Issue 156 – July 2010

For many years now the world expansion of the pulp and paper business has been increasingly covering millions of  hectares of land with large scale monoculture tree plantations. Mainly disguised as “forests” these “green deserts” have encroached on vast territories and rich ecosystems mostly in the global South. FAO has greatly contributed to the distorsion when it included tree plantations in its definition of forests under the category of “planted forests”. Other UN bodies –like the Conventions on Biological Diversity (CBD) and Climate Change (UNFCCC) have adopted the FAO’s definition.

Mangrove forests are vital for healthy coastal ecosystems in many regions of the world. They support an immense variety of sea life in intricate food webs associated directly with the mangrove trees themselves. They are refuge for juvenile fish, crabs, shrimp and mollusks. Mangroves are also prime nesting and feeding sites for hundreds of migratory bird species. Additionally manatees and dugongs, crab eating monkeys, fishing cats, sea turtles and Mud Skippers utilize and depend upon mangrove wetlands, as do the spotted deer and the endangered Royal Bengal tigers of the Sundarbans of South Asia.

We received a message from the Amazonas Sustainable Foundation (FAS) expressing that the article ‘Brazil: Juma REDD test case in the Amazon’, published on the WRM bulletin, presents various inaccuracies. However, FAS's “clarifications”, posed as a question and answer game, do not clarify much. On the contrary, they basically serve to strengthen what the WRM article said.

Most Baka, Bagyeli and Bakola, recognised as “people of the forest,” still rely on hunting and gathering to secure their livelihoods, and even though some also cultivate annual crops, the majority still rely on the forests. For them, the forest is their ancestral home, their reliable grocery, the root of their existence, and their customary right (seeWRM Bulletin Nº 87).

Reaching the 32 Quilombola communities in the Sapê do Norte region of the state of Espírito Santo, located in the municipalities of São Mateus and Conceição da Barra, can be extremely challenging. On the vast plain that comprises this northern edge of the state, where the monotonous and homogenous landscape is comprised almost entirely of eucalyptus trees, there are very few landmarks to point the way. As for signs, there are only those posted by companies: a) prohibitions: “No Hunting”, “Do Not Enter: Forest Management Area”; b) publicity: “Sustainable Forest Management”, “Protect the Forest”; and c) the location of plantation areas: “CB-113H”.

The oil palm is native to this and other countries of the region, where its sap is collected to make palm wine, its dates used in cooking oil produced in cottage industries. The product was traditionally exported before the establishment of plantations, that by 1968 covered some 7,000 hectares.  The seedlings planted originated from more productive varieties developed in Asia. Although those plantations were abandoned, they continue to produce some bunches, similar to those of the native palms, for family consumption. At all events the harvest is hard to gather as the palm trees are spread out.

The FAO insists on the increasingly difficult mission of defining tree plantations as “planted forests.” Its latest contribution to this aim is a publication titled “Planted forests in sustainable forest management — A statement of principles”. The document states that “FAO further adopts an important role in facilitating an informed public debate about the controversy of planted forests and in supporting major stakeholder groups, including the public, to better understand the role of planted forests in integrated ecosystem management and sustainable development.”

The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation -a large world professional society on tropical forests- has recently made public a resolution “urging the United Nations to alter its potentially misleading forest definitions”. The resolution states: “WHEREAS, the current definition of ‘forest’ used by the United Nations fails to distinguish between natural forests, modified natural forests, and tree plantations; and WHEREAS, tree plantations are often comprised by monocultures of non-native species that have very limited value for conserving imperiled biodiversity; and WHEREAS, in many tropical countries, complex, biodiverse forests that were designated as permanent forest reserves are being felled and replaced by plantations; and

IControlled by the Indonesian Widjaja family, the Sinar Mas group is one of the largest conglomerates in Indonesia engaged in clearing rainforests and destroying peatlands for their several bussinesses, including the pulp and paper industry through the Sinar Mas’ pulp and paper division, Asia Pulp and Paper (APP).

Corría el año 1998 cuando los Pueblos Ancestrales del Ecosistema Manglar del Ecuador decidieron unir sus esfuerzos en una gran campaña denominada “¿Y si se Acaba el Manglar?” en la isla de Muisne, ubicada en la provincia de Esmeraldas en la costa norte del Ecuador, donde más del 85% de sus manglares se convirtieron en menos de 30 años en piscinas para la cría en cautiverio de camarón.

Si vemos un mapa de la cobertura forestal de la república de Guatemala, podremos observar que a lo largo de la línea costera del Pacífico se encuentran de manera interrumpida y dispersa los escasos bosques de manglar. Estos han quedado como islas rodeadas de una serie de actividades que comprometen su permanencia y los beneficios que aportan a las comunidades y a la conservación.