04 Jul 2008 - A “fragile”
land tenure system and “a scarce presence”
by the State were identified as key factors
in rising Amazon deforestation last week.
The diagnosis was delivered
to the 3rd International Congress on Bioenergy
last week by WWF-Brazil forest engineer
Ana Euler, who said there was a need to
re-discuss the Brazilian development model.
“In many areas of the
Amazon we come across a situation in which
there are various 'landowners' for the same
piece of land and proof of land ownership
is extremely difficult,” Euler said. “In
such a scenario, the populations that are
more vulnerable end up being penalized."
“Indigenous peoples,
extractivists and small peasants generally
lose the dispute to agribusiness and other
groups that deploy greater political and
economic strength.”
The findings draw on
studies of the states of Para and Rondônia
where a high incidence of land conflict
and associated violence were linked to forest
degradation and destruction.
Using satellite images
of the state of Rondônia - one of
the Amazon region's most deforested states,
Ana Euler showed that protected areas are
proving effective instruments for containing
deforestation and conflicts resulting from
land use.
"It can be noted
that indigenous lands, extractive reserves,
national and state forests, and other protected
areas work as barriers against forest degradation,"
she said.
Also raised by Euler
was the great influence of infrastructure
projects, as hydroelectric power plants,
highways, pipelines and waterways in increasing
conflicts over land use and occupation in
the Amazon region.
"The speculation
generated by the announcement of great infrastructure
construction work, as well as the lack of
transparence in the project-licensing processes,
has serious impacts to local biodiversity
and to surrounding communities even before
construction is started," she said.
WWF-Brazil is fostering
the creation and implementation of protected
areas and the promotion of sustainable development
in the Amazon. Through providing technical
and financial support to the Amazon Region
Protected Areas Program (ARPA), WWF-Brazil
contributed to the creation of 23 million
hectares of additional protected areas between
2003 and 2008.
WWF-Brazil and its partner
organizations also provide training, technical
and marketing support to forest communities
for sustainable income generating extraction
and production activities Such arrangements
strengthen civil society, support community
involvement in policy making and can in
part make up for a meagre presence of other
government resources and services.
+ More
Presidential support
for Coral Triangle Initiative
03 Jul 2008 - Washington,
D.C. - On Monday, June 23rd President Gloria
Arroyo of the Philippines, together with
WWF, The Nature Conservancy and Conservation
International held a luncheon with CEOs
and top officials of various public and
private organizations, to enlist their support
of Coral Triangle Initiative, which the
President and her country are founding members
of.
President Arroyo set
the tone by giving an impassioned speech
about the critical importance of the environment,
in particular the marine environment of
the Coral Triangle, to the future of her
people. The President’s speech was followed
by an inspiring talk from her Secretary
of Agriculture, Arthur Yap, on the unique
value of the Coral Triangle and all of the
resources sourced from the region by the
rest of the world including tuna, shrimp
and crab. Next, Chris Lishewski, the CEO
of Bumble Bee Foods spoke about the fate
of tuna, up to 80% of which spawns in the
waters of the Coral Triangle, and finally,
Carter Roberts, the President and CEO of
WWF declared, in his speech, that he believes
the Coral Triangle Initiative to be the
most important conservation effort on the
earth today.
After the speeches the
room was buzzing with discussions, not only
on “why” to get involved, but “how.” The
CEO of Century Tuna, the Philippines largest
canner (with plants in Papua New Guinea
as well), who supplies to Bumble Bee, reaffirmed
the steps his company, and industry were
already taking with the creation of coalitions
for sustainability. Phillips Seafood’s Mars,
Inc. CEOs spoke of creating councils and
sustainability conferences with their local
producers who work on the ground in the
region.
The luncheon,
held at the Willard Hotel in Washington,
was well attended with not only the CEOS
and top executives from the three NGO hosts,
and the CEOs from Bumble Bee Foods, Phillips
Seafood, Mars, Inc. and Century Tuna. The
U.S. Ambassador to the Philippines Kristie
A. Kenney was in attendance as was the Deputy
Director of the USAID, the public office
that has been instrumental in providing
funding to the region was on hand to offer
his comments as well. Two Congressmen were
in attendance including The Honorable Madeleine
Z. Bordallo from Guam and The Honorable
Eni F.H. Faleomavaega from American-Samoa.
Located where the Indian and Pacific oceans
meet in SE Asia, the Coral Triangle harbors
the world’s highest diversity of marine
life on earth and support a global seafood
industry worth billions. Featuring magnificent
coral vistas and pristine beaches, the region,
additionally, supports a 12 billion dollar
tourism industry. The six countries in the
Coral Triangle including the Philippines,
Indonesia, Timor-Leste, Malaysia, the Solomon
Islands, and Papua New Guinea is home to
more than 120 million people and their livelihoods,
as well as the food security of the world,
are in jeopardy as the resources are at
great risk.
