/* Written 10:36 AM May 1, 1997 by nfnena in igc:nfn.tempforest */
From: Native Forest Network-ENA <nfnena@igc.apc.org>
International Indigenous & Environmental Alert--May 1997
CENTRAL AMERICA'S LARGEST VIRGIN RAINFOREST
IMMINENTLY THREATENED
International Neoliberalists Set To Chainsaw Nicaragua's North Atlantic
Coast
by the Native Forest Network Eastern North America Resource Center AND
the Burlington/Puerto Cabezas-Bilwi, Nicaragua Sister City Program
A bilateral delegation of US. and Nicaraguan environmental activists
recently returned from the Atlantic Coast with alarming information. The
group traveled up the Rio Coco to the isolated Bosawas Reserve, visited
displaced Miskito and Sumu communities near the gold mines of Bonanza
and Rosita, surveyed new logging roads on sacred indigenous land in
Wakamby and met with numerous governmental and non-governmental
organizations.
Logging in Nicaragua's North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) is
widespread already, but the indigenous community and environmental
destruction that will follow the new logging concessions in the North
Atlantic Coast will be severe. The concessions have been granted from
Nicaragua's central government to SOLCARSA. SOLCARSA, also know as Sol
de Caribe, is a Korean multinational.
Close to the boundaries of the BOSAWAS Reserve, which is the largest
tract of virgin rainforest in Central America, lies Wakamby. Wakamby is a
large tract of uncut tropical hardwood forest located between Rosita and
the BOSAWAS Reserve. SOLCARSA is cutting a road into valuable
hardwoods about 11.5 kilometers from the existing road. This area was
given in a concession as if it was private land, but it is not--it is
indigenous communal land. To date, this new project has cut only 4.5
kilometers, but given the speed of the operation, the 40 kilometers to
Puerto Cabezas, the regional capital and largest port, should not take long.
Plans are underway to lengthen the cityUs dock to accommodate the
increased trafficking of lumber and other products. Additionally, the
newly protected BOSAWAS Reserve (of which the indigenous peoples of the
region had little or no say in its formation)seems intended to legitimize
the opening of logging concessions that will decimate the rainforest
surrounding the BOSAWAS borders.
In Wakamby, the Miskito work force gets 30-45 Cordoba ($3-5) per day.
These workers were happy to get the work, but complained about the
wages. They keep 8 chainsaws running and are taking out an average of 80
large trees per day. Once the road is constructed this average will
increase considerably. Workers reported seeing tigers just two days prior
where they are cutting and other locals told us that numerous other bird
and animal species live in the area, including several types of wild boars,
wild cats, monkeys, deer, parrots, wild turkeys and ducks.
The community of Finicia is a mix of Sumu and Miskito indigenous people
located just outside of the mining town of Rosita. When SOLCARSA entered
this area last year, the household heads were each offered 1,500-2,000
Cordoba (US$120-$160) to relocate. They were also promised money to
move, a school and scholarships, electricity, drinking water, jobs and more.
And since the deal had already been signed with the leading member of the
Regional Council, Efrain Josejos, the leaders felt that they had little
ground to stand up to the company. But when community members continued
to show concern and displeasure with the deal, they were visited by 30
authorities including members of local and regional government and the
local military. It became dangerous for them to continue speaking out, and
the military threatened to blockade the road to their community if they did
not agree. So, they accepted and moved. The small amount of money that
was given was used up in moving expenses, and none of the other promises
were upheld.
This community has been asked again to move to make space to store the
wood that is being cut around them. They fear that the company will come
and clear all their fruit trees to make more room for their milling
operations. They are afraid of being forcibly evicted and left with even less
then they have now--basically a small, single-roomed bamboo shack with a
few pots and pans, one change of clothing per person and no bedding. When
the village leader, an elder, went numerous times to complain to officials
about broken promises by the corporation, the local courts decided in favor
of the concessions. The elder was told that the promises that were given to
the community were from the past company administration and that the
new administration had no obligation to uphold them. When members of the
community tried to pick up scrap lumber to improve their houses, they
were turned away. SOLCARSA would rather burn what they considered
waste then to help in any way the very people that they have dislocated.
The elder told us that to some people the children of their community may
have no value, but to the people of Finicia, they are the world. He asked us
to please make a clear, honest story for the international bodies of justice
and human rights to "say what is happening to the daughters and sons of
the Indigenous Land."
Another SOLCARSA installation is further northwest in an area known as
Kukalaya. It involves most valuable mahogany in the region, also on sacred
Sumu land. We were brought to the area by Ernesto Almendrez, the
President of TRENAMAKS--the Territory for the Sustainable Development
of the Mayanna (Sumu) of Kuhkanawas. These seventeen TRENAMAKS
communities, made up of 356 families from the banks of the Rio Bambana,
have outlined a 90,000 hectare piece of their traditional land upon from
which they are being forced to relocate. Due to the irreversible
contamination of the Rio Bambana, the most contaminated river in the
region (with mercury and other toxins from the silver and gold mines of
Siuna-Rosita-Bonanza), these communities must find a healthier place to
live. The contamination of the rivers destroys the livelihood of the
community. The fish that they eat has long since died or is unsafe to
consume, the beans that they grow on the banks of the river don't survive in
the now infertile land. The wild bamboo that they use to build houses is
disappearing from the contamination. Up and down the river, women put
themselves in danger as they spend many days waist-high in the river
washing clothes; the children swim there, unaware of the toxicity.
The Nicaraguan North and South Atlantic Autonomous Zones make up 50% of
the land mass of the nation but contains a diverse population (Miskito,
Sumu, Creole, Garifuna, Mestizo and Rama)of barely 500,000. This region is
becoming known internationally for the abundance of natural resources,
with almost no barriers to rampant exploitation, and a desperate labor
force that can be hired for low wages. Although legally granted political
autonomy by the Sandinista government in 1987, the limitations of the
regionUs law are becoming more and more evident. The central
governmentUs hesitancy to allow change comes from their ability to control
almost all of the regionUs natural resources and these sales. For example,
the majority of land is property of the indigenous communities and it is
written in the constitution that IT CANNOT BE SOLD; still large sales are
common. It is also in the constitution that the natural resources (i.e..
minerals below the ground, or trees above) belong to the state. And while it
is also states that the natural state of the country should be maintained,
the wording is so broad sweeping and general that there are no avenues to
confirm compliance or to provide oversight.
WHAT YOU CAN DO--Fax or send letters of protest to MARENA (Nicaragua's
Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment), demanding that the logging
concessions granted to SOLCARSA be rescinded and the rights and
sovereignty of the indigenous peoples be respected:Ministro de MARENA, Sr.
Roberto Statadhgen, Carretera Norte Km. 12.5, Managua, Nicaragua FAX
(505-2)631373 or (505-2)631274.
For further information please contact the Native Forest Network and/or
the Burlington/Puerto Cabezas-Bilwi Sister City Program. We will be
mounting an international campaign to stop this travesty:
Burlington/Puerto Cabezas-Bilwi Sister City Program, Attn.: Mary Brook,
21 Church St., Burlington, VT 05401 USA, Tel: (802) 865-4074, FAX: (802)
863-2532
Native Forest Network, Attn.: Orin Langelle, POB 57, Burlington,VT 05402
USA, Tel: (802) 863-0571, FAX: (802) 863-2532, e-mail: nfnena@igc.apc.org