UK and Indonesia sign landmark agreement on illegal logging
but forest communities' rights still violated
DOWN TO EARTH PRESS RELEASE,
19 April 2002
Britain and Indonesia are expected to announce today a Memorandum of
Understanding to help protect tropical rainforest. Indonesia's forestry
minister, Muhammad Prakosa, is in London to sign the agreement with UK
Department for International Development. The MoU sets out how the two
countries will co-operate on forest law enforcement and governance to
combat illegal logging and the international trade in illegally logged
timber and wood products.
Down to Earth, the International Campaign for Ecological Justice in
Indonesia, has welcomed the MoU. But DTE is also urging the Indonesian
government to recognise the rights of forest dwellers as part of the effort
to save Indonesia's disappearing forests.
Forest peoples are still being evicted from their lands to make way for
logging, plantations and mines backed by foreign capital, including British
companies. DTE hopes that the MoU will be a first step towards more
fundamental reforms to stop forest destruction - legal and illegal - and to
prevent community rights violations.
DTE's campaigner, Liz Chidley, said:
"We feel strongly that British companies should be held accountable for
their involvement in operations in Indonesia which lead to gross human
rights violations against Indigenous Peoples and other marginalised
communities who depend on forest resources for their livelihoods."
DTE also signed a joint statement by UK NGOs handed to Mr Prakosa, which
called for the recognition of forest dependent communities' rights, action
on corruption and corporate accountability.
DTE supports calls from Indonesian groups for action on illegal logging to
be part of a broader reform process tackling the underlying causes of
deforestation. The goal is sustainable forest management and better lives
for forest people.
Notes for editors:
-
Indonesian law gives the state control over almost all forest land. This
means denying up to 40 million people their land and resource rights.
- Deforestation rates in Indonesia are now estimated at over 2.6 million
hectares per year - an area larger than Wales.
- WALHI (Friends of the Earth Indonesia), one of Indonesia's leading
environmental NGOs, is calling for a logging moratorium to give the
country's last remaining forests a chance of survival, while new policies
are hammered out.
- AMAN, Indonesia's indigenous peoples alliance, wants indigenous rights
to forest resources recognised under Indonesian law and the right to veto
any projects affecting their lands.
- Rio Tinto, CDC and HSBC are among UK companies financing forest
destruction in Indonesia.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT
DOWN TO EARTH
THE INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN FOR ECOLOGICAL JUSTICE IN INDONESIA
01508 471413 or dtecampaign@gn.apc.org / 020 7732 7984 or dte@gn.apc.org