logging

The gathering was held not only to commemorate the anniversary of the protests but also to honour the three-decade struggles of the Penan communities in Sarawak against the continued violations of their Native Customary Rights (NCR). It was held as a reminder to their people to appreciate their rights, livelihoods, traditions and culture that are closely tied to the forests, which have now been largely destroyed by logging companies.

During the original protests, the state response included the appearance a state assembly member at the blockade site, who urged those involved to dismantle the barricades and sign a particular memorandum of understanding (MOU) with him as a co-signatory.

The content of the MOU included the following pledges on the part of the Sarawak State Government:

1. To make an effort at bringing Penan community leaders to meet with higher authorities in order to discuss on matters concerning their land and traditional territories;
   
2. To make an effort at bringing the Penan communities’ application for the construction of kindergartens and primary schools at each Penan longhouse (to the appropriate authorities).
   
3. To increase the number of community leaders for the Penan community.
   
4. To make an effort at introducing agricultural activities that are suitable for the Penan communities.
   
5. To make an effort at obtaining financial allocations for the housing and healthcare needs of Penan communities

The demands above were not the original demands that the Penan communities had made during the blockades. The blockades last year were erected firstly, to demand that the Sarawak State Government must recognise that the Penan have the right to make their own decisions in relation to their land, and secondly, to ask that logging activities and the encroachments into Penan land be immediately halted in order to prevent starvation. 

broken promises

The original protest demanded that both the government and logging companies recognise the rights of the Penan to their land. However, the communities were pressured by state to change their demands to those above.

A year later, the Penan have yet to hear how even these very simple demands will be fulfilled by the state. The offers of schools, childcare and clinics have come to nothing. 

As a result the Penan communities have declared that If the state continues to ignore its obligations to them they will not hesitate to set up blockades for a longer period of time.

In a statement outlining their position a Penan spokesman said:

"Many of us have gone to prison for defending our rights to this land. Thus, we will continue defending our rights for the rest of our lives."

The Penan are also concerned about the reports they have been reading in the papers about themselves.

For instance, in December 2009, the state government announced a plan to move the Penan communities to a resettlement site similar to that of the Sungai Asap resettlement scheme for the Bakun-affected communities. This was not done in consultation with the Penan.

"Our people will not move to any other location just because the government says so. Our home lies within our ancestral land. The government cannot continue to threaten us in this way and move us around at will" continues the statement.

"The government just simply cannot continue to govern in this way – making ‘announcements’ without any sense of obligation to first consult our communities and ‘pledging’ without taking any follow-up steps and fulfilling the promises. We reiterate that failure to meet our demands will certainly result in long-term blockades in the state" it concludes.

further reading

Friends of the Earth Europe has been campaigning for over ten years for this law, to save the world's forests and to make sure forest dependent people get a fair deal. Friends of the Earth Europe will continue to follow the implementation process, to ensure countries and companies turn it into an effective law.

The directive is a compromise deal between representatives of the European Parliament and Commission. It contains strong and weak points, but is an important first step towards a level playing field in the international timber sector.

Geert Ritsema, Friends of the Earth Europe, said: “This law, if properly enforced, will have a huge positive impact on the world’s forests and their inhabitants. It will also mean that developing countries will finally start benefiting from the revenues that, until now, have disappeared due to illegal trade.”

The new law obligates operators to be transparent about the origin of their wood. Also, they have to assess the possibility of illegality and try to reduce the risk of selling illegal wood. All operators have to give information on where their timber is bought and sold. These measures will provide more transparency in the chain of trade and will reduce the risk of illegal timber appearing on the market.

Weak penalty system

On a national level, penalties and sanctions will still need to be defined. Unfortunately, no minimum penalties have been set on European level. This makes it possible for companies to move to countries with low penalties, and continue trading illegal timber. The exception of printed products in the new law is also a missed opportunity, with 3.2 billion euro's spent on a yearly basis importing these products. Friends of the Earth Europe, together with other Environmental organisations will keep a close eye on the process of implementation of the law in the near future. 

Illegally felled logs awaiting export to European markets. © Kate Davison

Friends of the Earth Netherlands, France and Cameroon examined the prohibited logging practices of Cana Bois, finding that the company has been logging illegally with the knowledge of local authorities since 2007.  The plundered forest reserve is part of the Atlantic Equatorial Coastal Forests ecoregion and is home to a high variety of plant an animal species.  In addition to logging, researchers found evidence of poaching in the area.

A law to end trade in illegally logged timber in the EU has been under way since 2003.  In order to speed up the process, 27 USB sticks containing a spoken version of the report has been given to the Dutch Minister for Agriculture, Nature and Food Quality Verburg for the purpose of distribution to her fellow ministers at the next Agricultural Council on 22 and 23 June. 

Anne van Schaik, campaign leader for Milieudefensie says, "this is yet another case of illegal logging and related trade to Europe. Since 2003 the European Union talks about solutions to this problem, but there is still no European legislation to stop trade in illegal timber. In the meantime, the looting of forests continues and the criminal trade in illegally harvested timber flourishes. This comes at the expense of companies that practise sustainable forest management."

Read the report here.

Deforestation rates continue to be shockingly high in many countries despite increased awareness that forests play a key role in sustaining livelihoods and mitigating climate change. The FAO report notes that the expansion of large-scale agrofuel production, illegal logging and the replacement of forests with tree plantations have been key factors in the failure to halt deforestation.

FoEI and other environmental groups call on governments to stop promoting plantations, halt the conversion of forests into biofuel plantations, recognize indigenous peoples’ territories, promote community-based forest management and restoration, ban illegal logging and related trade, and implement immediate deforestation moratoria.

• Read the report

International Women’s Day is an important day for celebrating the crucial role played by women in our societies and reminding ourselves that we still have a long way to go to achieve gender justice, equality and equity in our societies. In recognition of this, the World Rainforest Movement and Friends of the Earth International jointly published three case studies and a short video demonstrating how the lives of women who live near monoculture tree plantations are negatively affected.

The countries featured in the case studies are Nigeria, Brazil and Papua New Guinea.

• Read the report here
  
• Read the full stories about women and plantations (on the World Rainforest Movement website)
• Watch the video (also on the World Rainforest Movement website)

Nigeria

The case study from Nigeria is focused on the Iguóbazuwa Forest Reserve, a highly biologically diverse region in the southwest of the country, whose crops long supplied food for around 20,000 people. The area has undergone drastic changes since the arrival of the French transnational company Michelin in December 2007. All of the area’s natural wealth was destroyed to plant rubber trees.

brazil

In Brazil, the tree plantations established to produce pulp for paper-making are continuously expanding, causing severe impacts on communities and the environment. Three big corporations have moved into southern Brazil to satisfy the enormous demand for paper, mostly in Western countries: Swedish-Finnish forestry giant Stora Ensa, and Brazilian-owned Aracruz and Votorantim.

In Southern Brazil, women from the grassroots organization Via Campesina have been leading protests against the “green desert” development model since 2006, in order to protect food sovereignty and the rights of local communities.

According to a woman interviewed in Southern Brazil, “the companies only give work to men. The few jobs they give to women are the ones that pay the least.” Even in the case of men, the companies tend to hire workers from outside the region, and this influx of strangers invariably leads to a rise in sexual harassment cases.

papua new guinea

In Papua New Guinea, monoculture oil palm plantations are destroying the forests, biodiversity, and local communities' livelihoods. Palm oil produced in Papua New Guinea is primarily exported, especially to the European Union where it is used to produce soap, cosmetics, processed foods and agrofuels.

In some Papua New Guinea communities, women are no longer able to grow food crops, and they are exposed to dangerous pesticides.

“Health is a very big concern in our place. Right now we breathe in the chemicals... I’m pretty sure we are inhaling dangerous substances, and we definitely are dying every minute. Some women had babies who developed asthma when they were just one or two months old. Chemicals are killing us; we will all die sooner,” said a woman from the community of Saga.