Urgent Action: Stop Deforestation in the Cacarica
Prepared by CSN-ChicagoCSN Home | This Month's News | Read CSN's letter
|
Urgent Action: Stop Deforestation in the CacaricaPrepared by CSN-ChicagoCSN Home | This Month's News | Read CSN's letter |
The Forcibly Displaced African-Colombian Communities of the Cacarica Basin of the Choco, provisionally settled in Turbo, Bocas del Atrato and Bahia Cupica have denounced the illegal and indiscriminate deforestation of their lands by the YIREH cooperative, which apparently acts as a middle-man to the logging corporation Darien Woods Company, MADARIEN.
While the community resists returning to their lands until the Colombian government fulfills their list of conditions for a Return with Dignity, loggers are taking advantage of their absence to cut down the trees in the territories that have been titled to the Communities under the Law 70 for Black Ethnic Communities.
This represents just one more example of the massive on-going deforestation for commercial sale in Colombia, a country that ranks fifth in the world for the greatest rate of deforestation of tropical forests. (Diocese of Quibdo, 1996) The Cacarica Basin borders the Los Katios National Park, which is home to one of the highest levels of biodiversity per square mile in the world.
On August 19-21, a verification commission comprised of representatives of the Communities, of national and international NGOs, and government entities, traveled to the zone to investigate the deforestation. The following is a translation of the Communities' testimony, published in their newsletter Humanos del Mundo:
"...We were witnesses, together with entities of the government and institutions of the State, of the horrendous panorama of deforestation and devastation that the Darien Woods Company (Empresa Maderas de El Darien) is doing in the region of the Cacarica. Before our very eyes we saw two boats pass - belonging to this company - towing through the water more than 400 trees of the Cautivo (endangered) species. We heard high-tech heavy machinery that does not sink into the muddy swampland, we saw how they continued opening channels to take out our natural wealth, we felt the occupation of our school buildings that have now been turned into encampments for the workers. It was not a lie; large companies are turning our territory into a cemetery for nature; no longer did we guide ourselves through the trees but rather with the sun hitting our foreheads. This is an Ecocide."
They gathered testimonies of the company workers, and confirmed that CODECHOCO, the governmental entity that authorizes logging contracts in the region, is aware of the illegal deforestation and has done nothing to stop it.
We ask that you write a letter to President Pastrana and to the Minister of the Environment Juan Mayr expressing your opposition to the deforestation in the Cacarica Basin and calling for an immediate halt to the logging project. Below is a sample letter.
|
Doctor ANDRES PASTRANA ARANGO President of the Republic Palacio de Narino Cra. 8 No. 7-26 Bogota, COLOMBIA Fax (011-571) 283-7324 Fax (011-571) 286-7434 Fax (011-571) 287-7937 Fax (011-571) 281-8262
Doctor Dear President Pastrana, / Minister Myer I am writing to express my support for the Forcibly Displaced Communities of the Cacarica in Process of a Return with Dignity, currently settled in Turbo, Bocas del Atrato and Bahia Cupica. I would first like to applaud your administration for the work it has done to provide most of the necessary conditions for the Communities' Return with Dignity. However, at the same time I very concerned about the deforestation that the Darien Woods Company, MADARIEN, doing in the territories that have been titled to the Communities under Law 70 for African-Colombian ethnic groups. The YIREH cooperative, which apparently is working under MADARIEN and using its machinery, is currently engaged in illegal logging in the Cacarica. This not only harms the communities, but also threatens to destroy the ecosystem of a rainforest that is a treasure for all humanity. A verification commission conformed of governmental agents, NGOs, and representatives of the Cacarica Communities went to the affected region August 18-21 and eye-witnessed the ecological destruction. The commission also found that local CODECHOCO and other public officials in the area seem to be aware of the deforestation, but have not taken measures to put a stop to it. Moreover, the Communities have reported acts of harassment by the CONVIVIR and paramilitaries, who are apparently trying to pressure and intimidate the Communities into silence, so that the logging project can continue without opposition. I urge you make a Presidential Decree, declaring illegal the logging and commercial exploitation of wood that private companies such as MADARIEN are doing in the region. Secondly, I ask that investigations be made of local public officials who, by acts of omission, negligence and tolerance, are allowing for the massive destruction of this rainforest. Thirdly, I ask that the dredging of the Perancho and Peranchito rivers in the Cacarica Basin begin as soon as possible. The government's delay in solving this problem is impeding the Communities from being able to return and thereby allows private logging companies to exploit the land in their absence. And finally, I urge you to take measures to insure the safety of the Communities and the NGOs who accompany them, so that they will not suffer repression for having denounced the ecocide. I thank you for attention. Sincerely,
{Your Name}
(608) 257-8753 |