8 March,1995
by Japan Tropical Forest Action Network (JATAN)
and Asia-Pacific Peoples' Environment Network (APPEN)
This statement for the third session of the Commission on Sustainable Development and FAO/NGO Consultation Meeting was prepared based on discussions held with other grassroots NGOs from the Asia-Pacific region during a regional NGO meeting organized by JATAN, the Asia-Pacific Peoples' Environmental Network (APPEN), and the Third World Network (TWN) 5-8 March,1995 in Kanagawa, Japan. The statement does not necessarily represent the position of all the participants, but rather reflects many of the shared concerns expressed by the participants from Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Solomon Islands, Canada, Korea and Japan.
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We are concerned about the direction of on-going international forest policy discussions because we feel they are not adequately reflecting the real situation. There is virtually no debate on the real causes of forest ecosystem destruction or about obstacles which are blocking changes and improvements in the situation. Therefore, we strongly urge the international community to alter the manner in which it is approaching the whole global forest debate.
We have observed that current discussions are only focusing on the positive approaches to so-called "sustainable forest management", such as "Criteria and Indicators" or the "Certification of Sustainably Produced Wood", and ignoring the ever present negative elements and obstacles to proper forest management. We feel that this is not the correct way to proceed. In the past three to four decades forests have been destroyed at a frightening pace despite the fact that governments have regulations of some form or other already in place. Since Rio, more environmental destruction resulting from forest loss and degradation, as well as growing community disruptions, have surfaced in the Asia-Pacific region.
<On the model for unsustainable forest management:>
In the Asia-Pacific region, a number of rich industrialized countries such as the United States, Canada, Japan, and Australia have not demonstrated any leadership towards achieving truly sustainable forest management. The United States, the richest country on Earth, has failed to stop logging in the last remaining old growth temperate forests in the Pacific Northwest region. Canada is the world leader when it comes to massive clearcuts and the sale of cheap roundwood timber from public forests to large transnational timber companies. These companies employ international public relations companies to conceal the negative impacts of their activities and promote alleged "good will" and intentions for sound forest management. For their part, the Canadian federal government and provincial governments are allowing and even encouraging the transnational corporations (TNCs) to cut down the last remaining old growth forests.
In response to the flood of criticism and widespread citizens' actions in North America opposing logging, governments and industry have been using new terminology, such as "new forestry" or "eco-system management" to describe forest management. Despite these new terms which sound pleasing to the ear, very little has actually changed - except perhaps that large scale clearfelling has been replaced by "fragmented" deforestation. Logging still continues at unsustainable levels.
Australia is another example of unsustainable logging practices and policies. Despite strong public opposition to logging in the country's dwindling native eucalyptus forests, the Canberra government is poised to maintain or even increase the volume of woodchip exports, most of which are sent to Japan for the manufacture of paper. Harris Daishowa, a large woodchipping operation owned by Daishowa Paper and Itochu Corp. of Japan, is one of the companies logging the native forests. Daishowa Paper is a company with a reputation that is worsening all the time, both in Japan and overseas.
In the tropical forest countries of the Asia-Pacific region, the majority of forests have already long been licensed out to the timber industry and other industries. Logging in tropical countries is "selective cutting" which may sound good but actually requires the cutting of larger areas of forest to produce the same amount of wood compared to that of clearcutting. If logging continues at the current rate, it is widely accepted that we will lose much of our healthy forests within this generation, meaning that the next generation will not have the opportunity to enjoy the benefits provided by the forests or use the forests in a wiser manner. For example, the Philippines lost most of its rich natural tropical forests because of an unsustainable timber industry which exported raw logs, mainly to Japan. The situation in the Malaysian states of Sabah and Sarawak, and Kalimantan (Indonesia) have also become extremely critical. Because these areas are becoming largely depleted of natural forests, the logging frontier with its bulldozers and barges is now moving to Irian Jaya (Indonesia), Papua New Guinea and even to the smaller and more remote island states in the South Pacific such as the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu.
The tropical forests of Indochina (Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos) are increasingly under threat of destruction at the hands of companies from Japan, Thailand and Malaysia. These companies are notorious for destroying important forest areas in the region. In a number of key Southeast Asian countries, although certain basic laws and regulations do exist on paper, the logging industry is not being properly controlled and regulated because it has succeeded in colluding with and "influencing" powerful and corrupt politicians.
If one examines the history of forest management in the region during the past 30 to 40 years, it is clear that there is very little evidence to indicate that governments alone can be reliably entrusted with the stewardship of the forests. On the contrary, they themselves have been and are major destroyers, or in the very least, have worked in partnership with the loggers and exploiters. In a few countries, government officials, who try to act against corruption and mismanagement of forest, themselves face harassment and even death threats. For this reason, we urge that the United Nations and the international community open up a debate which examines and sincerely reviews who and what have been the real causes of natural forest destruction. Any meaningful debate should also discuss the main obstacles to achieving genuine sustainable forest management in the future.
<Obstacles which have been responsible for the present situation and which may prevent improvements:>
<1) The Concession System - a symbol of the non-participatory and undemocratic control of forest resources>
Our most urgent question is:
How much forested land is known to be free from logging and other destructive development schemes?
In Sarawak (Malaysia), almost 100% of the productive forest has been given away to timber companies (even within critically important watersheds and native customary rights land), despite strong protests and opposition by local indigenous people. In Indonesia, which possesses the largest area of tropical forest in the region, most of the forests in Kalimantan and Sumatra have already been logged out. The forests of Irian Jaya have been licensed out to large logging companies and/or tycoons from Jakarta and South Korea. Large areas of land are threatened by new industrial timber plantation schemes which will export wood to Japan and the global pulp & paper market.
<2) The undemocratic decision-making process of forest and land use policies and insufficient access to information>
Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration adopted by Heads of States in 1992 recognises that "Environmental issues are best handled with the participation of all concerned citizens ... At the national level, each individual shall have appropriate access to information concerning the environment that is held by public authorities ..." However, under the present situation, as stated earlier, the opportunity for public participation is severely limited from the very start.
Forest and land use policies continue to be formulated in a non-participatory manner which is highly secretive. The public has virtually no access to information regarding forest ownership and exploitation, including the granting of concessions for logging, mining, industrial timber tree plantations and other cash crop plantations, dams, tourism development, roads and government-sponsored transmigration programs such as in Indonesia.
At the same time, the rich knowledge and experiences of indigenous peoples and other local communities living in and around forests which are critical for sustainable forest management (and sustainable agriculture in relation to forests) are denied a role. In most cases, obtaining the consent of the local people before exploiting a forest and involving their participation in the decision-making process are even not considered.
<3) Corruption, conflicts of interests, public subsidy of industry>
Bribery, corruption and conflicts of interests are all too often among the driving forces of this tragedy. It is well known that millions of dollars in profits for industry are involved when politicians and government officials hand out logging concessions and approve projects. In Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, bribery by Asian logging companies of officials in charge of forest management, including the local police and village leaders, is commonly practised.
Despite strong and widespread public resistance to large-scale logging in the Canadian province of Alberta, a logging and pulp mill company controlled by Japan's Mitsubishi Corporation called Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries (Al-Pac) succeeded in obtaining a forestry management agreement (FMA) of more than 6,000,000 hectares (60,000 square kilometers) in the province's northern boreal forest. The provincial government is apparently very generous towards companies when giving away its forests. This generosity includes funding for building infrastructure (road and rails) for the mill and log transportation, and free utilities. According to the agreement, the company's financial obligations are waived if it fails to make a profit. While Al-Pac managed to obtain a logging concession to clear cut 6,000,000 hectares of natural forest, they claim that their project is "ecologically responsible." The best quality softwood timber is sold to Japan and other pulp mills. Such massive public subsidy distorts forest management and calls into question the political decision-making process.
<4) Pyramid of timber exploitation>
Over the last few decades Japan has played a key role in promoting logging in the Asia-Pacific region, particularly the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Solomon Islands, Canada, Australia and more recently in Chile.
"Timber money" from these timber producing countries is now increasingly invading other forested countries, including South America. South Korean companies are also playing a leading role in exploiting the forests of the Solomon Islands, and now companies from Malaysia, Indonesia, and Thailand are creating a new pyramid of exploitation in the South Pacific and Indochina where the forests remain relatively untouched.
At the top of the pyramid, however, is unsustainable consumption in Japan, and increasingly South Korea.
Principle 6 of the Rio Declaration asserts that "The special situation and needs of developing countries, particularly the least developed and those most environmentally vulnerable areas, shall be given special priority." The Twenty-Fifth South Pacific Forum (SPF) Communique (August 1994), has "expressed concern at the way in which forests throughout the region and the world are being harvested in a highly destructive manner".
We therefore call for an open review and discussion at the Asia-Pacific regional level in order to identify the problems associated with forest exploitation and to move towards possible solutions. An immediate step would be the regulation of timber exploiting companies in the region.
<5) The Relationship betwen Forest Destruction, Timber Trade and Consumption: The Real Driving Force which must be Exposed>
Despite the fact that Japan's gigantic general trading companies are retreating from the front line of logging (except in PNG and some Indochinese countries), Japan and South Korea remain the main destinations for logs and other wood products. This situation has not changed. Trends in the Japanese and South Korean housing industries greatly influence the volume of timber being exported by Southeast Asia's major wood exporting countries. Japan, South Korea and Taiwan on average import about 90% of the wood exported from the Philippines, Indonesia, Malaysia, PNG, and Solomon Islands. Therefore, we call upon these East Asian wood consumer countries to conduct a fundamental review of their overall domestic economic development policies.
Japan's urban redevelopment law stimulated the construction of massive skyscrapers during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
During this period, the number of annual housing starts totalled more than 1,600,000, while the number of houses which were demolished annually reached 600,000-700,000 units. There are many other factors which stimulate unnecessary housing construction, such as extremely expensive land prices (caused by unregulated real estate speculation), the promotion of new styles of homes and deceptively attractive loan packages offered by the housing industry.
At the same time, the urban redevelopment policy and subsequent land speculation also turned housing land to commercial land. A great number of urban dwellers were forcibly ousted by developers. In some cases, they were threatened by the Japanese underworld and forced to move outside Tokyo.
Similar wasteful urban construction activities can be seen in South Korea, where the domestic construction industry wields enormous power and has succeeded in co-opting politicians.
We urge the governments of Japan and South Korea to conduct a full review of economic indicators, incentives and policies which stimulate the unnecessary consumption of wood and other environmentally unsound materials, and to initiate new measures which will reverse this pattern of excessive and unsustainable consumption.
<Other destructive policies and projects which need review >
Although forest exploitation for commercial timber is a major component of unsustainable forest management in the Asia-Pacific region, growing destruction also occurs as other sectors develop. These include energy and infrastructure development - roads, dams, mining - and the increasingly strong promotion of tourism. We would like to highlight some key developments.
In Indochina, the construction of large scale dams called for in the Mekong River Basin Development Plan has created serious concern among people in and outside the region. One of the immediate threats is large-scale industrial logging around proposed dam sites even before official approval is obtained.
We are concerned about the very limited degree of participation by the people in this region with regards to such plans. We are extremely concerned over the influence of the dam construction and hydropower industry in the inter- governmental process. Countries which provide financial assistance and the Asian Development Bank should be responsible for ensuring and increasing public participation in all related decision-making processes. The ADB's environmental record is poor and has shown little improvement since the Rio Summit. The increasing use of bilateral aid to subsidise Northern corporations is disturbing.
We therefore urge all parties involved in the huge Mekong River Basin Development Plan to take immediate action to stop deforestation in the Mekong region and to halt previous plans.
Construction should not proceed until the sustainability of this plan has been identified and the consent of all affected parties obtained.
The systematic and aggressive promotion of tourism in the region, especially in Southeast and East Asia, is alarming.
The proliferation of golf courses and resorts with their associated property development of luxury housing is destroying forests (in hills and along the coasts), contaminating the environment and displacing local communities in Southeast Asia. Indochina is now following the same trend.
In South Korea, a number of critical mountain areas have been targetted for resort development, including ski and golf facilities, hotels and luxury housing as well as theme parks.
These projects bring with them roads and energy-related developments which themselves destroy the environment.
It is very disturbing that since Rio, the tourism industry, with government support and endorsement, is promoting these developments as "eco-tourism". We urge governments and the international community to review such policies and projects, and not lend credibility to these developments.
<Indigenous peoples' rights and knowledge>
It is an irony that while governments at the CSD and the Convention on Biological Diversity increasingly speak of the need to protect the knowledge, practices and innovations of indigenous and other traditional communities, those cultures and knowledge systems are rapidly destroyed as forest destruction continues unabated.
Forest loss and degradation in the region has, and continues to, displace forest-dwelling indigenous communities, violate their land rights and undermine their livelihoods and culture.
Indigenous people have over hundreds of years accumulated vast amounts of knowledge about the sustainable utilization of forests, yet they will not be able to use this knowledge and experience, let alone pass it on to future generations as an ecologically sustainable forest management system unless current commercial exploitation is thoroughly reviewed and destructive concessions are revoked.
A regional consultation of indigenous peoples' organisations took place recently in the Philippines which reiterating their concerns and we call on governments to fully commit themselves to protecting the rights of indigenous peoples and to ensure the involvement of indigenous peoples at all levels of decision-making.
<The role of UN agencies and multilateral financial institutions>
The promotion of industrial forestry and cash crop plantations by the FAO in the region has resulted in extensive forest loss and degradation. While debate takes place globally, we still do not see changes. In many instances, confusion is perpetuated. For example, the depletion of natural forests causes many problems, including that on water resources. In Kalimantan, peninsular Malaysia, Thailand and other areas, forest depletion has caused serious water shortages and drier local climates. It is thus shocking that the FAO, in its publication "The Challenge of Sustainable Forest Management" (FAO 1993), states that claims that "Forests increase local rainfall is almost invariably false ..." and "the notion that forests regulate the flow of streams and rivers by acting as sponges, absorbing rainwater and releasing it gradually is also false".
Large-scale clearcutting of natural forests in Japan during and after World War Two resulted in widespread floods and landslides. Replanting with coniferous species as substitutes for the original natural mixed hardwood forest has already been carried out, but heavy rains over the years have caused washouts and landslides with losses totaling billions of yen.
Studies in Malaysia have clearly shown the vast differences in water retention/soil erosion levels among different land uses: forests, commercial plantations, food crops.
The above statements by the FAO are very misleading. We therefore strongly request that the FAO make available adequate explanations. The relationship between forests and water (streams, rivers, lakes, groundwater etc.) is extremely important.
Another example is the active and prominant role of the UNDP in the lower Mekong River Basin development plan which is embroiled with controversies. UNDP has also been sponsoring regional mining seminars that will encourage this destructive activity in forested areas which are also indigenous peoples' lands.
Meanwhile, the Asian Development Bank joins or takes over from the World Bank in financing large infrastructure projects and forestry projects which have serious environmental and social impacts.
We therefore call for a review of the policies, programmes and projects of the financial institutions, in addition to those of the UN agencies.
<The need for regional mechanisms to solve environmental problems>
Asia's exploitative economies, based on the western model, have in a short time become very aggressive in their destructive activities in other countries, both within and beyond the region. Various activities which destroy forests have been started in other regions, such as in the South American countries of Suriname and Guyana, by American, Australian, Japanese, South Korean and Southeast Asian capital.
We are of the opinion that companies causing further destruction and disruption of societies and forest ecosystems should not be allowed to enter other countries. Concessions and other exploitative land use schemes should be immediately revoked. We likewise recommend that all concerned governments and citizens initiate as soon as possible new mechanisms to solve and mitigate these problems at the regional level, in addition to actions at the global level. In this way, building blocks from the national to the regional can strengthen the role of the CSD in facilitating a truly open, honest and comprehensive discussion and assessment of forests.
ends