ACTION ALERT
***********************************************
WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS
Subject: Development Threatens Venezuela Rainforest
***********************************************
Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises
http://forests.org/
9/6/98
OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by EE
Following is Rainforest Action Network's September action alert, which
highlights Venezuelan disregard for indigenous rights and the rule of
environmental law. The Imataca Forest reserve and neighboring Canaima
National Park, in Eastern Venezuela's Oronoco River basin, are among
the richest tropical forest areas on earth; and are being threatened
by industrial development. Please take the time to respond to this
important action alert. You can send an email directly to Venezuela's
President from RAN's site at:
http://www.ran.org/ran/info_center/aa/aa139.html
g.b.
*******************************
RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Title: Development Threatens Venezuela Rainforest
Source: Rainforest Action Network, Action Alert 139
Status: Distribute freely accredited to source
Date: September 1998
Fed up with the destruction of their traditional homeland, the
indigenous people of southern Venezuela are trying everything from
legal action to staging blockades to stem the tide of environmental
ruin. Imataca Forest reserve and neighboring Canaima National
Park, in Eastern Venezuela's Oronoco River basin, are among the
richest tropical forest areas on earth. The verdant region is home to
numerous indigenous populations, as well as to a wealth of rare and
endangered plant and animal species. But lax government policies and
unchecked industrial development are tearing open this once pristine
rainforest with massive mining, logging and construction projects -
and the area's traditional inhabitants are threatened with the loss of
home, health, and the very rainforest ecosystem they depend upon for
their survival.
Ignoring federal laws that require consulting with indigenous peoples
on land use decisions, Venezuelan President Rafael Caldera opened
nearly half of previously protected Imataca to large-scale logging and
mining in 1997. In addition, the required studies to assess the impact
of forest development on local communities and ecology were never
performed.
With support from Venezuela's Attorney General and congressional
Environmental Committee, the Indigenous Federation is petitioning the
Supreme Court to overturn Caldera's unilateral decision. Until then,
Imataca's inhabitants are powerless through standard means to protect
their land - an area the size of Massachusetts, Connecticut and Rhode
Island combined.
Meanwhile, an irreplaceable rainforest is being destroyed. Mining
operations are poisoning waterways with mercury and cyanide used to
separate gold from rock, and loggers are cutting down vast tracts of
old growth trees. Imatac's indigenous population is further threatened
by a raging malaria epidemic, because recently logged areas and paths
for roads hewed into their forest create ideal breeding conditions for
mosquitoes.
Also part of the regional development plan is the construction of a
powerline to feed Imataca's new industries. The powerline will cut
directly through adjacent Canaima national park, a designated United
Nations World heritage Site. As in Imataca, the people of Canaima have
been completely excluded from land-use discussions, and no
environmental impact studies for the powerline have been completed.
Local inhabitants were kept in the dark until the bulldozers arrived.
Enraged by government inaction, and unwilling to wait for State courts
to process an injunction against the powerline, the indigenous
community of Canaima took matters into their own hands. In early
August, one-thousand people joined arms and formed a human blockade
across Canaima's main road, putting their own frail lives between the
bulldozers and their forest home. Sources in Canaima say the blockades
will continue until the case against the powerline is resolved.
"The forest is our home, our laboratory, our hospital, our
university," said a spokesman for the indigenous community. "It is the
sources of the knowledge we need to survive. Our fight is a fight in
defense of life"
What You Can Do!
Let Venezuelan President Rafael Caldera know that you want his
government to recognize indigenous rights and protect the rich
tropical rainforests of Imataca and Canaima.
You can email a letter to Venezuela President from RAN's site at:
http://www.ran.org/ran/info_center/aa/aa139.html
or use the following addresses & fax codes:
Your Excellency President Rafael Caldera
Palacio de Miraflores
Carmelitas
Caracas, Venezuela
Fax: International Code + (58) 2 801 3644
Be sure to send a copy of your letter/fax to:
Senador Lucia Antillano,
Comision de Ambiente del Senado
Congreso Nacional
Caracas, Venezuela
Fax: International code + (58) 2 484-8134
Sample Letter:
Your Excellency President Rafael Caldera
Palacio de Mirafoloes
Carmelitas
Caracas, Venezuela
Dear President,
Venezuelan law recognizes the land rights of indigenous peoples, yet
recent plans to build a powerline through Canaima National Park, and
for commercial development in the Imataca Forest Reserve have ignored
their rights.
Please halt all further commercial development in these vital,
irreplaceable rainforests - and recognize the ancestral land rights of
the indigenous people, as well as their basic human right of self-
determination.
Venezuela's rainforests are among the richest and rarest on Earth. You
have the responsibility to preserve these forests for all mankind.
Sincerely,
###RELAYED TEXT ENDS###
This document is for general distribution. All efforts are made to
provide accurate, timely pieces; though ultimate responsibility for
verifying all information rests with the reader. Check out our Gaia
Forest Conservation Archives at URL= http://forests.org/ran/info_center/aa/aa139.html
Networked by Ecological Enterprises, grbarry@students.wisc.edu