A joint-venture between the KTS group and Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corp (STIDC) was announced to establish over 260,000 hectares of tree plantations in Bintulu and Baram areas. The project will involve the development of plantations on 15, 25 and 35-year cycle. The KTS group has expertise in tree plantations, as it has a 57,000 hectares project in Sabah, and also in agricultural plantations of cacao during the decade of 1970.
Bulletin articles
"Tanah Pengidup Kitai (Our Land is our livelihood): the undermining of indigenous land rights and the victimisation of indigenous people in Sarawak" is the name of a recently published book on the situation in Sarawak. The study includes the following chapters:
The Sundarbans are the largest mangroves in the world and have been declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, as well as included as a Ramsar site. This area, that extends at the border between India and Bangladesh, is menaced by the exploration activites of oil and gas companies, which has provoked the reaction of local and international environmental NGOs (see WRM Bulletins 15 and 23).
On May 2, 1999, Rodolfo Montiel Flores, the Mexican campesino who has been successfully leading public opposition in the Pacific Coast state of Guerrero against destructive logging operations by Boise Cascade -one of the world's largest timber corporations- was arrested by federal soldiers who violently entered the village of Pizotla. During this armed action also another campesino, Teodoro Cabrera Garcia, was arrested and Salome Sanchez Ortiz was shot dead. Military officials characterized both of them as "members of an ecologist-guerrilla organization".
Bolivia holds diverse types of forests but they are quickly disappearing to the benefit of a few logging companies and to the detriment of indigenous peoples. Their territorial rights exist only on paper because in reality the government, by means of its concessions policy, prefers to satisfy the companies' interests (see WRM bulletin 22).
Brazil will soon celebrate the 500th anniversary of the arrival of the Portuguese. Nevertheless, for the indigenous peoples living in what later became Brazil, this is not a day for celebration. The arrival of the Europeans meant the beginning of their genocide and the destruction of the environment in the rich land of the "pau Brazil". When Brazil became an independent state, the situation of indigenous peoples did not improve and in many cases became even worse.
As a result of a long and difficult struggle against giant Occidental Petroleum and the Colombian government, the U'wa indigenous people have achieved a significant victory with the legal recognition of an area comprising an important portion of their traditional territory in the northeastern corner of Colombia. A recent resolution of the Colombian government, in agreement with the U'wa leaders, has increased their legally recognized territory in 120,000 hectares, which now comprises 220,275 hectares in the provinces of Boyaca, Northern Santander, Santander and Arauca.
Colombia, one of the megadiverse countries in the world, holds a total area of mangroves of 365,902 hectares, of which 80% extend like a green necklace in the Pacific Ocean coast.
Since the signing of the first of Australia's so-called "Regional Forest Agreements" (RFAs), the Australian forest industry has been deregulated and is open for sale to the highest bidder. The RFAs, having failed to provide a decent reserve system to protect forests have opened up Australia to unlimited export woodchipping and plantation establishment.
In many parts of the word, a large number of non-native species are invading forests and other ecosystems, leading to dramatic changes in their floristic composition and related impacts on local wildlife and peoples' livelihoods. The uncontrolled spread of exotic species in natural ecosystems is known as "bioinvasion" (see WRM Bulletins 18 and 24).
Papua New Guinea -home of one of the world's largest remaining contiguous rainforests- is being subject to a destructive deforestation process. In an attempt to increase the country's exports to face a severe economic crisis, the government has adopted a policy of opening the country to foreign logging companies -granting them concessions and turning a blind eye to illegal logging- that threaten to deplete its forests.
Organizations all around the world are planning a number of activities for the international Day of Action against the World Trade Organization (WTO) on September 15, 1999. There will be simultaneous press conferences, call-in campaigns to members of Parliaments/Congress, protests, hearings and teach-ins etc., to launch the international campaign against a "New Round" in Seattle. An international sign-on letter will be released on that date. Already 1000 organizations have signed on to it and it is being circulated to receive further endorsements.