Communities and NGOs clarify case with Hamburg Parliament on Timber Certification

By JOANGOHutan

JOANGOHutan

2003-03-26 | We understand that your Senate/Parliament wants to accept the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) certificate. This is unfortunate because the MTCC process is flawed and it does not take into consideration the local indigenous peoples' concern as reflected on FSC Principles and Criteria (PandC) 2 and 3 (cite the 2 principles here).

March 5, 2003

Mr. Ole van Beust,

Senate Office,Rathausmarkt 1, 20095 Hamburg(Fax no.: 49 408 312403)

Mr. Gunnar Uldall,

Senator for Economy and Employment,

Post Box 11 21 09, 20421 Hamburg.(Fax no.: 49 408 411620)

Dear Mr. Ole Ban Beust, Dear Mr. Gunnar Uldall,

We understand that your Senate/Parliament wants to accept the Malaysian Timber Certification Council (MTCC) certificate. This is unfortunate because the MTCC process is flawed and it does not take into consideration the local indigenous peoples' concern as reflected on FSC Principles and Criteria (PandC) 2 and 3 (cite the 2 principles here)

We believe you are aware that 14 Malaysian NGOs withdrew from the MTCC certification process since July 2001. You should also be reminded that this does not mean that other social and environmental groups invited to participate in the MTCC process are actually involved in the process. As a matter of fact, only a few indigenous organisations, headed by the ruling party politicians and leaders (such as the Sarawak Dayak Iban Association and the Sarawak Dayak National Union in the Sarawak state) responded to the MTCC consultations. Specifically, over half of the 22 participants were representing corporate organisations at the MTCC regional (Sarawak) consultation in May 2002, in addition to 5 representatives from government departments.

We would like to bring to your attention that the environmental conservation groups such as the Malaysian Nature Society (MNS) has not been re-invited to be in the MTCC Board since 2001. Meanwhile, in January 2002, WWF Malaysia, in disagreement with the decision of MTCC to launch MTCC's certification scheme, resigned from the Board of MTCC.

Further, the Forest Management Unit (FMU) seeks to certify all the existing timber concessions, many of which dispute not only the indigenous claims but also violates FSC Principles #9 of high conservation valued forest.

In a joint study carried out by WWF Malaysia, MNS and Forest Institute of Malaysia (FRIM) the thorny issues surrounding MTCC's certification scheme is conversion of forests to plantations, among other issues. Exotic species such as acacia or eucalyptus used as forest crop is causing environmental implications on the biodiversity and the soil of the particular area.

We, therefore, urge you to delay considering the acceptance of the MTCC certificate, until it has gained the full compliance with the FSC standard, as you had promised earlier. Moreover, it is of utmost importance that local peoples' concerns should be fully considered to qualify the certificate as a credible scheme.

We look forward to hear from you.

Yours truly,

On behalf of JOANGOHutan Malaysia

(Collective of Indigenous Communities and NGOs on Forest Issues)

Email: JOANGOHutan joangohutan@yahoo.co.uk (focal point)

JOANGOHutan composes of the followings:

1. Persatuan Orang Asli Semenanjung Malaysia (POASM), Semenanjung Malaysia

2. Sinui Pai Nanek Sngik (SPNS), Perak

3. Komuniti Orang Asli Daerah Slim River, Perak

4. Center for Orang Asli Concerns (COAC), Selangor

5. Partners of Community Organisations (PACOS Trust), Sabah

6. KERUAN Association, Sarawak

7. Borneo Resources Institute (BRIMAS), Sarawak

8. SILOP, Sarawak

9. Indigenous Peoples' Development Centre (IPDC), Sarawak

10. Institute for Development of Alternative Living (IDEAL), Sarawak

11. SACCESS, Sarawak

12. Sahabat Alam Malaysia (SAM), Malaysia

13. SOS Selangor (Save Our Sungai Selangor), Selangor

14. Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM), Selangor