412 - Asia & Southeast Asia Tree News

[Guest guest]

412 - Asia & Southeast Asia Tree News

--Today for you 27 news articles about earth's trees! (412th edition)

--Periodic tree news thoughts texted to your phone via:

http://twitter.com/ForestPolicy

--Audio and Video version of Earth's Tree News: http://forestpolicyresearch.org

--To Subscribe / to the world-wide email format send a

blank email to:

earthtreenews- OR

earthtreenews-

 

In this issue:

 

Asia & SE Asia

 

Index:

 

--China: 1) Every train in town of Suifenhe near Russian border brings

in one commodity

 

--Russia: 2) Catching illegal loggers near town of Dalnerechensk, 3)

World's richest undeveloped forest resources.

 

--Kashmir: 4) Massive encroachment and increase in human activities,

5) All Jammu and Kashmir Non-Gazetted Forest Officers present list of

employee demands, 6) Student cheered for blaming troopers and

militants for vandalization of forests,

 

--India: 7) Only undisturbed rainforest left in Sri Lanka, 8)

Diversion of forest land for industrial and infrastructural projects

was illegal, 9) Free-run of timber mafia in Simlipal Biosphere

Reserve, 10) Tree-starved Bapunagar and Odhav, 11) Message on the

occasion of Wildlife Protection Week, 12) Media has an important role

to play in the conservation of forests, 13) Night time chopping of

city trees, 14) Tamarindus indica,

 

--Vietnam: 15) Destruction of Watershed forests of the Huong River,

16) Reserve forest in Lung Pang Hamlet is visited every day by

hundreds of loggers,

 

--Burma: 17) Karen National Union ends logging restrictions in

territory it controls

 

--Philippines: 18) Gov. Grace campaigns against illegal logging, 19)

Gov. Grace cont. 20) Aiming to leave a legacy of increased forest

cover on Bohol's denuded lands,

 

--Malaysia: 21) Indigenous in Saraway reject plant to turn 80,000

hectares into oil palm, 22) Penan's blockade in middle Baram, 23)

First Palm oil plantation to be eco-certified? 24) More on reasons for

Penan blockades, 25) Penan cont. 26) Penan cont. 27) Attempts to

replace Penan reps. fail,

 

Articles:

 

China:

 

1) The town of Suifenhe, a former Russian imperial outpost on the

Trans-Siberian Railway, has belonged to China since the

nineteen-forties, and occupies a broad valley in northern Manchuria.

From a distance, its homes and factories appear to cling to a rail

yard, with tracks fanning out into a vast latticework of iron as they

emerge from the Russian border. Suifenhe is a place of singular

purpose. Nearly every train from Russia brings in just one commodity:

wood—oak, ash, linden, and other high-value species. There is also

poplar, aspen, and larch, and occasionally great trunks of Korean

pine, a species that was logged by the Soviets until there was almost

none left to cut down. In a year, more than five billion pounds of

wood cross over from Primorski Krai, the neighboring province in the

Russian Far East. Hundreds of railcars enter Suifenhe every day, many

loaded beyond capacity with logs. The wood is shuttled between mills

by hand, often six men to a log. Other workers, many of whom are

migrants from elsewhere in China, operate cranes to empty the rail

carriages, and at sundown they bring the machinery to rest, with beams

pointing upward, like arms outstretched, waiting for the rush of

timber that will arrive the following day. On a warm afternoon last

May, an environmental activist named Alexander von Bismarck and a man

whom I will call Wu De entered Suifenhe by taxi. They had brought with

them surveillance equipment; they were working for a nonprofit group

called the Environmental Investigation Agency, which tries to uncover

how plants, wildlife, and industrial chemicals are smuggled. Von

Bismarck is the organization's executive director, and one of the

world's leading experts on timber smuggling. He is thirty-six years

old, trim and tall, with fiery red hair, but he possesses a quiet

bearing that allows him to recede in a crowd. (Most people know him as

Sascha, but a few friends call him RoboCop, because once, while in the

tropics, he insisted on jogging in hundred-degree heat.) Wu is from

Southeast Asia, but he is fluent in Mandarin Chinese. Both men had

prepared false identities, as employees of Axion Trading—one of

several companies created by E.I.A. as fronts. Chances are good that

if an item sold in the United States was recently made in China using

oak or ash, the wood was imported from Russia through Suifenhe.

Because as much as half of the hardwood from Primorski Krai is

harvested in violation of Russian law—either by large companies

working with corrupt provincial officials or by gangs of men in remote

villages—it is likely that any given piece of wood in the city has

been logged illegally. This wide-scale theft empowers mafias, robs the

Russian government of revenue, and assists in the destruction of one

of the most precious ecosystems in the Northern Hemisphere. Lawmakers

in the province have called for " emergency measures " to stem the flow

of illegal wood, and Russia's Minister of Natural Resources has said

that in the region " there has emerged an entire criminal branch

connected with the preparation, storage, transportation, and selling

of stolen timber. "

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/10/06/081006fa_fact_khatchadourian

 

Russia:

 

2) Not far from a logging town called Dalnerechensk— " For me, it is

painful to see this wilderness disappear—and it is useless, actually,

because nobody is profiting from the disappearance, " he said. " It

could be justified if our country, our people, would get some real

profit from this harvesting. I think the head of these gangs, they are

only thinking about their pockets. They are not thinking about the

future, and the people who are living here. " The search continued

fruitlessly until midafternoon, when someone saw a flash of color

behind a row of trees. In the distance, several men were standing near

a pile of logs that was worth several thousand dollars. Vladimir and

von Bismarck made their way through the woods to them. It is difficult

to describe the sense of uncertainty that precedes a confrontation

among strangers who are so far removed from civilization. As Vladimir

drew near, he removed a handgun from a holster and transferred it to

his jacket pocket. Vladimir approached the men, but, as they spoke,

another logger about fifty feet away powered up a chain saw and cut

into a tree. It must have been the final cut, because the tree came

crashing into a blanket of snow. " So a tree fell down, and, for me,

when you hear a tree falling it is like the Holy Grail, " von Bismarck

said. " Because when we are trying to catch these guys, I mean, just

the visual of an illegal logger in action, actually cutting down a

tree—we have really only gotten it once, in Indonesia, and we have

used that image a lot. " With one foot, he stabilized the felled tree,

and with a bright-orange chain saw he began to sever it into logs.

Vladimir approached him. " The logger looked up and his face went numb,

and then you could see him making a kind of fight-or-flight decision, "

von Bismarck recalled. For an instant, nothing happened, and then the

logger began to run. Vladimir yelled, in Russian, " Where are you

going? " The man kept running, and Vladimir raised his gun over his

head and fired a shot, but the man did not slow down. Vladimir was now

running, too, through the snow, which was knee deep in places, and von

Bismarck, with his camera, was not far behind, attempting to

photograph the arrest. The chase seemed to move in slow motion. In

winter, when the vegetation is brittle and devoid of leaves, there are

not many places to hide in a forest. Still, the logger, middle-aged

and visibly out of shape, ran with startling alacrity. In one hand, he

was carrying his chain saw. Twigs snapped against his body. " " I was

eager to stay right with Vladimir, right over his shoulder, to get the

shot, " he said. The logger continued running, so Vladimir fired his

gun into the air again, and an instant later he grabbed the logger by

the arm, and the chase came to an abrupt end.

http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/10/06/081006fa_fact_khatchadourian

 

3) Russia has the world richest undeveloped forest resources. Thus,

reliable basic factors are available. The remaining world, however,

believes that the most noticeable event in the forest and paper

industries is the Russian plan to impose strict duties on raw timber

exports at the moment when the country is turning into the global

leader in timber export. Before 1 July 2007, the duty was 6.5%

(minimum of €4 per cu m). For softwood, the duties increased to 20%

and 25 % since 1 July 2007 and 1 April 2008 respectively. The early

2009 will see a further increase up to 80% (minimum of €50 per cu m).

As for birch, the introduction of the new duty is postponed until

2011, when it will jump up from zero to 80%. The already introduced

and the forthcoming tariff escalation worry both Russia's neighbors

who placed stake on cheap deliveries and more remote markets. The

impetus for such a plan is Russia's desire to develop its own

manufacture of forest products with added value to be delivered to the

domestic and export markets. If such a program is implemented in full,

timber harvesting will become economically unviable unless the timber

is processed on site. The effectiveness of this tariff policy in terms

of achieving the set targets is questionable. Some processing

investment attempts have already been made; however, despite the

abundant offer, large-scale pulp project still wait for their time to

come. So, the level of harvest in Russia, at least, in the short-term

perspective, may go down jeopardizing the international timber market

in the future. Potential foreign investors are very cautious about

investing heavily into Russia ignoring the fast growing domestic

demand and high export capacity and focusing on the absence of

developed infrastructure, illegal cuttings and risks related to the

governmental policy in the forest sector. However, Russia possesses

the biggest underdeveloped and underused natural resources stock and

borders the vastest international market – China. Considering the

sharp increase of Russian export duties, investments into timber

processing in Russia seem quite justified economic-wise.

http://lemn.fordaq.com/fordaq/news/RussianForestIndustry_17922.html

 

Kashmir:

 

4) The massive encroachment and increase in human activities,

including presence of troops in the forests has drastically affected

the wildlife leading to upsurge in incidents of man-animal conflict in

the Valley, experts said on Saturday. " The presence of Army and

security forces in the forests is one of the reasons for man-animal

conflict in the state, " said the chief wildlife warden, A K

Shrivastava during a function organised at SKICC here by the Wildlife

Department to mark the Wildlife Week. During the past 18 years, the

troops have permanently settled in the forests of the Valley and

experts believe that disturbance caused by their movements forced the

wild animals to roam into the lower areas for food. At least 30

persons have died and hundreds injured due to attacks of the wild

animals during two years. Scores of wild animals, including 25

leopards also lost their lives in the incidents. Shrivastava said the

increase in population and changes in land use patterns has led to

degradation of eco-system, including forests and subsequently affected

the habitat of wild animals. " The decrease in forest covers due to

felling of trees and encroachments of forests have also led to

increase in man-animal conflict, " he said. " We have devised action

plans, including eco-tourism, for conservation of wildlife and are

committed to reduce pressure on forests and wetlands by providing

natural and safe habitat to the wild animals, " he added. Pertinently,

the state is home to important wildlife species, including the

endangered Snow Leopard, Brown Bear, Musk Deer and critically

endangered Hangul, Chiru and Markhor. Although, there has been a

blanket ban on hunting of wild animals during the past 20 years, the

wild animals face threat mainly due to infringement into their

habitat.

http://www.greaterkashmir.com/full_story.asp?Date=5_10_2008 & ItemID=21 & cat=1

 

5) Srinagar: A delegation of All Jammu and Kashmir Non-Gazetted Forest

Officers' Association called on the advisor forests and presented him

the charter of employees' demands. The delegation stressed the need

for formulation of effective forest policy for the protection of

forests and resolution of employees' demands. The advisor issued on

the spot instructions to the special secretary forests for the

settling the issue of PSCRO Ist due to which confirmation and

promotion cases were kept withheld. The provincial president Kashmir

Bhat and state president Shah were present on the occasion. The

members sought the removal of pay anomalies before implementation of

6th pay commission, risk allowance, increase in the number of ROA

posts. Meanwhile, the Association has urged all the basic members and

office-bearers to ensure their presence in the monthly meeting being

held on October 10, to finalize the programme for a large open meeting

to raise protests against the anti-employees elements and officers who

had issue fraud seniority list to provide promotions to their

favourites and delayed issuance of the final seniority list for two

years without any justification.

http://www.greaterkashmir.com/full_story.asp?Date=27_9_2008 & ItemID=20 & cat=21

 

6) When a student blamed the troopers and militants for vandalization

of forests in Kashmir, the audience could not resist cheering her with

profuse clapping. The occasion was the World Tourism Day when she

spoke on environment and tourism during a debate. And, her

presentation won her the first prize. " The conflict in Kashmir has a

devastating effect on our forests as both army and militants chopped

down the trees and sold them in black market, " said Azmat Ali, a

student of Presentation Convent, while participating in the debate

organized by the Tourism department at the Institute of Hotel

Management here. Pertinently, the United Nations World Tourism

Organization has suggested 'Tourism: Responding to the challenge of

climatic change and global warming' as this year's theme. And, almost

all the participants expressed concern over the degradation of forests

and water bodies in the Valley and underscored the need for

conservation. " The forest cover is gradually declining. There is

tremendous pressure on our forest and water bodies. The construction

of Gondola led to chopping of hundreds of trees in Gulmarg. The once

famous Dal is on the verge of extinction. The continuous inflow of

sewage from houseboats and settlements has intensified its decay.

Similarly, Lidder river in Pahalgam has turned into a cesspool as in

absence of proper garbage disposal system, the pilgrims threw all

sorts of litter into it, " Azmat said. Another student of Presentation

Convent, Zarqa Shabbir, stressed the need for conservation. " You

cannot buy nature. I ask you to let the trees grow. I ask you maintain

environmental harmony, " she said. Zarqa secured second position in the

debate. In his address, the director Tourism, Farooq Ahmad Shah,

referred to the negative impact of global warming and climatic change.

" We have acquired all the luxuries of life but at a huge cost. But all

is not lost. Time is ripe for joining hands and work for environmental

preservation, " Shah said. The former director-general, Tourism,

Muhammad Ashraf, said there was hardly any tourism destination which

was not facing problems. " We should stress on sustainable development.

Tourism department has taken many initiatives for environmental

preservation and now they should concentrate on more

environment-friendly measures, " Ashraf said. " Whether by default or by

intent, we have to accept that damage to the environment has been

caused. This is high time for introspection and resolve to preserve

our forests and water bodies for posterity, " said former

director-general, Tourism, Muhammad Saleem Baig The secretary Tourism,

Nayeem Akhtar, who was chief guest, took exception to the notion that

tourism was one of the major causes of environmental degradation

particularly in Valley. " The bitter truth is we have destroyed

environment without tourists. France has more tourists inflow than its

population.

http://www.greaterkashmir.com/full_story.asp?Date=28_9_2008 & ItemID=39 & cat=1

 

India:

 

7) The Siaharaja forest is the only undisturbed rainforest Left in sri

Lanka. It is about 9000hectares in extent. Many of the plants are very

rare.over60% of the tree Species are found only in the lowland wet

zone of Sri Lanka. If these species of these are allowed to get

Destroyed, the world would lose them altogether. So it is important

that much effort is made to conserve this rich, valuable and fragile

habitat. The sinharaja rainforest is the largest rainforest reserve in

sri Lanka.In1840sinharaja became a crown Property. In 1988 the

sinharaja was made a National Wildernessarea.In1989 Unesco included

the sinharaja Forest in the World heritage list as the first national

Heritage of sri Lanka. The sinharaja forest is home to many rare

animals, Birds, butterflies, insects, reptiles and trees. Ferns and

Mosses grow well as the climate is humid because of Heavy rainfall.

The vegetation Vegetation means trees, shrubs, herbs and woody

Climbers. The average height of trees in the sinharaja Varies between

35 to 40 metres. Some trees are above Metres. Reptiles Studies have

recorded 45 varietes of reptiles. These Include snakes, lizards and

tortoises. The viper and the Cobra are among the venomous species.

consrvation of Sinharaja is of vital necessity. It ensures the

maintenance Of water resources. It also controls floods, which is a

Constant threat due to heavy rainfall in the area. My email address

Gayanathula

http://gayan23.wordpress.com/2008/09/27/sinharaja-rainforest/

 

8) The Congress general secretary Kishore Chandra Deo has pointed out

to PM Manmohan Singh that the diversion of forest land for industrial

and infrastructural projects before the implementation of Forest

Rights Act (FRA) was illegal. Deo, who has been pitching for the FRA

in the face of inhouse resistance, has noted that UPA's celebrated

pro-tribal law stops the government from removing the forest dwellers

till their claims for land rights were settled. The 2006 Act is meant

to legally recognize the rights of dwellers who have been

traditionally living in the forests but without any legal right to the

land. The process for dwellers to file claims for land rights and a

verification by the state is in early stages and could take upto six

months to be clinched across the country. What has irked Deo, AICC

leader and MP from a tribal constituency of Andhra Pradesh, is that

land was being acquired by states for industrial projects pending the

settlement of land rights under Forest Rights Act. Approached by TOI,

Deo said, " The objective of the law was to relocate only after their

claims were settled. The PM has acknowledged the letter and forwarded

it to environment and forest ministry. " The diversion of forest land

for development and private projects is carriedout under Forest

Conservation Act, 1980, which does not require the government to

consider the existing occupants' rights while transferring lands. But

Deo has argued that with the FRA coming into play, the circumstances

have changed. In his letter, he has pointed out, " It is unfortunate

that both the courts and the government are flagrantly flouting the

provisions of (forest rights) law. " He has also noted that even the

community forest lands cannot be taken over till claims of 'gram

sabhas' are settled. The FRA also provides for gram sabhas to claim

community rights over their traditional forests. If the central

government accepts Deo's argument, then the mining and power sectors

requiring land would be left to negotiate with 'gram sabhas' instead

of the Union environment and forest ministry. With hydropower and

mining projects requiring large tracts of forest lands, a strict

implementation of the Act, a la Deo, could put all forest clearances

on hold till the land rights were settled.

http://forests.org/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=107759

 

9) Cuttack - The state government's scant regard for high court

notices prompted by a PIL, seeking a curb on illegal tree felling and

free-run of timber mafia in Simlipal Biosphere Reserve, has aggravated

denudation in the area. The PIL had sought the court's direction to

the government to either hand over protection of Simlipal to the

Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) or raise a Forest Reserve

Protection Force in Orissa. With the government not buying any of the

proposals offered in the PIL, the denudation of the vast stretches of

forest and greenery in Simlipal has aggravated. The timber mafia, with

the help of local tribals, rules the roost in Simlipal. The illegal

activities flourish mostly in Josipur, Bangriposi, Shyamakhunta and

Kaptipada and the stolen timbers allegedly find their way to

neighbouring Bengal en route to Baripada and Balasore. The wilful

non-compliance to a high court order related to it, it seems to have

been detected when a PIL filed way back in 1998 came up in the list

for hearing last week before the two-judge bench of Chief Justice B.S.

Chauhan and Justice B.N. Mohapatra. Pravat Ranjan Dash, a high court

lawyer, had filed the petition in 1998 soon after then state

environment and forest minister Prasanna Das admitted in the Assembly

that an inter-state timber mafia was behind the rampant tree felling

in the Simlipal reserve. The minister had further raised concern over

the administration's inability to check the menace. Das had filed the

PIL quoting the minister's statement in the Assembly. Acting on the

PIL, the high court had issued notices to both the Centre and the

state government asking their reply about the steps to be taken to

protect the Simlipal Biosphere Reserve. But the state government is

yet to submit an affidavit. Taking note of it Chief Justice Chauhan

expressed displeasure and issued fresh notices to the government to

file an affidavit within three weeks stating the steps taken and plans

drawn up for protection and preservation of the reserve. " The case

will be taken up for hearing on submission of the affidavit by the

state government as the Centre has already submitted a reply, " the

court said. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1080929/jsp/nation/story_9897005.jsp

 

10) Ahmedabad: In tree-starved Bapunagar and Odhav, this is the last

remaining patch of green. But now, the trees, standing tall for over

70 years, are ready to be felled due to a road expansion by the

Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC). Residents have now threatened

to do a 'chipko movement' if AMC tries to cut these trees lined along

the 500-metre stretch. Anticipating an AMC team, the residents here

have even formed a squad that would be up late in the night, in case

the civic body tries to bring down the trees. There are close to 200

trees along the Rakhial road and the stretch along Odhav road. Some

trees like tamarind and neem trees are over 70 years old. Residents of

the seven odd chawls here had even suggested that a portion of the

road which also includes the tree stretch could be converted to a

shady public footpath. AMC officials, along with a team of contractors

assigned for the job, had even asked the residents to give the

suggestion in writing. The tree line the Bharat Bobbin factory. " The

company had even protected the tree stretch by providing a fence to

protect the plants against animals. Besides, this is the last

surviving green stretch in eastern side of the city. Uprooting these

trees and then re-planting them would be a costly proposition, " says

another resident Sheraz Khambhata. However, a senior AMC official said

that the tree stretch lies on AMC part of the road line and the

chopping has become necessary. " We have grown old seeing these trees

which line the Bharat Bobbin factory on Rakhial road. The trees fall

on the eight feet expansion of the road and would be a major loss to

the area. We cannot lose these green lungs, " says Armanbhai Khan who

lives in the neighbouring Ajit Mill Chali in Rakhial area.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Ahmedabad/New_chipko_movement_to_axe_AMC_tree\

-felling_plan/articleshow/3561090.cms

 

 

11) In his message on the occasion of Wildlife Protection Week, the

Chief Minister said that forest cover has depleted due to population

explosion and requirement of increased forest produce. This has

resulted into decrease in areas where wild animals can move freely.

Chouhan said that apart from conserving forests and wildlife, the

state government is making efforts to ensure development of the people

living in villages surrounding protected areas. He noted that the

schemes for protection and development of wildlife through public

participation have yielded encouraging results. The Chief Minister

said that every year in the first week of October, Wildlife Protection

Week is observed with a view to spreading awareness about conservation

of forests and wildlife and instilling love among people towards them.

Meanwhile, Forest and Tribal Welfare Minister Kunwar Vijay Shah has

said that conservation of forests and wildlife is imperative for

protecting environment. Shah said that still there are dense forests

in a large part of Madhya Pradesh. He informed that Madhya Pradesh has

achieved new dimensions in wildlife protection and the state

government has increased the amount of compensation for the loss of

human as well as cattle life due to attack of wild animals. Besides,

initiative has also been taken to give compensation to farmers whose

crops are destroyed by wild animals. He has appealed to people to take

active part in and give support on the occasion of Wildlife Protection

Week. Minister of State for Forests Narayan Singh Kushwaha has said

that forests and forest dwellers are inseparable parts of nature. The

Minister said that several effective steps have been taken in Madhya

Pradesh with a view to ensuring public participation in wildlife

protection and these steps have yielded encouraging results as well.

He noted that interest of human beings has also been taken into

consideration while undertaking wildlife protection and conservation.

He hoped that all the people will co-operate and support protection of

forests and wildlife.

http://www.centralchronicle.com/20081001/0110022.htm

 

12) Van Vihar National Park is organizing Wildlife Week-2008 from

October 1 to 7, 2008. In the present scenario media has an important

role to play in the conservation of forests as well wildlife. With

this in view, a media workshop on conservation of forests and wildlife

is being organised on October 5. Names of representatives for taking

part in the workshop can be sent by September 30. Van Vihar has felt

the need that the management should sensitise the media on

conservation even more so that misconceptions in the media can be

removed. For this purpose, a workshop for journalists of print and

electronic media has been organised by Van Vihar management on

conservation of wildlife as well as forests on October 5, 2008 from 10

am to 2 pm. The topics of the workshop include 'Forests and main wild

animals of Madhya Pradesh', 'Wildlife management' and 'Media's role in

conservation of forests and wildlife'. Experts will give insight to

the participants on these wildlife-related issues. Conservator of

Forests and Director, Van Vihar, Bhopal has appealed to Bhopal's

newspaper groups and electronic media channels to send the name of one

each representative from their respective institutions for taking part

in the workshop by September 30, 2008 positively. The names should be

sent to the office of Director, Van Vihar National Park, Bhopal.

Representative's address and mobile number should be necessarily sent.

http://www.centralchronicle.com/20080927/2709022.htm

 

13) KOLKATA: In yet another assault upon the city's greenery, 10

full-grown trees were chopped on Thursday night on one of the city's

busiest thoroughfares — Prince Anwar Shah Road. The trees, which were

decades old, were felled according to a well-devised plan. Sources in

Kolkata Municipal Corporation said that these Arjun, Chhatim and Badam

trees were hacked by an electric saw. Since the tree-felling exercise

was carried out in the dead of night, local residents realized what

happened only on Friday morning. It was a major shock to a section of

local residents who woke up on Friday morning and found that these

full-grown trees had vanished. " I was shocked to find that these

trees, which gave us shade and absorbed vehicular pollution, were no

longer there, " said Jayanti Sen, a teacher. Residents informed the KMC

control room and the civic authorities swung into action. Faiyaz Ahmed

Khan, the mayor-in-council member overseeing the KMC parks department,

rushed to the spot and inquired about the hacking. Later, Khan said

that it could have been a gameplan of local cable operators who found

the trees were blocking their cable lines. " Though it is too early to

say who were behind it, a section of cable operators could be the

culprits, " the MMiC said.

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Kolkata_/Full-grown_trees_hacked_down_at_nigh\

t/articleshow/3532924.cms

-

http://advocatekamalkumarpandey.wordpress.com/2008/09/29/daily-legal-news-290920\

08/

 

14) The Tamarind, Tamarindus indica, Indian date native to tropical

Africa, belongs to Family: Fabaceae. The genus Tamarindus, is

monotypic with single species. The fruit was well known to the ancient

Egyptians and to the Greeks in the 4th Century B.C.E. A traditional

food plant in Africa, known to improve nutrition, boost food security,

foster rural development and support sustainable land care. The fruit

pulp is edible, used as a spice in both Asian and Latin American

cuisines, and India. The hard green pulp of a young fruit is very tart

and acidic and is most often used as a component of savory dishes. The

ripened fruit is sweeter, yet still distinctively sour, and can be

used in desserts and sweetened drinks, or as a snack. A sweet variety

with little to no tartness grown in Thailand specifically to be eaten

as a fresh fruit. Tamarind is available in food stores worldwide in

pod form or as a paste or concentrate. The pulp, leaves, and bark also

have medical applications. Used in Ayurvedic Medicine for gastric

and/or digestion problems and also in malaria fever. According to

HorticulturistDr. Narayanaswamy the tamarind trees have a life cycle

of not more than 400to 500 years. But interestingly a tree among

thousands planted in the beginning of the 12 th cenury, during the

time of King Rajendra Chola, a renowned King of Chola nadu (presently

Tanjore, Trichy, Nagapattinanam Districts of Tamilnadu) who built

Chennakeshava Temple adjacent to the groove at the village Nallur in

Devanahalli taluk nearer to Bangalore. The tree is now 900 years old

met the hazards of lightening some 75to 80 years ago and stands

majestically with unusually well developed prop roots and root

suckers( My Forest Journal ,June 2004).The groove has now become a

bioheritage site. Dr.Kemppanna former Dy.Director of Indian council of

Agricultural Research,Mr.Prajapathi,Chief Conservator of Forest,

Karnataka and others are to present the case to preserve the Tamarind

grove as germplasm bank of tamarind and to protect it.

http://cottonsearch.blogspot.com/2008/09/900-years-old-tamarind-trees.html

 

Vietnam:

 

15) Watershed forests of the Huong River in central Viet Nam have

suffered rampant destruction over the last few years, but authorities

are passing the buck on the failure to take punitive measures. An

estimated 231.6 out of 11,306ha of forests have been destroyed in Hue

Province's Huong Tra District during the last four years. In 1993, the

Hue People's Committee had designated a team of forestry experts to

manage the protected watershed forests of Huong River in the district.

However, many residents have logged trees in the protected area to

augment their income and improve living standards. The destroyed area

includes a buffer area of 94.9 ha maintained to prevent soil erosion

along the embankment and coastal areas, and act as windbreaks in sandy

areas. Local authorities say that although the residents had been

fined several times, they continued to destroy the watershed forests.

The destroyed area has increased from 82.7ha of forest in 2006 to

231.6ha in 2008. Admitting that he had cleared the protected area to

plant acacia trees, Nguyen Tu Quan says he did it because of " poor

management from the local authority as well as forest management

team " . Quan had been fined many times but he has persisted with the

illegal activity. As many as 100 households living in or near

destroyed forest areas have participated in illegal activity. However,

they all claim to be unaware it was illegal. " With no land to farm, we

have to exploit the forest to earn money, " a villager said. In fact,

most forest area in Thua Thien-Hue is under the management of

State-owned farms or offices while local villagers face a shortage of

farm land. Cao Vuong Thien of Hong Tien Commune illegally cleared 16ha

of the forest in 2006 – 2007, but the provincial authorities have not

taken due action against him. The problem of illegal logging has

increased as the management team denied they were to blame.Over the

last four years, no violators have been punished. " The punishment is

the responsibility of relevant agencies, not our duty " , said Nguyen

Van Vuong, deputy head of the management team. " Our responsibilities

are only forest management and protection " . Meanwhile, Nguyen Xuan Ty,

Vice Chairman of Huong Tra District's People's Committee said although

the majority of illegal loggers were actually residents of the

district, action against them must be the duty of the management team.

The violators are now fined just VND100,000 (US$6.06) each, not enough

to deter them from continuing to fell the trees. The 231.6ha of

destroyed forest in Huong Tra District including protected and

cultivated forest was under the management board of Huong River's

watershed forest. Also according to the chief of the management board,

Nguyen Huu Cu, a main cause of rampant destruction was that the board

have no power to punish violators while the local people's committee

only dishes out light punishments.

http://news.tourthailand.org/asia-news/vietnam-news/trees-keep-falling-while-aut\

horities-bicker.html

 

16) A forest in Lung Pang Hamlet of the northern province of Bac Kan,

part of a nature reserve, is visited every day by hundreds of loggers.

Hoang Duc Toan, head of the hamlet in Na Ri District's Con Minh

Commune, admits he has little power to stop them. Earlier this month

he decided to resign the position he has held for the past decade.

Toan said he has complained about the problem to the authorities for

more than a year " but no one cares. " " I feel powerless and I won't do

any work for the hamlet or take part in any meeting with the commune

from now on, " he said. Lung Pang Hamlet is home to 32 families of the

Dao minority group. The families used to depend on seven hectares of

corn field to earn up to VND1.2 million (US$72) a year each. But the

lure of making bigger profits from logging means most of the 132

locals have switched occupations. Since Toan began openly opposed

logging activities, locals in the hamlet have rarely talked to him and

no longer invite him into their homes. His brother-in-law once managed

a timber mill in the local nature reserve and his youngest son is a

logger. " My family has quarreled many times, " said Toan. " Who am I to

stop the logging when my own son is part of it? " " I'm isolated in this

hamlet as 95 percent of families are involved in logging, " Toan said.

In August, Bac Kan Province forest rangers found 11.7 cubic meters of

logs in the commune. Con Minh Commune People's Committee Chairman

Trieu Thi Len said the administration has sent teams of police and

forestry officials to investigate but they had not uncovered any

evidence of illegal logging there since July. Many Con Minh Commune

locals don't believe the authorities have done much to stop the

logging. They even harbor suspicions that some officials must be

protecting the loggers. There's only one way from each hamlet to the

forest in the nature reserve, which passes by a rangers' station, said

commune local Ma. " But log wagons keep running out of the forest every

day and no one stops them. "

http://www.thanhniennews.com/features/?catid=10 & newsid=42737

 

Burma:

 

17) The Karen National Union (KNU) is slashing logging restrictions in

territory it controls near Three Pagodas Pass on the Thai-Burma

border. The change in timber policy comes before the KNU is expected

to retreat in the face of an expected offensive by the Democratic

Karen Buddhist Army (DKBA). Timber stands in the Makate and Kyunchaung

forests, respectively nine and thirty kilometers from the Thai-Burma,

have been opened for free-access logging, say loggers, sources in

ethnic political parties and local villagers. Both forests are in

Thupalaryar District, currently under the control of KNU Brigade 6.

Logging in both areas marks significant changes in KNU forestry

policy. In years past, logging operations in both forests were

permitted only from January until May, with exceptions made for

continuing operations or community timber harvesting for projects like

schools, monasteries, churches and bridges. Previously, only large

timber companies like the Thailand based Sia Hook could purchase

logging contracts. In an interview in mid September, Nai Maut, a

logger working in Makate, reported that the KNU typically charged

100,000 baht for permission to log fifty tons. This year, the price of

logging access has been drastically reduced. According to a logger

interview in Three Pagoda Pass three weeks ago, the KNU had reduced

charges to just 50,000 to 80,000 baht for rights to stands in Makate

and Kyunchaung. According to other sources, last week the KNU appears

to have cut fees altogether. Captain Htat Nay, of Bridge 6, told IMNA

that loggers are now harvesting timber from Kyunchaung Forest without

having to purchase advance permission from the KNU. Makate is open as

well, says the owner of a logging company based in Three Pagoda Pass.

A former official in the KNU Forestry Department confirmed both

sources. Loggers still have to pay at KNU checkpoints, but loggers

report that the fees have been reduced. Importantly, not only are

loggers free to operate without having to purchase permission, but

they are being allowed to log virtually without limits. Restrictions

on the minimum size of harvestable trees have been loosened. In the

past, loggers were prohibited from cutting trees less than ten

centimeters across. Trunks with a diameter of just over seven

centimeters, barely larger than a can of soda, are now eligible for

harvest. Tree species other than teak and ironwood, once off limits to

loggers in an attempt to maintain at least a modicum of forestland,

are also eligible for logging. http://rehmonnya.org/archives/414

 

 

Philippines:

 

18) For the past months, Gov. Grace Padaca has been actively

campaigning against illegal logging in Isabela, and has in fact

successfully confiscated logs worth millions of pesos. But for

Kalikasan-PNE, a militant environment group, efforts to curb forest

denudation must be focused on big-time loggers and the politicians

behind them. " We challenge the governor to expose and persecute

big-time loggers and corrupt politicians instead of going after poor

communities doing small-scale logging in her province. She has the

authority and responsibility to do this. In addition, statistics and

studies have shown that the major denuders of forest are the big-time

legal commercial loggers who are also the ones the main financiers and

buyers of illegal logging in the country, " Kalikasan-PNE National

Coordinator Clemente Bautista Jr. According to a study made by Center

for Environmental Concerns, an environmental education and research

NGO, legal or government-sanctioned logging accounts for 68% of the

total forest cover loss from 1981 to 2002, while illegal logging

accounts only for 2%. " Facts show that the big-time commercial loggers

in Isabela are the ones who cleared vast tracts of forest and even up

to now are the main culprits of forest destruction in the province. In

2006, one logging company in Isabela was allowed by the Department of

Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to log 25,887 hectares of

forest; this is already way more than the declared forest reserve in

the province. Also, in 2006, there were 7 logging companies which have

Industrial Tree Plantation Agreement (ITPLA) which allow them to

exploit a total of 62,266 hectares of forest areas. This reflects how

the policy of Arroyo government and the DENR favors commercial logging

over forest conservation and rehabilitation, " explains Mr. Bautista.

Based on the data from Forest Management Bureau (FMB), the total

forest lands in Isabela is 411,804 hectares in 2003. In 2006, there is

only one forest reserve in the province which is Tumauini Watershed

Forest Reserve covering 17,670 hectares of forest lands in the

Isabela.

http://barangayrp.wordpress.com/2008/10/07/kalikasan-pne-challenges-isabela-gov-\

expose-and-persecute-big-time-loggers/

 

19) Despite making great progress in governance and electoral reform,

Isabela Governor Grace Padaca said she faces much unfinished business

in her fight against illegal gambling and illegal logging. Padaca, who

became popular for ending Isabela's 40-year political dynasty of the

Dy family and for recently winning the Ramon Magsaysay Award for

Government Service, said the illegal numbers game jueteng is still

rampant in the province. Part of her difficulties is the public's

perception that " jueteng is a victimless crime " that provides

livelihood for many people, she said during an exclusive roundtable

interview with The Manila Times. And she conceded that her success

depends on whether " higher officials want it stopped. " For example,

Padaca told The Times that she asked the Philippine Charity

Sweepstakes Office to establish a small-town lottery in Isabela,

hoping that will become a substitute for the illegal game. But so far,

no dice. She added that most " jueteng operators talk to previous

leaders [of Isabela], " making it harder to stop illegal gambling,

because her political rivals remain influential and are capable of

offering protection. Like jueteng, the governor said the province

needed to provide legitimate livelihood to draw people away from

illegal logging. She estimates that between 10,000 to 12,000 people

are involved in illegal logging, and " many of the people involved in

illegal logging are poor people. " The province looked at providing

those people with piglets, but many of them are so poor that they

cannot wait for the three months for their animal to grow up. Instead,

Padaca said she approached private companies and nongovernment

organizations, like Haribon Foundation and the League of Corporate

Foundations, for help in establishing a reforestation program that

will create jobs—as well as replace the denuded parts of the northern

Sierra Madre. The governor said the province has confiscated about a

million board feet of illegally cut down trees—worth about P150

million in the black market.

http://www.manilatimes.net/national/2008/oct/04/yehey/top_stories/20081004top5.h\

tml

 

20) The private sector in Bohol would now attempt to venture into

reforestation program, through the PSALM Project, that could be

sustained even beyond the 25 year period of the lease agreement. It

aims to leave a legacy of increased forest cover on Bohol's denuded

forestlands. The proposed project shall be a pilot project on private

investor led timber plantation. The scheme shall not cost financial

investment from the government as funding and management shall be

coming from the private sector. The scheme will demonstrate the

private sector capability to undertake upland development within the

context of reforestation. PSALM shall adhere to the basic principles

of sustainable forest management and the development protocol shall

work around a watershed-based integrated ecosystem management

approach.

http://www.boholchamber.org/2008/10/07/restoring-bohols-forests-through-the-psal\

m-project.html

 

 

Malaysia:

 

 

21) Indigenous forest dwellers in Sarawak, in the Malaysian part of

Borneo, have rejected a proposal to turn 80,000 hectares (250,000

acres) of the land into an oil palm plantation, reports the Malaysian

Star. In a two-hour meeting Saturday in the city of Miri,

representatives from the Berawan-Tering ethnic group officially

rejected an overture to turn their land over to a private firm for oil

palm development. About 90 percent of community members opposed the

deal which would have given the oil palm a 60-year concession to their

land, according to former Baram District Councillor Philip Ube, who

represented the native. " We are also worried that if we give up our

land, we will lose our food resources and, once the land is turned

into an oil-palm plantation, the social structure will be changed, "

Ube said at a press conference, adding that while the company had

offered community members jobs as plantation workers, " we don't want

to end up as laborers on our own ancestral land. "

http://news.mongabay.com/2008/1005-palm_oil.html

 

22) Blockades have sprung up again in middle Baram in the midst of the

padi planting season in interior Sarawak. Several Penan communities

have abandoned the padi fields to put up symbolic barricades - flimsy

wooden gates across logging roads - to stop encroachment into the last

stretch of remaining ancestral forest in a region that has seen

extensive logging over the last 25 years. The once-nomadic tribe,

noted for their unwavering rejection of logging on their territory and

synonymous with blockades since the late 1980s, is fighting a losing

battle against the Government-backed timber industry. Yet another

sinister threat has crept into the remote communities € " Penan women,

especially the young ones, are preyed on by workers from logging

companies. About three weeks ago, a media release by non-governmental

organisation Bruno Manser Foundation (BMF) brought to light a

long-held concern € " the sexual abuse of Penan women. The Swiss group

charged that workers from two timber companies were preying on Penan

women in the various settlements within the companies' operation

areas, and targeting female students who relied on the companies'

transportation service to get to school. Students from middle Baram

are boarders in secondary schools in the interior towns of Long Lama

and Long San, which could take up to a week to travel on foot from

their villages. The Baram district in Miri division is almost as big

as the state of Perak. The allegations were flatly denied by Deputy

Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu who dismissed the NGO's claims as

baseless. Jabu, who is also Rural Development Minister, challenged BMF

to name the villages otherwise " it would be a waste of time to

investigate " . Largely ignorant of their rights and not well-versed in

criminal law, the Penans have long suffered the transgression against

their womenfolk in silence.

http://redapes.org/palm-oil/deforestation-even-more-human-fallout/

 

23) United Plantations, a Malaysia-based palm oil producer, has become

the first oil palm plantation firm to be certified for adopting the

strictest standards of sustainability for palm oil production,

according to Bernama. After inspections across its its nine estates,

six mills and conservation areas and interviews with managers and

employees by the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oils (RSPO), an

industry-driven sustainability initiative, the firm was awarded the

" Certificate of Conformance to RSPO Principles and Criteria " . United

Plantations has implemented " zero-burn policies " as well as measures

to reduce pollution and the use of fertilizers and pesticides. The

firm has also set aside areas of high conservation value, according to

RSPO. The news comes as the palm oil industry moves to improve its

environmental performance in response to harsh criticism from

scientists and activists who say that oil palm expansion is driving

deforestation and putting endangered species at risk. A recent study

showed that more than half of oil palm expansion in Malaysia and

Indonesia between 1990 and 2005 occurred at the expense of forests,

while other research has found that oil palm plantations contain up to

80 percent less biodiversity than logged forests and are a significant

source of greenhouse gas emissions when established on peatlands and

in tropical rainforests.

http://news.mongabay.com/2008/0928-palm_oil.html

 

 

24) Very few Penan live nomadically any more, and their way of life is

changing due to pressures that encourage them to live in permanent

settlements ( excessive logging ) and adopt year-around farming. We

visited 3 permanent settlements and semi-nomadic settlements( using

the word " permanent " very loosely here, a trek to one of the villages

was 10km) , Long Adang, Long Gita and Long Peresek. Today the Penan

number around 1000; around 350-500 are nomadic (figures from Survival

International.[2]) They have settled into small settlements, usually

based around a village 'longhouse', typical of other tribes of

Sarawak's interior. Some, typically the younger generations, now

cultivate rice and garden vegetables but many still rely on their

nomadic diets of sago (starch from the sago palm), jungle fruits and

their prey which usually include wild boar, barking deer, mouse deer

but also snakes (especially the Reticulated Python or kermanen),

monkeys, birds, frogs, monitor lizards, snails and even insects such

as locusts. Since they practice 'molong', they pose little strain on

the forest: they rely on it and it supplies them with all they need.

They are outstanding hunters and catch their prey using a 'lepud' or

blowpipe, made from the Bilian Tree (superb timber) and carved out

with unbelievable accuracy using a bone drill - the wood is not split,

as it is elsewhere, so the bore has to be precise almost to the

millimetre, even over a distance of 3 metres. The darts are made from

the sago palm and tipped with poisonous latex of a tree found in the

forest which can kill a human in a matter of minutes. Everything that

is caught is shared as the Penan have a highly tolerant, generous and

egalitarian society, so much so that it is said that the nomadic Penan

have no word for 'thank you' because help is assumed and therefore

doesn't require a 'thank you'. However, 'jian kinin' is typically used

in the settled communities.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/malayrish/2915002424/

 

 

25) Among the groups that inhabit the Sarawak forest, the Penan are

the last nomadic hunter-gatherers of Borneo. Their population is close

to 10,000 with more than 5,000 of them concentrated in Baram (Miri

Division), followed by some 1,500 in Belaga (Kapit Division), around

1,000 and 700 in Mulu and Bintulu respectively and 200 in Limbang.

About 21% of them today are permanently settled while another 75% are

considered to be semi-settled, leaving their permanent homes for the

forest from time to time. The rest, around 5%, are still nomadic.

According to Bruno Manser Fonds, more than 70% of Sarawak's rainforest

has been cut during the past 20 years. Today Malaysian companies run

timber operations and plywood mills as far afield as Guyana, Suriname,

Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands according to a report by

Nigel Sizer of World Resources Institute and Dominiek Plouvier, an

independent forestry consultant. Manser has arguably been the most

potent catalyst for media coverage of the fight by the Penan, and

other Sarawak natives, to protect their forests against what they say

are insensitive governments and greedy timber barons. Defensive

Sarawak government officials note that 95% of the state's substantial

oil revenue goes to federal coffers (the Umno cronies in Kuala

Lumpur), leaving Sarawak little choice but to earn money from natural

products, of which timber is by far the most profitable. They have

suffered untold hardship when game, fish, fruit trees and wild sago

palms, which is their staple food, started to disappear. Many years

after promises were made to them by the government, their lives have

not changed for the better. They are hungrier, sicker and poorer than

ever. Even for the settled communities, food supply isn't safely

steady since agriculture is a new invention that they have been trying

to master without adequate technical and resource assistance. Farming

productivity is low, seed access is limited and attempts to grow crops

like vegetables often simply fail. Failure is rooted in the top-down

scheme of projects. The importance of community participation in the

decision-making process is neglected, so their main demand, which is

to halt all logging operations on their land, is not taken into

account. http://hrforall.wordpress.com/2008/10/10/please-save-the-penans/

 

26) The Penan's protracted resistance to deforestation and the

international attention the tribe continues to receive must have irked

the Sarawak government. The state government continuesAsi to dismiss

their concerns over the loss of forest resources brought on by

industrial logging that degrades the forest and pollutes the rivers.

At the height of the international anti-tropical timber campaign in

the late 1980s, the state set up a Penan Affairs Committee to help the

nomadic tribe to lead a settled life with promises of socio-economic

development. The state announced allocations worth millions of

ringgit. Two decades later, the benefits remain elusive for many

Penans. The rapid expansion of acacia and oil palm plantations eats

into their ancestral land. To top it off, the natives are becoming

illegals with many not having official documents. The Human Rights

Commission (Suhakam) has raised the issue of poor MyKad registration

which complicates the issuance of birth certificates. Suhakam has thus

far failed in persuading the state government to resolve the land

rights issue inflicting every native group in Sarawak. In recent

years, the Penans are turning to the court of law to stop further

encroachment. But the nomadic Penans face a tough battle in claiming

native customary rights (NCR) as the Sarawak Land Code 1958 states

that one cannot stake a claim for NCR if one had not cultivated that

piece of land before Jan 1, 1958. In May 2007, further restrictions

were imposed when the clause " any other lawful method of establishing

land claim " in Section 5(2) was dropped. Lawyers had previously used

that provision to argue for a broader interpretation of land use.

" When environmental groups suggest setting aside forests for wildlife,

the state will agree but when we demand for our forests to be

protected, we are ignored. It seems that the wildlife living in the

forests are more valued than us humans, " notes a young Penan. Although

disillusioned, the Penans remain hopeful. As Balan Jon of Long Item

puts it: " It's not only our livelihood but our culture and survi¬val

as a tribe has been affected for so long. We'll die if we continue to

be neglected. "

http://thestar.com.my/lifestyle/story.asp?file=/2008/10/6/lifefocus/2148310 & sec=\

lifefocus

 

27) Authorities attempt to engineer the replacement of elected leaders

by logging company stakeholders - Penan communities stand firmly

behind their elected leaders. The Sarawak government is currently

trying to engineer major changes in the leadership of the Penan

communities in the Upper Baram region of the East Malaysian State on

Borneo. In an attempt to break the resistance to logging in Sarawak's

last primeval rainforests, the authorities have ceased to recognise

community leaders' posts in a number of communities. According to

community reports, a government official recently announced to an

assembly of Penan representatives from the Upper Baram that their

leaders were no longer officially recognized. As a consequence, the

government stopped paying the Penan leaders their monthly headman's

allowance of 450 Malaysian Ringgit (130 US$). At Long Benali, a

community that has successfully prevented timber group Samling from

entering their Native Customary Rights land through blockades and a

media campaign, headman Saun Bujang has been deposed. Currently, the

government is trying to install a Samling stakeholder in his place. At

Long Sait, a Penan community on the River Selungo, headman Bilong

Oyoi, who has always been outspoken against logging in the area,

received a letter from the government which stated that he had been

deposed. Bilong is one of the leading plaintiffs in a Penan land

rights claim that has been pending since 1998. Another plaintiff in

this same case, the late Kelesau Naan, former headman of Long Kerong,

disappeared near his paddy fields in October 2007. Two months later,

he was found dead; the Penan suspect that he was murdered. The Long

Kerong community has since elected a new headman, the former deputy

headman Tirong Lawing. As the government has refused to recognize

Tirong up until now, the community has no official headman.

http://malaysianindian1.blogspot.com/2008/10/urge-sarawak-government-to-reinstat\

e.html