active in the plantations campaign, we would like to suggest a topic for discussion: the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the certification of wood produced in large-scale industrial tree plantations. As a number of WRM affiliates participate actively within the FSC, it would be important to reach a consensus on this particular issue, to try to push in the same direction, both from within and from outside the FSC. All opinions are welcome. However, the above is only a suggestion. If anyone wishes to discuss any other issue, please send us your viewpoints and we will include them in the Bulletin.

The forest crisis: clear commitments and accountability

On April 17th we sent a letter to the Primer Minister and to the Inspector General of Police in Malaysia on the arrest and ill-treatment suffered by four Penan natives, who were claiming against the destructive activities of a logging company (probably Samling). On April 30th messages were sent to the Chief Minister of Sarawak and to the Prime Minister of Malaysia expressing our concern for the arrest of three members of the Dayak Ibans people happened a few days before and requesting that the legitimous rights of indigenous peoples of Sarawak be respected.

Thanks to the letter campaign and the pressure from Brazilian and international organizations and institutions, FUNAI (the State Agency on Indigenous Peoples issues) published in the official gazette -with considerable delay- the identification reports on the extension and demarcation of the indigenous lands of Tupinikim and Guarani on January 13th. Eight days later Aracruz Celulose filed its response, aimed at proving that the company is the legitimate owner of the land presently claimed by the Tupinikim. The company choses to ignore history, since the Tupinikim already occupied a vast territory -that is currently part of the States of Espirito Santo, Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais and Bahia- when the Portuguese arrived at the beginning of the XVI century.

Saskia has prepared a draft plan for the plantations campaign. As tools for the campaign, we already have an excellent summary of "Pulping the South", produced by PER (Noel Rajesh). We have also translated (though not yet published) the whole book into Spanish and will also translate Rajesh's summary. Anyone interested in the summary, please let us know and we will send it.

The Oxford Office was actively involved in the preparation of a European NGO statement for the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests. The International Secretariat, with input from the Oxford Office, released a WRM statement also for the IPF (see English and Spanish versions at the end of the Bulletin).

Ricardo went to Ecuador invited by the Third World Ecological Studies Institute (Instituto de Estudios Ecologistas del Tercer Mundo) to deliver a number of conferences and a one week course of forests and plantations. Quito, Riobamba, Esmeraldas and Cuenca were the cities where the conferences were held, with an average of 100 people attending each. The course took place in the Amazonia. In all cases the audience was very broad, including environmentalists, foresters, development NGOs, students, teachers, representatives from indigenous and peasant organizations, FAO, government officials and even the military.