A bill to regulate mineral exploration and mining on Indian lands has cleared another hurdle in the Brazilian Congress, but as it moves through the legislative hoops it is drawing stepped-up criticism from environmental and Indian-rights groups. Proposed Law 1610/96 last month won approval in the Chamber of Deputies’ Amazon Commission by a vote of 12 to 5, following its passage earlier the chamber’s Mines and Energy Commission. The bill sets forth procedures indigenous communities may use to seek administrative relief, including compensation in the event their lands are damaged by mineral exploration. Supporters say the legislation will promote regional development. But nonprofit opponents contend it has been drafted to conform to the wishes of the mining industry. On the issue of compensatory...
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The company hoping to build a huge salt plant at the edge of a gray whale refuge in Mexico has delayed submission of a revised environmental impact statement, as international pressure against the controversial project continues to build. Exportadora de Sal, S.A. (ESSA) wants to expand its operations by erecting a new processing plant on the edge of San Ignacio Lagoon in the state of Baja California Sur. The lagoon is part of the Vizcaino Biosphere Reserve, a U.N. World Heritage site. Mexican environmental authorities had expected the revised impact statement to be submitted in June, but they say they will wait indefinitely for it and have set no time limit for its evaluation. ESSA, owned jointly by Mitsubishi Corp. and the Mexican Trade and...
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Conservation efforts in North American and European forests will increase pressure to harvest tropical timber, say the authors of a study published recently in Science Daily and the American Journal of Agricultural Economics. The study, titled “An Analysis of Global Timber Markets,” predicts that for every 50 acres (20 hectares) of timber land set aside in northern climes, 2.5 acres (1 hectare) of previously untouched forest will fall in South America and other tropical regions. Even a little forest conservation can have negative worldwide effects, says co-author Brent Sohngen, an assistant professor of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics at Ohio State University. But he and co-authors Robert Mendelsohn, Roger Sedjo, and Kenneth Lyon note that these effects will be mitigated thanks to the...
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Home Depot, the world’s largest home-improvement retailer, has become the latest company to promise it won’t buy products containing wood from old-growth forests. The Atlanta-based chain announced on Aug. 26, its 20th anniversary, that it will end its purchases of old-growth wood by the end of 2002. In a speech to company executives, President and CEO Arthur Blank said the company also will favor wood from suppliers that are independently certified to be in compliance with forest-management standards set by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Home Depot already markets royal mahogany doors from an FSC-certified supplier in Costa Rica, but it also carries old-growth bigleaf mahogany, redwood and cedar. To date, some 42.7 million acres (17.3 million hectares...
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Conservation International, the Washington-based nonprofit, is sponsoring its first annual Ecotourism Excellence Award to promote environmentally friendly economic activity. The winner will receive coverage in CI’s internationally distributed Guide to Ecotourism Excellence and a free trip to the April 2000 Travel & Leisure Show in Toronto, Canada, where the award will be presented. Applications for the contest are due Nov. 1...
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