Date: July 4th, 1994
The NGO Forum of the Brazilian state of Rondonia
(located in the western Amazon) has just sent a letter to the
President and Executive Directors of the World Bank, calling
for a suspension of disbursements for the Rondonia Natural
Resource Management Project (PLANAFLORO), financed with a US$
167 million Bank loan. The Forum's letter describes major
problems with the implementation of PLANAFLORO, including
several examples of non-compliance with the project's
contractual agreements.
According to the NGO Forum of Rondonia, current problems
are undermining the project's stated goals of promoting
conservation and sustainable resource management in the
Western Amazon, in the attempt to repair damage caused by the
notorious World Bank-financed POLONOROESTE project during the
1980s. In addition to presenting a critical analysis of
PLANAFLORO, the letter presents a series of corrective
measures that the NGO Forum of Rondonia considers a
prerequisite for a renewal of loan disbursements by the Bank.
BACKGROUND
During the 1980s, the World Bank financed the
POLONOROESTE program, the main objective of which was to
asphalt the BR-364 highway between Cuiaba' (Mato Grosso
State) and Porto Velho (Rondonia State). POLONOROESTE became
well-known internationally because of a series of problems
that worsened during its implementation, including a massive
influx of landless migrants, alarming rates of tropical
deforestation, the failure of official colonization projects
and the agricultural model proposed by government agencies,
invasions of indigenous and other conservation units, land
conflicts, etc.
The main objective of PLANAFLORO is to promote a new
approach to "sustainable development" in the Amazon region,
based on a series of initiatives for the protection and
management of natural resources, including: socio-economic
and ecological zoning, promotion of agroforestry systems,
recovery of degraded lands, environmental protection and
education, the creation of Extractive Reserves and other
conservation units, forest management and support to
indigenous communities.
During negotiations for PLANAFLORO, several non-
governmental organizations in Rondonia, with support from
national and international NGOs, raised questions about the
new program and its capacity to revert the serious problems
that accompanied the implementation of POLONOROESTE. One of
the main criticisms made by the NGOs was the lack of
participation of civil society, especially organizations
representing the program's intended beneficiaries (small
farmers, rubber-tappers and indigenous peoples), during the
elaboration of the original proposal for PLANAFLORO.
As a result of this mobilization, representatives of
twelve NGOs were invited to a meeting in June 1991 with
representatives of the State government and the World Bank.
After two days of negotiations, the Rondonia Government and
NGOs signed a "Protocol of Understanding" on June 20, 1991,
that established forms of participation by NGOs in the
planning, monitoring and evaluation of PLANAFLORO. At the
same time, the Rondonia Government promised to take a series
of emergency measures aimed at protecting the environment and
the territories occupied by traditional populations.
Created in 1991, the NGO Forum of Rondonia is composed
of non-profit organizations representing small farmers,
rubber-tappers and indigenous peoples, together with
environmentalists, educators, researchers and popular-support
organizations. The principal objectives of the Forum include:
a) democratizing access to information and ensuring the
participation of civil society in the definition and
monitoring of public policies, and b) the promotion of
alliances between popular and progressive segments of civil
society. Since it was created, one of the main activities of
the NGO Forum of Rondonia has been to monitor and coordinate
participation of its members in PLANAFLORO.
THE CURRENT SITUATION
Despite the validity of PLANAFLORO's general proposals,
its practical implementation, since first disbursements were
made by the World Bank in June 1993, has been undermined by a
series of problems that raise doubts about the real
commitment of government agencies to the program; i.e. the
"political sustainability" of PLANAFLORO.
In brief, the most serious problems observed by the NGOs
in Rondonia during the first year of implementation of
PLANAFLORO include:
1) the inefficiency of the current system of project
planning, monitoring and evaluation, especially with regard
to guaranteeing the active participation of the beneficiaries
of PLANAFLORO;
2) the current policies of the Brazilian Institute of
Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA) in the creation of
settlement projects and land titling activities, which
disregard the socio-economic and ecological zoning
regulations, state conservation units and other environmental
legislation;
3) the lack of legal and institutional measures, on the
part of the Government of Rondonia, to effectively implement
the socio-economic and ecological zoning plan and state
conservation units;
4) the existence of serious irregularities in the
demarcation of state conservation units, as contracted by the
Rondonia Land and Colonization Institute (ITERON), including
the illegal reduction of their borders;
5) the lack of coherence in the current system of
environmental licensing, in which authorizations for forest
clearing, burning and timber exploitation disregard the state
zoning regulations and environmental legislation, encouraging
acts of environmental degradation, including the illegal
exploitation of timber in indigenous areas and other
conservation units.
6) the ineffectiveness of the present system of
environmental protection and enforcement, mainly due to
interventions by political and economic interests, resulting
in a situation of generalized impunity that encourages
illegal practices of environmental degradation.
7) the lack of concrete measures to implement the sub-
component "Support for Indigenous Communities" of PLANAFLORO,
with regard to activities of border demarcation and renewal,
isolated Indians, protection/enforcement and health.
8) the incompatibility of government investment programs
at the state and federal levels, including rural credit and
fiscal incentives, in relation to the objectives of
PLANAFLORO and the regulations of the socio-economic and
ecological zoning.
9) the lack of coherence among the current agricultural
policies of the Rondonia Government, especially in relation
to the proposals of PLANAFLORO for agroforestry development.
The letter from the NGO Forum of Rondonia to the World
Bank emphasizes that the above problems are largely the
result of a lack of political commitment among government
authorities to PLANAFLORO. This situation, in turn, reflects
the powerful influence exercised by political and economic
elites over government agencies, particularly those
associated with cattle ranching, logging and land
speculation.
In contrast to the image of PLANAFLORO as a "model" of
popular participation in Bank-financed projects, the Forum's
letter concludes that NGO participation in the project has
served mainly to "legitimize an influx of financial resources
into government bureaucracies, without an effective social
control over the use of those resources".
The Forum also argues that the World Bank has
demonstrated a "surprising lack of concern about serious
problems that have arisen in the implementation of
PLANAFLORO, even when such problems have implied non-
compliance with the project's contractual agreements". It
concludes that "interests in the approval and disbursement of
World Bank loans, among government and within the Bank
itself, have taken a higher priority than needs to guarantee
the effective implementation of projects. Within the World
Bank". This situation reflects a "project approval culture"
within the Bank, as identified in a recent internal review of
project performance conducted by the Bank itself (Wappenhans
Report). .
WHAT YOU CAN DO
The NGO Forum of Rondonia is calling upon the Bank to
suspend disbursements for PLANAFLORO until concrete measures
have been taken by the government authorities and the Bank
(as described in the letter's demands) to resolve the current
impasse in the project's implementation.
At this moment, it is critical to have a demonstration
of support by concerned organizations and individuals, both
in Brazil and internationally, through such actions as: a)
letter-writing to the World Bank and the Brazilian
authorities, in support of the Forum's position on
PLANAFLORO, and b) dissemination of the information in this
Action Alert to the local, national and international news
media.
Currently, a joint letter of support to the World Bank,
to be signed by several major Brazilian and international
NGOs, is being drafted by OXFAM-UK and the Environmental
Defense Fund. For further information on this letter and
other possibilities for international support, please contact
Patricia Feeney, Policy Department, OXFAM-UK (e-mail/Green-Net:
oxfamppd@gn.apc.org, fax: 44-865-312-417) and/or Steve
Schwartzman, International Program, EDF (e-mail/Econet:
edf@igc.apc.org, fax: 202-234-6049).
The full text of the English translation of the letter
from the NGO Forum of Rondonia to the World Bank is being
placed as a response to this message on the conference
"rainfor.worldbank". The original letter in Portuguese was
placed on the e-mail conference "ax.brasil" on June 19th.
Finally, we believe that is it important not to treat
the PLANAFLORO project as an isolated problem. Many of the
issues raised by the NGO Forum of Rondonia (including those
concerning popular participation, reforms in government
policies, etc.) are relevant to wider debates on multilateral
banks and sustainable development. In this regard, the
PLANAFLORO project may be a useful case study in discussions
between NGOs and the World Bank associated with the 50th
anniversary of the Bretton Woods institutions.
Sincerely,
Luiz Rodrigues de Oliveira
Executive Secretary, NGO Forum of Rondonia
Brent Millikan
Instituto de Estudos Amazonicos e Ambientais - IEA
Environmental Commission, NGO Forum of Rondonia
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MODEL LETTER OF SUPPORT TO BE SENT TO LEWIS PRESTON,
PRESIDENT OF THE WORLD BANK AND THE PRESIDENT OF BRAZIL
Mr. Lewis Preston
President, The World Bank
1818 "H" Street, N.W.
Washington, D.C. 20433, USA
fax: (202) 477-6391
Exmo. Sr.
Itamar Franco
M.D. Presidente da Republica
Pala'cio do Planalto
Brasilia, D.F.
CEP 70.150-900, BRASIL
fax: (55-69) 226-7566
Dear Sirs,
We are writing to express our grave concerns with the
implementation of the Rondonia Natural Resource Management
Project (PLANAFLORO) in the western Brazilian Amazon,
financed with a US$ 167 million World Bank loan. As you
know, the NGO Forum of Rondonia recently sent a letter the
World Bank (dated June 15th, 1994), describing a series of
major problems in project implementation, including examples
of non-compliance with PLANAFLORO's loan conditions.
According to the NGO Forum of Rondonia, current problems
are undermining the project's stated goals of promoting
conservation and sustainable resource management in the
Western Amazon, in the attempt to repair damage caused by the
notorious World Bank-financed POLONOROESTE project during the
1980s.
We support the position of the NGO Forum of Rondonia in
calling on the World Bank to immediately halt disbursements
for the PLANAFLORO project. Moreover, we believe that the
implementation of corrective measures by the World Bank and
Brazilian authorities, as set forth in the letter by the NGOs
of Rondonia, should be a prerequisite for a renewal of loan
disbursements.
In conclusion, we believe that the PLANAFLORO project is
an important example how sound government policies and
popular participation must be more fully incorporated into
World Bank-supported projects, in order to truly promote the
objectives of social equality, environmental conservation and
the sustainable management of natural resources.
Sincerely,
Your Name and Organization
Address
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Please send copies of all letters to:
Forum das ONGs de Rondonia
Rua Jose' de Alencar 3064, sala 23 - Centro
Porto Velho, Rondonia, 78.900-500, BRASIL
tel/fax: (55-69) 223-1116
electronic mail: ax.bmillikan