Taiga News Issue 53 (Winter 2005)
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issue 53 winter 2005 Can FLEG Work? The Europe and North Asia Forest Law and Governance (ENA-FLEG) ministerial meeting kicked off in St Petersburg on 22 November 2005. Taiga Rescue Network (TRN) hosted a well-attended side event at the meeting, optimistically entitled ‘FLEG Can Work’, explaining practical initiatives to combat illegal logging and trade. Chaired by Jouni Nissinen, TRN international co- plans with measurable targets to be adopted by all newsletter on boreal forests boreal on newsletter ordinator, the panel included Lars Lastadieus (World participant countries; public procurement polices to be news Resource Institute) on Satellite Monitoring, Stuart adopted by governments; and a clear follow-up Wilson (Forests Monitor) on Independent Forest process with NGO involvement included. Monitoring, Ke Dong (WWF China) on cross-border Despite a positive preamble, the final declaration controls between China and Russia, and Kenichi is much less determined than NGOs had wanted. It Nakazawa (Friends of the Earth Japan) on public fails to include many NGO and industry priorities, procurement in Japan. TRN is keen to see that all such as commitments to time-bound actions with boreal forest users, including communities, industry, measurable targets of success. The language of the traders, flora and fauna, are represented in actions to declaration remains evasive, using terms such as establish and maintain good sustainable and equitable ‘assess’ and ‘formulate’ rather than ‘implement’. forest governance throughout this vast region. National action plans like procurement policy are only TRN saw the ENA-FLEG meeting as an referred to in the indicative list of actions (ILA). opportunity to highlight the problems of forest However, the success of the ENA-FLEG will not governance and trade in the boreal region. TRN has be contained in the declaration and ILA but will lie in produced two briefing papers, a webpage and press the actions that governments enable to take place, materials to raise awareness of the issues of including key stakeholders: NGOs, indigenous peoples unsustainable legal and illegal forest practices and and forest communities, and industries both in the associated international trade. ENA region and internationally. TRN participants were keen that the ministerial There will be a follow-up ministerial in 5 years declaration would not support continued enforcement time, and two expert level meetings involving civil taiga of the very laws that undermine forest-dependent society prior to then, to assess the success and communities whose forest practices are less problems in implementation. When Russia hosts the destructive than some national and international G8 in 2006, NGOs want the ENA-FLEG to be companies issued with legal concessions rights. The reaffirmed as of key political importance. previous two FLEG processes have increasingly been Arguably the ENA-FLEG declaration is another criticised by many stakeholders for failing to realise non-legally binding text that will be acted upon by few, initial expectations, including positive legal reform to and under funded as a whole. To avert this NGOs have establish good forest governance for sustainable and noted the need for an effective follow-up process. equitable forest management and trade. Will the ENA- TRN is keen to mobilise the resources and skills of the FLEG be any different? network to assist in this challenge to make the Prior to the meeting a non-governmental intentions of ENA-FLEG contribute to the end goals organisation (NGO) position paper outlined priorities of good governance and sustainable, equitable forest for the final ENA-FLEG declaration. These included: management in the boreal. legal reform to establish sustainable and equitable Contact: forest management; good governance to end [email protected] corruption in forestry; time-bound national action www.taigarescue.org/index.php?sub=1&cat=37 inside: forest fires in the boreal region news Global editorial Tissue Giants No Plantations Day This is my final issue as editor of Taiga WWF has evaluated Procter and Gamble, People around the world celebrated an News and I am very pleased that as the SCA Tissue, Kimberly-Clark, Metsa Tissue, International Day against Monoculture Tree theme this time is fire, I get a chance to go and Georgia Pacific on environmental Plantations on 21 September 2005 by out in flames! performance across a range of criteria, planting a diversity of native trees. It has been a really rewarding 6 years, including sourcing practices, recycling, clean Contact: and my only complaint is that in all this production, transparency and public [email protected] time I have never had the opportunity to reporting. They have found irresponsible visit the arctic wonders of Jokkmokk. The wood sourcing policies and alarmingly low Deforestation Understated chance for a real Swedish sauna was one levels of use of recycled fibres. The best, The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation of the things that persuaded me to take on SCA Tissue, scored less than half the (FAO) has published new figures on the the job, so it says much about the wonders available points, and Kimberly-Clark scored ‘state of the world’s forests’, met by howls of telematics and the excellent phone- worst. of protest from NGOs that claim they are conferencing skills of the TRN staff that I Contact: misleading, inaccurate and understate the real have never needed to go to Sweden to meet www.panda.org/forests/tissue extent of deforestation and damage to forests them in person. Shame! [email protected] globally. I need to thank a lot of people who Contact: have helped me over these years. Special GE Trees [email protected] thanks to the various TRN staff who have Genetically engineered (GE) trees are being www.fao.org/forestry provided invaluable support, information developed by researchers backed by the pulp and of course paid the bills: Elisa Peter and and paper industry. Nippon Paper Industries Ola Larsson for helping me through the has begun outdoor cultivation of GE salt- steepest part of the learning curve; tolerant eucalyptus trees at the Japanese Russia Swaantje Fock, Danielle Peloquin and Univesrity of Tsukuba’s Gene Research Solveig Lubeley for the middle years; and Centre. NTFP Fair An international Non-Timber Forest Damien Lee and Jouni Nissinen who will Contact: take TN into its next incarnation. I also www.gen-ethisches-netzwerk.de Products (NTFP) Fair and Forum was held at want to thank Jean-Paul Jeanrenaud, for www.stopgetrees.org the All-Russia Exhibition Center, in Moscow, getting me into it; Dennis Khoroshavtsev, 24–28 September 2005, organised by the our dream of a Russian translator; Gun UNFF6 World Conservation Union (IUCN), aiming Hofgaard, the wonderful illustrator; Eva The sixth session of the United Nations to provide small Russian businesses (crafters, Fairnell, my friend and ever watchful Forum on Forests (UNFF6) will take place in indigenous peoples and community-based proof-reader;David Ritchie, printer and New York, 13–24 February 2006. businesses) with opportunities to reach new adviser; and Bill Ritchie, cuddly markets with their NTFP products. Contact: revolutionary and well handy with a red www.un.org/esa/forests Contact: pen. Finally, I want to thank all the many [email protected] activists who have taken the time and COP11 Land Rights Fury over Code trouble to write about their campaigns and The 11th Conference of the Parties (COP) of your passions, and given me such the Framework Convention on Climate Land rights campaigners stepped up the fascinating and inspiring texts to edit. Change meeting took place in Montreal, pressure as the Russian State Duma prepared For the taiga! Canada, 28 November – 9 December 2005, to hold its second reading of the new Forest Mandy Haggith with the forestry industry making a strong Code (lesnoi kodeks) in mid-September, play for the role that sustainable forestry can gaining a reprieve until November. The code play in controlling greenhouse gas emissions. will allow large-scale privatisation of Russia’s contents forest lands, and is being viewed as the most Contact: severe threat yet to indigenous land rights in www.wbcsd.org news 2–3 Russia. Campaigners complain that FSC GA consultation with indigenous peoples over the code has been inadequate. fire 4–11 The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) held its General Assembly (GA) in Manaus, Source: CHUM-L listserve karelia 4 Brazil, 7–9 December 2005, where discussions included a new future strategy. Conservation Conference One controversial area is certification of canadian first nation 5 plantations, and a moratorium has been A conference on high conservation value proposed on such certification until after the forests (HCVFs) will be held in Arkhangelsk, in the hot seat 6–7 FSC’s current review process is complete. 13–14 December 2005, with the objective of elaborating strategic plans at national and Contact: regional levels for managing HCVFs. female fire-fighter 8 [email protected] [email protected] Contact: [email protected] outer space 9 sámi knowledge 10 cleansing fire 11 2 taiganews issue 531 winter 2005 news Europe North America Sámi Rights Upheld at UN Biggest FSC Yet On 14 November 2005, the UN Human In September 2005, Alberta-Pacific Forest Rights Committee ordered Finland to stop Industries Inc. (Al-Pac) achieved FSC logging activities in the Nellim area in Inari, certification of 5.5 million ha, becoming the which is one of the Sámi reindeer herding largest FSC certification in the world. areas (see TN52 Action Alert). The reason Smartwood certified the forest in north- given is that the current and escalating activity eastern Alberta. Al-Pac’s forest is on publicly is violating the rights of the Sámi people. Sámi owned land. Certification will enable Al-Pac people are celebrating the decision and hope to deliver FSC-certified Kraft pulp to that Stora Enso, Metsähallitus and other customers.