Bulletin Issue 29 – December 1999

OUR VIEWPOINT

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  The battle of Seattle

  What happened in Seattle was historical. Regardless of whether the ministerial conference’s failure to reach an agreement was the result of the action of the thousands of people in the
  (Read More)

LOCAL STRUGGLES AND NEWS

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  Nigeria: Cross River’s forests need your help

  Between 70 and 80% of Nigeria’s original forests have disappeared and nowadays the area of its territory occupied by forests is reduced to 12%, even if the entire country is
  (Read More)
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  South Africa: what are the true costs of woodlots?

  What is a woodlot? Is it a patch of land planted to trees for the purpose of supplying the fuel and timber needs of a rural community? Or is it
  (Read More)
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  Tanzania: afforestation, reforestation and the real causes of forest destruction

  Tanzania’s forests are quickly disappearing and illegal commercial logging is the main cause of the problem. Not only does the government seem unable to address the present state of things,
  (Read More)
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  World Bank promotes oil palm and rubber plantations in Liberia and Côte d’Ivoire

  By different means the World Bank is one of the major and most influential promoters of the prevailing monoculture tree plantation model. The International Finance Corporation (IFC) -a part of
  (Read More)
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  Indonesia: new legislation, old problems

  Intentional fires, tree monoculture plantations and mining are direct causes of deforestation in Indonesia. Additionally, indigenous peoples traditional rights over their territories are ignored. As a result, the country’s once
  (Read More)
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  Malaysia: certification against peoples’ rights in Sarawak

  Several NGOs -among them the Borneo Resources Institute (BRIMAS), Sahabat Alam Malaysia (Friends of the Earth), SACCESS, Keruan Association Sarawak, Centre for Orang Asli Concerned (COAC) and EPSM/CETDEM- took part
  (Read More)
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  Malaysia: the “progress” brought by the Bakun dam in Sarawak

    For years the Bakun Dam Project has aroused great concern among environmental and social NGOs and indigenous peoples’ organizations in Sarawak and worldwide, which have opposed this megaproject since
  (Read More)
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  Philippines: remaining mangroves under siege

  Only 3% of the dense rainforests that once existed in The Philippines is still standing and less than 1% of the former forest is still in a pristine state (see
  (Read More)
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  Sri Lanka: politics in forests

  Forests are trees. Forests are biodiversity. Forests are wildlife. Forests are lands. Moreover, forests are politics. Development is clearing of forests. Conservation means more and more consultancies. Protection means a
  (Read More)
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  Costa Rica: environmentally or industrially-friendly forest management?

  In the Region Huetar Norte of Costa Rica, the forest area has been reduced to the lowlands of the San Juan River on the border with Nicaragua. What used to
  (Read More)
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  Bolivia: the government legalises what is illegal

  Bolivian social organizations, trade unions, IPOs and environmental NGOs have strongly condemned and taken actions to face a recent governmental decree, which in fact guarantees the activities of illegal logging
  (Read More)
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  Brazil: say what they say, Monte Pascoal belongs to the Pataxó

  Nearly fifty years after their traditional lands were taken over and much of their population decimated by military forces, the Pataxó indigenous people decided to recover them and took over
  (Read More)
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  Brazil: will forest destruction be sponsored by the law?

  As everybody knows, Brazil is one of the richests countries in the world regarding forests. Additionally to the Amazon, whose major area is located in the Brazilian territory, there are
  (Read More)
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  Colombia: the U’wa people do not surrender

  In a new chapter of their seemingly endless struggle to defend their land rights, a group of two hundred U’wa indigenous people -including women, children and tribal elders- established on
  (Read More)
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  Colombia: the Embera Katio’s struggle for life

  The Urra hydroelectric dam megaproject on the Sinu River, at the Cordoba Department in the Atlantic region of Colombia has provoked concern and resistance since its very start in 1977.
  (Read More)
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  Chile: under the shadow of Pinochet

  The “success” of the Chilean forestry model -based on pine and eucalyptus monocultures- was based on a combination of the appropriation of the Mapuche indigenous people’s lands and ruthless repression.
  (Read More)
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  Ecuador: the future of the Chachi indigenous people and their forests

  Mache-Chindul rainforests and mangroves, located in the Province of Esmeraldas in the Ecuadorian Pacific region hold high levels of biodiversity. Additionally, this province is a multicultural complex formed by different
  (Read More)
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  Papua New Guinea: the struggle of the Maisin indigenous people

  Papua New Guinea still contains one of the major tropical rainforests in the world, hosting high levels of biodiversity. Together with the government’s policy regarding forests -which considers them as
  (Read More)

PLANTATIONS CAMPAIGN

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  Plantations’ impacts are always social

  Impacts of tree monocultures are usually analysed under two broad headings: environmental and social. The former involves impacts on water, soil, biodiversity and landscape, while the latter includes social and
  (Read More)
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  Aracruz: the naked emperor

  Because of Aracruz Celulose’s move to apply for FSC certification for its eucalyptus plantations in the state of Bahia -avoiding at the same time the polemic issue of the dispossesion
  (Read More)
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  Networking in action: Australia-Uruguay

  Last November we received a message from the Tasmania based NGO Native Forest Network-Southern Hemisphere (NFN), informing that the Australian giant North Ltd. was planning to invest in pulpwood plantations
  (Read More)
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  Call for global moratorium on genetically engineered trees

  Multinational corporations, with support from some academic institutions and governments, are working hard to create and grow genetically engineered trees. Such development is causing great concern among informed sectors of
  (Read More)
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  Tree plantations and trade

  Some of the conclusions and recommendations of the Latin American Workshop on the Impacts of an Eventual Millenium Road of the WTO, held on 6 and 7 November in Quito,
  (Read More)
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  Indigenous Peoples’ Seattle Declaration

  The Indigenous Peoples’ Caucus, convened and sponsored by the Indigenous Environmental Network USA/CANADA, Seventh Generation Fund USA, International Indian Treaty Council, Indigenous Peoples Council on Biocolonialism, the Abya Yala Fund,
  (Read More)

GENERAL

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  Dialogue with the World Bank?

  The World Bank is currently undertaking its Forest Policy Implementation Review and Strategy Development (FPIRS) and will carry out a number of consultation meetings throughout the world to feed this
  (Read More)
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  Declaration on Andean Ecosystems

  The 4th National Conference and International Conference on “Paramos” (high plateau grassland ecosystems) and Cloud Andean Forests, which took place in Malaga, Santander, Colombia on November 1999 -including representatives from
  (Read More)