Please help us by distributing this memo in the NGO network and
by sending letters to the Prime Miister Mamaloni.
Thanks for your support
Francesco Martone
Greenpeace International Forests Campaign
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* Greenpeace Briefing *
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Logging in Solomon Islands Takes its Toll
SUMMARY
Conflict over natural resources in the Pacific region is
escalating. Landowners are fighting for their rights and their
future against corrupt governments and destructive companies.
The seven year old Bougainville armed conflict is a result of
landowner discontent and environmental destruction. In
Melanesia, the "logging fields" are the latest arena where these
bitter conflicts are being fought.
Community tension over government supported logging of disputed
lands on Pavuvu Island has lead to one murder, one suspicious
death, and escalating violence. Maving Brothers Ltd, a Malaysian
company, have logged half the remaining forest already, and are
planning to move in on the rest. The indigenous landowners are
fighting to regain control of their lands and establish small-
scale village based "Ecoforestry".
A recent report released to the Solomon Is media has documented
US$2.2 million worth of bribes from one logging company to
Cabinet Ministers and government workers. In response, a public
rally and petition by Churches, Unions and Non-governmental
Organisations has called for the sacking of the Ministers
concerned. On 4th December seven Solomon Island Government
Ministers appeared in the Central Magistrates Court in Honiara
on corruption charges.
In Solomon Islands logging continues at three times the estimated
sustainable level, with production forests predicted to be logged
within the next ten years. Logging practices by the mainly
Malaysian and South Korean companies are uncontrolled and
destructive, and supply the Japanese and Korean log market. With
more than 60% of government revenue derived from log export
levies, forest depletion means a looming disaster for the
economy.
OVERVIEW
The issue of who develops, benefits and decides over natural
resources in the Pacific region has become increasingly volatile
in the last decade. The increased rate of exploitation and the
money involved has brought governments, foreign companies and
landowners into conflict. Landowner discontent and environmental
damage at the Bougainville copper mine was the catalyst for what
is now a seven year old civil war. One of the largest lawsuits
in the region is being brought by landowners along the Fly River
against the mining company at Ok Tedi in Papua New Guinea.
These conflicts are happening predominantly in Melanesia, rich
in natural resources and where land and coastal areas are still
in customary tenure. Melanesia includes Papua New Guinea,
Solomon Islands, Vanuatu, Fiji and Kanaky (New Caledonia). The
accelerating rate of logging by large-scale commercial operations
in Melanesia has even come under severe criticism of the World
Bank. The "logging fields" are simply the latest arena where
these conflicts are being fought, with increasingly high costs
to the local communities and the environment.
SOLOMONS LOGGING
The Solomon Islands lie to the northeast of Australia and east
of Papua New Guinea. A land area of nearly 30,000 square
kilometres is spread over some 992 islands. It has a population
of around 340,000 that is growing at 3.5% per year, and is
predominantly Christian. Although a former British colony,
approximately 90% of the land in Solomon Islands is customarily
owned by family groups.
Around two-thirds of the Solomon Islands is covered with tropical
rainforest, and many of the people still live in villages that
depend on the forest for their survival. This may either be
traditional use or more recently exploitation of their forests
for timber.
The last 10 years has seen a wave of foreign logging companies
sweep through Solomon Islands. The current level of official
production of 830,000 cubic metres, mainly whole log exports, is
running at nearly three times the sustainable level, according
to the 1994 Annual Report of the Central Bank of Solomon Islands.
Considerable concern has been raised over this situation, from
in Solomon Islands and in the wider Pacific region, and also in
the international financial institutions the IMF and ADB. With
more than 60% of government revenue coming from tariffs on log
exports to Japan and Korea, the country's economy seems locked
into a spiral of resource depletion and unsustainable
development.
Logging has become very controversial recently, with the public
exposure of bribes paid to government Ministers from logging
companies. The Solomon Star newspaper reported on 10th November
that US$2.2 million was paid in bribes from the logging company
Integrated Forestry Industry Ltd, a subsidiary of Malaysian
company Kumpulan Emas, to Ministers and other government
employees. This revelation has shaken the country, with many
calls for the resignation or sacking of the Ministers concerned.
A large protest march occurred in the capital, Honiara on 29th
November, called by the Union, Churches and Non-Government
Organisations. The journalist Duran Angiki, who reported the
story for the Solomon Star was sacked following pressure from the
government and logging companies. He is now taking legal action
against the newspaper for his dismissal. However, on 4th
December, three of the seven Solomon Island Government Ministers
charged appeared in the Central Magistrates Court in the capital
Honiara on corruption charges. They are due to appear again and
are expected to make their pleas next month.
Apart from government attempts to censor the media, it is of
serious concern for freedom of speech in Solomon Islands that at
the recent Commonwealth Heads of Government (CHOGM) meeting in
Auckland, the Solomon Is government was one of only two countries
to vote against the suspension of Nigeria from the Commonwealth
for the execution of 9 environmental activists.
Additionally, some of the logging companies come with a track
record from the east Malaysian state of Sarawak, of destruction
of rainforests and tribal forest people's lives. Logging by
Malaysian company Maving Brothers Ltd has been at the heart of
a controversy in the Russell Islands over corruption, land
rights, and environmental destruction. Violence in the Russells
is escalating as logging predictably divides communities into
those who support the logging and receive payments from it, and
those who oppose it. The conflict eventually turns the community
inward on itself. With the long-standing armed conflict on
nearby Bougainville and tension between mining companies and
landowners elsewhere in Melanesia, logging is a major concern for
the continued stability and security of the region.
Logging has reached such heights of activity because of the huge
amounts of profits that can be generated. However, less than 5%
of the profits actually stay with the resource owners, with the
companies and government taking the lions share. Until recently,
the only opportunity for landowners to make a financial income
from their forest resources, was through logging. It was part
of a dilemma that many faced: the need for cash for education,
health, housing and consumer goods but wanting to protect their
natural resources for the future.
However, a tide of small-scale alternatives is rising to
challenge destructive foreign logging. One of these landowner
alternatives is `ecoforestry', or harvesting timber in an
ecologically and socially responsible way. Greenpeace has been
working with the Russell Island communities and with the New
Zealand Imported Tropical Timber Group (ITTG) to establish these
initiatives.
PAVUVU ISLAND LOGGING TURNS BLOODY
Urgent Update
The controversial government logging of Pavuvu Is in the Russell
Group has divided a peaceful community with the recent murder of
anti-logging leader Martin Apa. He was brutally killed on 30th
October as the Malaysian company Maving Brothers was making a
push to log the rest of Pavuvu Is. Both the company and the
Solomons government are implicated in the murder, the government
doubly so through failing after a month to send an investigative
team to find his killers. Previously, in July this year, tensions
reached a high point as frustrated local landowners set three
company bulldozers on fire. Both of these incidents mark further
chapters in the sorry saga of a government supported foreign
company logging against the wishes of the local landowners.
BACKGROUND: A LEGACY OF BRITISH COLONIAL MEDDLING
The Russell Islands lie 45 km northwest of Guadalcanal in Central
Solomon Islands. 12,427 ha Pavuvu Island is the largest of the
20 inhabited islands of the Russells group. Few people currently
live on Pavuvu, because late last century missionaries, traders
and developers forced the indigenous people to move to outer
islands. In the 1920s the British colonial Lands Commissioner
effectively stole the undeveloped areas of Pavuvu and leased them
to the British company Levers Pacific Ltd. At that time
customary landowners agreed to the sale (for 500 pounds) of only
the areas already developed by Levers into plantations, not the
whole area as claimed by the British colonial government.
Considerable areas in northern Pavuvu have been cleared of
rainforest for coconut and cocoa plantations. The 1000 yard
strip encircling the lower half of the island was not developed
(it has been logged now), and since the late 1980s Levers have
been unable to clear the forest due to a corporate policy that
prohibits clearing rainforests. Levers Solomon Island Ltd, still
has a current lease over most of these areas, though Levers
International sold their interests in the company this year.
In the 1960s and 1970s the indigenous landowners of Pavuvu (known
as the Lavukal) began a campaign to have the lands leased by
Levers, or what is known as the `alienated lands' returned to
customary control. They have been fighting ever since, with the
1990s seeing this intensified under the threat of logging. The
main avenue to have the land returned is via legislation that
covers the Alienated Lands, where a requirement is that the
indigenous communities must have a viable development project for
the land.
The forests on this beautiful hat shaped island (steep mountain
centre with coastal flat ground) are rich in valuable timber.
An Australian aid-funded forest assessment in 1992 found that
Pavuvu contains more than 130,000 cubic metres of harvestable
logs, worth more than US$20 million. However, the landowners
have ideas other than logging. They have developed their own
resettlement scheme that involved establishing a landowner
company Lavukal Resources Development Ltd, and included small-
scale ecoforestry and ecotourism. As of November 1995 a total of
12 Russell Islanders had been through a six week ecoforestry
training course, with several now completing management plans in
preparation for harvesting on their customary land on Pavuvu
Island. They are very near to harvesting and marketing timber
from their forests themselves. The ITTG-supported ecoforestry
training has received funding from the New Zealand government.
MALAYSIAN LOGGERS
Into the picture in the early 1990s came a Malaysian logging
company, Maving Brothers Ltd. The Maving Bros company directors
include Solomon Islander Robert Belo, and Malaysians Hii Kiong
Mee and Hii Yew Mee. Working with politicians, they have secured
a licence to log the alienated lands to pave the way for a
proposed government "development" and resettlement scheme. They
tried to start operations in 1992 but were forced to back off
after landowners threatened to burn their machinery. They
returned in 1995 with the support of the recently returned
Mamaloni government, and the government paramilitary defence
force.
In February this year the ousting of Central Province premier
Nelson Ratu, by pro-logging provincial members, allowed the final
'approval' to be given for logging to start by Maving Brothers
Ltd. When the logging equipment arrived the landowners began a
peaceful sit in protest at the logging camp. The government
responded by having a Paramilitary Field Force (PFF) move in and
make arrests. The PFF has been stationed there ever since in
support of the company and vested government interests.
Landowners have tried every peaceful means possible to have the
Solomons government halt the logging and address their concerns,
including many meetings, a petition and peaceful rallies.
The government has responded with military and police force, with
propaganda that all the landowners now support logging, with
censorship of the media and diversionary plans of a fake
settlement scheme. Alan Kemakeza, Minister of Forests,
Conservation and Environment claims that "the Pavuvu alienated
lands are owned by the government, not the people of Russell
Islands". Yet he also says the reason for the logging is for
resettlement and return of the lands to the customary owners.
Since April the trees have been falling at a rapid rate. The
only fresh water source on southern Pavuvu has been polluted with
silt and many shipments of logs have already been shipped to
Japan. With the "alienated" lands almost exhausted the company
is now pursuing logging of the actual customary lands. It is
expected that bogus "landowners" will sign agreements to log
these areas, pitting the actual landowners in further direct
conflict with the company and government.
ILLEGAL AND DESTRUCTIVE LOGGING
An investigative mission by the opposition party in Solomon
Islands recommended that the logging be halted immediately and
the land returned to the customary landowners. Furthermore, a
recent investigative visit by Greenpeace to Pavuvu confirmed
local reports of illegal and destructive practices.
According to Greenpeace Solomon Island Forests Campaigner
Lawrence Makili, both the government and the company are guilty
of lies and destructive practices.
"We found that more than half the logs at the Pavuvu camp were
undersize, there was illegal logging on customary-owned land, and
destructive practices such as cutting next to a stream and
hauling the log up the stream bed. Yet before logging started
in April, the government promised landowners that the operations
would be controlled and monitored by government forestry, lands
and agriculture officers. None of this has happened. There's
only destruction," he said. "When a company representative was
asked about the undersize logs, he said`they came from when large
trees have fallen onto small ones', but this does not account for
the large proportion and we observed free-standing small trees
that had been felled."
Despite widespread public condemnation of the logging, the
government has refused to halt it and address the concerns of the
landowners. A public opinion poll in Honiara in June found that
85% of people agreed that landowners should have the first say
over any development of their land.
"This failure of the government to respect customary land rights
threatens the very foundation stone of Melanesian culture. It
is not government for the people but basic profiteering for a few
people," Makili said.
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CHRONOLOGY OF THE LOGGING OF PAVUVU ISLAND
Late 1800s to early 1900s: European missionaries, traders and
developers based in Russell Islands, forcing the resettlement of
local people to coastal areas and to small outer islands of the
group.
1920: British Colonial government Lands Commissioner recommends
the aquisition of Pavuvu forest land for 500 pounds, against the
agreement of landowners to sell only the areas already developed
by Lever's Pacific Plantation Ltd.
1978: Demonstration by Russell Islanders at Loun village over the
return ofPavuvu alienated land during a visit of the Governor
General Sir BaddleyDevesi.
1989: Levers International group of companies passes a policy of
not clearing rainforest.
1989: the people of Loun Islands present a proposal for the
return and resettlement of the "Alienated" land in Pavuvu
(currently leased by Levers Solomon Ltd).
1992: The Mamaloni government approves a logging licence on the
alienated lands of southern Pavuvu (a 1000 yard strip from the
coast inland), to Malaysian company Maving Brothers Ltd.
1992: Minister of Agriculture releases a resettlement scheme for
Pavuvu, coopting some parts of the Loun Islander 1989 proposal,
with the addition of a major agricultural development to follow
after the forest is logged and cleared.
1993: Maving Bros attempt to land on southern Pavuvu to build a
landing for machinery but are ousted by local people under the
threat that any machinery will be burnt.
1994
July: Russell Islanders express interest in carrying out
ecoforestry and ecotourism as part of their resettlement of
Pavuvu.
October: Lavukal people (indigenous Russell Islanders) work with
Greenpeace and the New Zealand Imported Tropical Timber Group on
a programme to develop ecotimber operations on Pavuvu.
November 1994: Billy Hilly NCP government overthrown. Mamaloni
returned to power.
December 1994: A meeting of all village leaders (over 100 men and
women) at Hae village in Russell Islands agrees unanimously to
have the alienated lands returned to a local landowner company
rather than being logged.
1995
January March: A 60% share in Levers Solomons Ltd is bought by
thegovernment body, Solomon Island Commodities Export Marketing
Authority. Levers still have a current lease over the alienated
lands of Pavuvu.
February: a vote of no confidence issued against Central Province
antilogging Premier, Nelson Ratu.
February: Maving Brothers abandon their logging concession at
Ataa, East Fataleka, Malaita, with many breaches of conditions,
including failing to build roads, schools, clinic, bridges, and
failure to meet the Standard Logging Agreement requirements.
February: Minister of Forests, Environment, and Conservation Alan
Kemakesa (also MP for Russell Islands and Savo) announces
government plans for logging of Pavuvu, including harvesting
895,000 cubic m of logs (more 6 times the assessed harvestable
volume for the whole of Pavuvu), and a resettlement scheme that
would include roads, a secondary school and a clinic.
February: Russell Island landowners vow to burn machinery and use
force to protect their customary land rights to Pavuvu.
March: Central Province Premier Nelson Ratu replaced by Peter
Manetiva, and two days later a business licence issued to Maving
Bros.
March: 33 bags of rice offered to Sau village as compensation for
garden plantations destroyed to develop a log pond. Sau people
reject the offer, saying they are not hungry and ask the
government to halt the proposed logging.
April 13th: a government paramilitary defence force (PMF) armed
with SL8 automatic rifles, smoke grenades and tear gas arrives
at Pavuvu to protect the recently arrived logging equipment.
April 18th: a large group of landowners travel to the log pond
to disrupt the movement of logging machinery on Pavuvu. 56 men
are detained and held at the log camp, with two being taken to
Yandina police station for questioning. All charges are
subsequently dropped.
May 12th: Catholic Church of Solomon Islands publicly condemns
the logging of Pavuvu.
May 19th: Opposition Party Mission release findings that the
logging of Pavuvu should be immediately terminated, and the
government should immediately transfer all portions of alienated
land on Pavuvu Island to the customary owners.
May 21st: Prime Minister Mamaloni attacks NGOs for meddling,
especially foreigners and naturalised citizens, warning them that
they will now be closely monitored. NGOs respond by requesting
the PM to substantiate the accusations or apologise to the NGOs,
accusing the Mamaloni government of being a dictatorship.
May 24th: Maving Brothers logging company rejects any
responsibility for the government resettlement programme.
May 28th: Government sends a secret mission of 11 people
(including two Ministers) to Russell Islands, without informing
local people, to gather support for their logging and
resettlement scheme. Reports of bribes and gifts abound.
1st June: News blackout on the Pavuvu Issue. Government pressure
on Solomon Islands Broadcasting Company and other media.
22nd June: Rally of 300 Russell Island supporters outside
parliament with a presentation of a petition to the deputy Prime
Minister.
30th June: Government report claims that majority of local
Russell Islanders support logging of Pavuvu.
3rd July: Three bulldozers burnt by angry local people.
Government send more police and use violence in their
investigation of the burnings.
20th July: Two log shipments with an estimated total of 7000m3
of logs valued at approx. US$1million leaves Pavuvu for Japan.
26th July: Fake Russell Island landowner Moses Pandai claims most
Russell Island landowners now support logging.
11th August: Russell Island customary landowners reaffirm their
total opposition to logging in a media release which goes
unreported in Solomon Islands media.
19th August: Greenpeace confirms local reports of illegal
logging on customary land, logging of undersize and protected nut
trees, pollution of a freshwater stream, logging within 50 metres
of a stream, and using a stream as a log skid trail.
25th August: Leaked secret Maving company plans confirm local
suspicion that the company intends to log all of Pavuvu Is,
including areas under clear customary ownership.
September: Local Russell Island landowners who have recently
completed the ecoforestry training make preparations for
Ecotimber harvesting on their land, including completing
Management Plans.
10th October: Half of the potential forests (all 2000 ha of the
"alienated lands") are logged by Maving Bros is the first 6
months, after previously claiming they would take one and a half
years to log it. Pressure begins on the landowners to allow
logging on their actual customary land.
30th October: Russell Island anti-logging leader Martin Apa is
murdered on Yandina Wharf. Pro-logging locals are suspected of
carrying out the murder.
30th November: A month after the murder of Martin Apa, the
Solomons government has still yet to send a CID team to
investigate and find his killers.
1st December: Solomon Star reporter Duran Angiki is sacked after
writing an article documenting bribes paid to government
Ministers by a Malaysian Co.
3rd and 4th December: Timber Rights meeting to be held by Russell
Island Area Council at the request of Maving Bros, to begin
logging on customary land. Duran Angiki says he's taking legal
action against the Solomon Star newspaper, claiming unfair
dismissal. Seven Cabinet Ministers face logging-related
corruption charges in Honiara Central Magistrates Court. They are
due to appear again in January 1996. Another Minister and his
deputy will appear at the same court next week on similar
corruption charges.
ENDS
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FOR GREENPEACE SUPPORTERS AND OTHER NGO's ONLY
What You Can Do
* Don't buy tropical timber from Solomon Is unless it is from a
certified ecoforestry source
* Send a letter to the Prime Minister of Solomon Islands, Solomon
Mamaloni, urging him to halt the logging immediately, return the
Pavuvu lands to the customary owners and fully investigate Martin
Apa's murder.
Model Letter:
Prime Minister of Solomon Islands
Rt Hon Solomon Mamaloni
Prime Ministers Office
P.O. Box G1
HONIARA
Solomon Islands
Fax: 677 26088
Dear Prime Minister
Logging of your country's forests has been in the news a lot
lately. I was shocked to read that your government is supporting
a Malaysian company to log forests on Pavuvu Island when the
landowners strongly oppose it.
Of even more concern is the brutal murder of a local man who was
opposed to the logging, and that your government has failed to
investigate his death. From the outside it seems that your
country is slipping further towards violent conflict similar to
neighbouring Bougainville, and that the foreign logging companies
have more say in the running of the country than the people of
Solomon Islands.
I have been told that customary rights to land and resources is
the cornerstone of Solomon Islands and Melanesian culture. The
lesson the world over is that abuses of indigenous peoples'
rights haunt and burden future generations, as they have to
redress the injustice at some stage. Is this the legacy you wish
on your grandchildren? Also, with the excessively high rates of
logging occurring in your country, surely it would be better to
support local village people to use their forest resources in a
way that is sustainable, such as the small-scale timber
production plans by the Russell Islanders.
I urge you to halt logging on Pavuvu Island immediately before
further blood is shed within the Russell Island communities, and
return all lands alienated from the customary owners back to
those rightful owners. I urge you also to immediately start an
investigation of Martin Apa's death and ensure that justice is
carried out.
yours sincerely
name