Subject: BIOD: Suriname Rainforest Update
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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS
Suriname Rainforest Update
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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises
     http://forests.org/ic.net/~blazingta.htmlm

11/15/97
OVERVIEW, SOURCE & COMMENTARY by EE
The World Rainforest Movement provides a detailed account of recent 
developments in the Suriname's rainforest conservation movement.  The 
note the further intensification of forest harvest, providing many 
details of recent developments.
g.b.

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Title:    Suriname Information Update
Source:   Forest Peoples Programme, World Rainforest Movement
Status:   Distribute freely with accreditation given to source
Date:     November 5, 1997

/** rainfor.genera: 57.1 **/
** Written  4:42 PM  Nov  5, 1997 by gn:wrm in cdp:rainfor.genera **

FOREST PEOPLES PROGRAMME
Suriname Information Update

1 November 1997

On October 7, Errol Alibux, Suriname's Minister of Natural Resources 
and the Dutch Ambassador to Suriname signed a contract worth US$30 
million for the Forestry Production Control Project.  This project, 
supported by the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, is intended 
to monitor logging activities by using mobile inspection units.  This 
is one component of a larger project that will support reconstruction 
of the Forest Service's infrastructure that was destroyed in the Civil 
War (1986-92) and the establishment of a Timber Institute to control 
logging and promote investment in the Forestry Sector. 

Alibux also stated that protected areas would be increased from 5% of
Suriname's total area to 10%. The Global Environmental Facility has 
just completed a preliminary assessment to identify additional areas 
for protection.  Both control over logging and increased protection of
biodiversity were said to be part of Suriname's quest for sustainable
development and larger responsibility to the World.  They were also
essential, he concluded, as Suriname intends to intensify logging 
activities in the near future.

Alibux didn't say, however, that logging concessions have already been
granted and operations have already begun therein.  Berjaya Bhd., a
notorious Malaysian logging company was granted an exploratory 
concession in August of this year.  Berjaya has been working illegally 
in Suriname for the past year and a half through a front company 
called Suriname American Wood Industries.  Government officials were 
well aware of this.   An exploratory concession gives Berjaya the 
right to conduct an inventory of commercial timber and to develop a 
management plan within two years.  Subject to approval of the 
management plan, it can then begin cutting.   Berjaya has already 
started constructing roads inside its concession and (unverified)
reports have surfaced that it is already cutting timber.  This 
concession is directly adjacent to the Bronsberg Nature Reserve.  
Reports (unverified) have also been made that Berjaya is cutting 
inside the Nature Reserve.   

At least two other large concessions have also been granted.  One of 
these is on the South-east point of the Van Blomenstein reservoir.  
This is way beyond the bounds of the existing forestry belt.  To whom 
it has been granted is unknown. 

A joint Surinamese-Chinese company, operating under the name of NV 
Tacoba obtained a concession in October 1996.  This concession covers 
a large area beginning near the Bronsberg Nature Reserve and South to 
within 3 kilometres of the Maroon community of Pokigron.  
Representatives of Tacoba, described in the press as "English-speaking 
Chinese," were recently in the Maroon communities of Guyaba and Nieuw 
Aurora.  They said that they were about to commence logging operations 
in the area.  


When the communities objected, stating that approval had not been 
obtained from the village councils, the Tacoba representatives said 
that they did not need to do so as they had made a deal with the 
Saramacca Maroon Granman (paramount leader), Songo Aboikoni, to work 
in his concession.  This 127,000 hectare concession was obtained under 
the name of Sorejo Mining NV, although it is unclear whether it has 
officially been granted yet.

Guyaba and Nieuw Aurora, and the other communities in the concession 
are outraged.  They say that the Granman has no right to give Maroon 
land to loggers as the land belongs to the clans that make up 
Saramaccan society, not to the Granman.  They intend to hold a krutu 
(gathering) of all the affected villages soon to make their objections 
know to the government and the Granman.  In particular, they will 
demand that the government withdraw the concession, remove Tacoba and
legally recognise their rights to their lands and resources.  Tacoba
meanwhile has started to construct roads into the concession.

Indonesian company Barito Pacific Timber Group was recently in  
Suriname to investigate the possibility of investing in oil palm 
production.  The meeting was attended by the Indonesian Ambassador to 
Suriname and the Surinamese Ambassador to Indonesia.  Barito is 
Indonesia's largest plywood producer with close ties to the Indonesian 
government.  It has not ruled out the possibility that it also 
interested in logging in Suriname.  Indeed, it was looking into the
possibility of buying into Brunzeel, the Surinamese parastatal timber
company.  According to company documents, it needs to secure 
additional log supplies to maintain its plywood production operations 
at optimal levels. 

Surinamese President Wijdenbosch flew to Indonesia on the 11th of 
October. Rumors have it that a deal will be signed with Barito while 
he is there. Stating that Suriname is moving away from traditional 
donors and investors in favour of regional (Brazil in particular) and 
Asian partners, the President said that he will also discuss 
Indonesian investment in logging, mining and the energy sector. 
"Energy sector" means the Kabelebo dam project that will submerge a 
large area of pristine rainforest to provide power for, among others, 
bauxite and gold mining and logging in West Suriname.

Given the controversy and intense international pressure inspired by
Suriname's plan to hand out 3-5 million hectares of rainforest to 
Berjaya, MUSA and Suri-Atlantic in 1995, it is understandable that the 
government is being very cautious about granting logging concessions. 
Increasing protected areas, provided Indigenous and Maroon rights are 
recognized and respected, and increasing the capacity of the Forest 
Service appear to be positive measures.  Serious questions must be 
raised however, about the sincerity of the government and other issues 
must also be addressed.

For instance, Indonesian company, MUSA, is still operating with  
impunity throughout the interior.  Its operations jump around from 
place to place with no regard for the bounds of its concession.  It 
continues to induce local communities to strip their communal forest 
areas.  This is illegal under Surinamese law.  It has also been 
accused of cutting experimental forest plots used for studying 
sustainable forestry practices.  MUSA's operations are so bad that 
Skephi, an Indonesian NGO, felt it necessary to inform the Indonesian 
parliament.  MUSA's operations have violated Surinamese laws on 
multiple counts and it has never been fined, let alone prosecuted 
despite widespread awareness of these abuses.  It is assumed that MUSA 
is being protected by former military dictator, Desi Bouterse, himself
active as a third party timber buyer.

Also, the government must reform timber royalties and export duties. 
These rates are ridiculously low.  In fact they have barely changed 
from rates applicable in 1947.   Regulations raising the rates have 
been drafted and approved but have never been published.  A law cannot 
be implemented until it is published.  In recent years, government 
revenue from logging has been as little as US$500.00.  When expenses 
related to the Forestry  Service and the Ministry of Natural Resources 
are added up, the government actually loses money on logging.  
Undoubtedly, the low rates have been maintained due to the influence 
of powerful local elites, like Bouterse.  If royalties and duties are 
not reformed, government assertions that logging is needed for revenue 
generation must be considered as dishonest.

Last, but by no means least, Indigenous and Maroon rights to land and
resources are still not legally recognized in Surinamese law.  The
government continues to give out vast tracks of their ancestral lands 
to logging and mining companies without their consent or knowledge. 
Failure to recognize and respect these rights violates international 
human rights standards voluntarily accepted by Suriname and threatens 
peace and stability in the interior.  Indigenous peoples and Maroons 
have stated as recently as one year ago that they will fight to defend 
their lands against miners and loggers.  Also, recent government 
statements on protected areas indicate that Indigenous and Maroon 
rights will be neither recognized nor respected. If Alibux gets his 
way these areas will be prohibited to humans with the exception of 
paying ecotourists.

For more information, please contact:

Forest Peoples Programme
1c, Fosseway Business Centre
Stratford Road
Moreton-in-Marsh, GL56 9NQ
United Kingdom
Tel. 44. 1608. 652. 893. Fax. 44. 1608. 652. 878
Email : wrm@gn.apc.org

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