Rainforest: Uganda President: Balance Rainforest With Development

[Guest guest]

Uganda President: Balance Rainforest With Development

 

POSTED: 1354 GMT (2154 HKT), April 20, 2007

 

Story Highlights

• Uganda wants to convert rainforest into a sugar cane estate

• The president says ecology concerns must not derail industrialization

• Violent protests over converting nearly a third of Mabira Forest

nature reserve

• Critics warn of an ecological disaster if the Mabira area is lost

 

 

KAMPALA, Uganda (Reuters) -- Shaken by days of violent protests and

criticized over his environmental credentials, Uganda's president

pleaded on Friday for concerns over rain forest conservation not to

derail industrialization.

 

" We ... need to balance the needs of preserving the eco-system with

the needs for changing the society from peasant to middle (and)

skilled working class, " President Yoweri Museveni said.

 

Museveni is embroiled in controversy over state plans to convert a

large chunk of a rainforest into sugarcane.

 

Last week, a protest against the plan -- to destroy 7,100 hectares or

nearly a third of Mabira Forest nature reserve for the Mehta Group's

sugar estate -- turned violent.

 

Three people were killed including a young ethnic Indian man stoned to

death by rioters.

 

Mehta is owned by a Ugandan family of Indian descent.

 

Police seized two opposition politicians on Friday who were attempting

to hold another demonstration. They carried them towards Kampala's

main police station, according to a witness.

 

That followed the arrest of two other opposition parliamentarians on

Tuesday, charged with participating in last week's riot. Tuesday's

arrests sparked further violence as police and pro-government

vigilantes beat protesters.

 

Ecologic disaster claimed

 

Critics say razing part of Mabira could have disastrous ecological

consequences, from soil erosion and silting to a drying climate, and

the loss of a buffer against polluting nearby Lake Victoria.

 

Museveni, in a double-page statement in the state-owned daily New

Vision, said he would ensure some forest near the lake would be left.

 

" Some 50-200 meters of forest belt next to the lake should never be

touched because it helps to filter the water flowing into the lake so

that it does not carry soil silt, " he said.

 

He said the government would plant forests in heavily eroded areas

elsewhere to compensate, especially on bare hilltops marginal for

agriculture.

 

But Uganda would never be able to protect the environment unless it

tackles poverty, he said.

 

" It is more difficult for a backward country to guard against

environmental degradation ... Government has no money to police the

environment. Too many people (are) in primitive agriculture, who in

the process destroy (it), " he said.

 

An expanded sugar estate would create jobs, export earnings from

surplus sugar and bring revenue for the government, he added.

 

Copyright 2007 Reuters. All rights reserved.

[Guest guest]

Now see, If I were the president of a country that was rainforest rich but

with a crying need for some industry of some kind to help my people, I would

hold the rainforests for hostage...

 

I would say, " okay you rich countries, you think these rainforests are so

darn valuable, pay us NOT to cut them down and help us figure out a way to

help my people feed themselves. "

 

And that's why I'm just a REALLY dumb stay at home mom. Thank your Gods that

I ain't YOUR leader!

 

ROFLMAO!

 

K

 

 

 

 

On 4/20/07, Butch Owen <butchbsi wrote:

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--

Cheers!

Kathleen Petrides

The Woobey Queen

Http://www.woobeyworld.com

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

The idea of turning productive rainforest into,

of all things, sugar cane fields, is an insult not

only to Gaia but to the imagination.

 

Come on guys, go find some creative ways to make

that forest worth more alive than dead!

 

Any efforts to conserve natural resources MUST

take the local people into account.

 

Fortunately there is enough for everyone's need.

Just not for everyone's greed.

 

I don't know what's in the Ugandan forests, but

I bet they are just as full of undiscovered herbal

treasures as the Amazon.

 

We are far from saving the whole jungle, but

recent years have seen a boom in trade in herbs,

both grown and sustainably harvested.

 

Here are some such sites

http://raintree.com

http://wholeworldbotanicals.com

http://wildhealing.net

 

Ien in the Kootenays

http://freegreenliving.com

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

The idea of turning productive rainforest into,

of all things, sugar cane fields, is an insult not

only to Gaia but to the imagination.¶

 

 

 

[Dave:] Sad to say, but there’s a whole ‘nuther way of looking at it, and

the key word is “productive.” You and I are thinking about value, the

greater good, but the other and more common way of looking at it is simply

money. Cultivating and managing the rain forest for longterm productivity

is the way to provide greater value over time. Turning it into sugar cane

fields is the way to provide a lot of cash in the short run. There have not

been a great many societies on this earth whose paradigm was, “We must

consider the consequences of our actions unto the seventh generation.”

Those that were on the land got wiped out by US. There’s still time for

mankind to learn to be a steward of the planet, but not a lot of it – and

what will it take? So many paradigms have to change. We have to learn the

difference between real value and simple money. We have to understand that

we don’t need three-fourths of the stuff we have, and that to share it

ennobles us. When I say we I don’t just mean middle-aged white guys like

myself, either. I mean everyone. What will it take? What will happen when

Gaia becomes deathly ill, and we are the disease? I completely agree that

the resources exist to give every person a decent life – but not if the

population continues to grow without limit.

 

 

 

Yesterday was the first day of Ridván in the Baha’i Faith, the holiest time

of the year. Many scriptures were read aloud in many languages. One of my

favorites is: “O SON OF SPIRIT! Noble have I created thee, yet thou hast

abased thyself. Rise then unto that for which thou wast created.”

 

 

 

Gandhi said: “You must be the change you want to see in the world.” That

by itself is a huge challenge and commitment, and in the end it hardly seems

enough. He also said: “Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is

very important that you do it.” So it seems to me that what he’s saying is

that it takes many individual drops to fill the bucket. We can’t do much

about it when some group of fools tears down a forest or bombs children. We

can however work where we are.

 

 

 

Well, you get my drift...I was startin to get all metaphysical on ya.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Version: 7.5.463 / Virus Database: 269.5.7/771 - Release 4/21/2007

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Version: 7.5.463 / Virus Database: 269.5.7/771 - Release 4/21/2007

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