Tong Tana - Bruno Manser Fonds

Tong Tana
September 1999
Journal of the Bruno-Manser-Fonds on the
subjects of rainforests, indigenous rights and
timber trade
BMF, Heuberg 25, CH-4051 Basel, Schweiz

Editorial
bm – I’m on my way in beautiful Switzerland
in the year 1999 AD. A McDonald’s
wrapping flies out of the train window, a
Coke can follows soon afterwards. “Do you
find that funny” I asked the youth who realised
that he had shown bravado in the
wrong place. – A walk with my 78 year-old
mother, who has trouble walking and uses
crutches. The path in the green park is littered
with garbage and glass from broken bottles
after a young people’s party: father state, or
rather a good foreigner, will clean everything
up again. – At the edge of the Rhine river in
Basel: within minutes 3 empty beer bottles fall
with a plop into the dark river at night. Out of
sight, out of mind. The Rhine will wash everything
clean.
Switzerland is one of the richest countries
in the world. Federal Council member
Couchepin sees further economic growth,
even more production, even more consumption,
as conditions for social security. Social
security for whom Already three or four people
successfully commit suicide in Switzerland
every day.
We export weapons in order to save jobs.
Thanks to the war in Ex-Yugoslavia various
businesses are flourishing. War boosts the
economy. The economy and war are allies.
The economy and politics are allies. Politics
and war are allies. It is up to the Swiss politicians
and every one of us to show that it need
not be so, that Switzerland shows solidarity
with people in the Third World protecting their
and our environment. We are all in the same
boat: our wonderful, beautiful planet Earth.
The first proof of our honesty is transparency.
All products on the market should be
declared according to origin and contents.
Objective information is a prerequisite for
a conscious society; and only such a society
will have a future in the new millenium. After
the introduction of a mandatory declaration
for meat, genetically modified organisms and
toxic substances, the declaration for wood
will be a further small step towards honesty.
Only give your vote to those members of the
National Council this autumn who clearly
commit themselves in this sense to more transparency
in commerce. The mandatory declaration
has been put on the agenda for the parliamentary
session in autumn after not being
dealt with in the summer session.
Or does nothing make sense anymore Is
it too late to act Mrs Spaehnhauer said to me
on the phone that, even if it is difficult at the
moment, good will triumph in the end, to
which I answered that we will also hold fast
to this hope. “Don’t talk like this! Good will
triumph! Set an exclamation mark behind it”
the 82-year-old lady called out energetically.
– Chapeau!
And again I’m sitting on the banks of the
Rhine. A drowning swallow drifts in the current.
Save it Jump in Get wet The bird is
certainly already dead – or not Quickly I
throw off my clothes an, “splash”, the swift lies
in my hand. One of its eyes is almost closed,
the other tired. The body is shivering. With its
beak wide open it breathes heavily. Are you
dying After 1 1 / 2 hours in my hand it suddenly
spreads its wings, lifts off, flies low over
the surface of the water in a wide curve over
the Rhine, over the roofs of the town and disappears
in the distance.
Contents
Editorial 2
Sarawak (Malaysia) 3–5
The great ripening of the fruits
(Tá-un Buá) 6–7
Canada respects the
indigenous Inuit people 8
Speaking of Wood: Amazon 9
Speaking of Wood: Miscellany news 10
Switzerland: Mandatory
declaration of timber 11–13
Speaking of wood: Switzerland 14–15
BMF internal affairs 16
2

Sarawak (Malaysia)
Message from Penan, received in
May 99
Ulau Ayat from Long Leng, Baa Layun:
We live now in the middle of logging-companies
who exploit timbers every day within
our territory. They have even destroyed our
fields without paying any compensation for
the damage. The loggers pursue and molest
us women when we pick up fruits and collect
rattan and medicines.
Uan Sope from Long Latei:
We went to Kuching to see the Chief
Minister at his residence during Hari Raya
Haji. The Police brought us to their station
for enquiry. We told them everything about
our problems with logging and oilpalm-plantations.
We wanted to ask Taib Mahmud,
Abang Johari and Alfred Jabu: “How do you
heal these problems” But the Police did not
let us see them – and did not allow us to stay
longer in Kuching, but forced us to leave for
Miri and Marudi the next day.
Asik Nyalik from Baa Ubung
They forbid us to kill Gibbons and Hornbills
– but they kill them themselves by killing
the trees and the forest. Check it out yourself:
before the loggers came, there were plenty of
gibbons and hornbills here. They say we will
profit from having our forest turned into oilpalm-plantations.
I do not believe them. We
have seen it, when they logged our forest –
they only became rich themselves, while our
life turned into poverty.
Penan blockade logging-road at
Long Sayan
rg – The Penan had previously spoken unsuccessfully
with the representatives of the logging
companies. Already at the beginning of
1999 the Penan had erected a blockade at
the same place. It was pulled down due to negotiations
with representatives of the government.
This was already viewed as a success
for the Penan by the local media. In the meantime
the wind has changed again, the government
has sent policemen to Long Sayan
and the intimidated (and hungry) blockaders
gave up for the time being.
Penan win court case
jk – The four Penan which were arrested
and abused in March, ’97 (see Tong Tana,
May ’99, “Violence towards peaceful
Penan”) were acquitted on June 15, 1999,
due to insufficient evidence. The Penan are
allowed to return to their villages. The police,
however, considers carrying the matter further.
Alfred Jabu violating democratic
law
bm – According to an article in the
Sarawak Tribune, Sarawak’s Deputy Chief
Minister and Minister of Rural and Land
Development, Dr Alfred Jabu has recently
tried to cancel the traditional position of
Along Sega, the headman of the Penan nomads
in the Ulu Limbang region. Along Sega
is one of the most eloquent speakers of the
Penan. Maybe this was Alfred Jabu’s reaction
on Along Sega’s complaint, that he does –
regularly and already for years now – illegal
hunting and fishing inside the Long Adang
Wildlife Reserve, and transports plenty of fish
and wildgame, on which the Penan depend
for their own survival, out of the territory
by helicopter. According to a message from
Along in march this year, Alfred Jabu’s
hunting-group has killed on a recent trip 7
mousedeers (Pelanok) in one night. The nomadic
Penan do not recognize the decision
of Alfred Jabu as he is meddling into their
internal affairs. Sources: Sarawak Tribune
May 12, 1999, Headman Along Sega’s message
of march 99.
Trade in game remains a problem
rg – Since the commercial trade in game
was banned in 1998 sales have decreased
in Sarawak. Dealers are fined up to about
1400.– US$, buyers up to about 500 US$.
Hardly any game is now being sold on the
public markets of Sarawak. Nevertheless, the
consumption of game during tourist tours to
longhouse settlements remains a problem. As
the minister of tourism, Dato James Masing,
announced at the end of last year, guilty tour
operators will also be punished now. Who
knows whether Alfred Jabu, the hunting tour
operator, will also be called to account for
this
Penan – waiting for reply
bm – The respresentataives of the Penan
from the Baram/Limbang rivers, who have put
forwards their complaints and concerns after
Hari Raya Haji this year in Kuching are still
waiting for reply from the Chief Minister Taib
3

Mahmud and from Abang Johari, the head of
the Special Cabinet Committee on Penan affairs.
They have asked the Chief Minister to
withdraw logging licences within their territories,
and to protect their forest as source for
their daily food. The reply – or non-reply – of
Taib Mahmud and Abang Johari will give
proof, how much they respect the “poorest”
part of Sarawak’s citizens.
Mobile Dental Clinic –
no reply so far
bm – The Bruno-Manser-Fonds is also still
waiting for reply on the proposal for a Mobile
Dental Clinic. US$ 10,000 startcapital are
ready, and the BMF is positive to find the US$
140,000 necessary to run the project over
two years in favour of the Penan and Kelabit
in the Ulu Limbang/Ulu Baram area. The
Chief Minister may appoint a dentist of his
choice who likes to engage in this social project
in favour of health of the Orang Ulu peoples.
The Penan welcome such a project.
Penan-Leaders ask for new head
of Committee on Penan Affairs
bm – In an article in “The Star”, Abang Johari,
Head of the Committee for Penan Affairs,
was quoted saying: “There are no more
Penans practising shifting cultivation. Most of
them are now selfsufficient in food production...they
all have access to medical facilities”.
Yet, in contrary to that statement, many
Penan face food shortage (mainly in protein)
as a result of the reduction of the wildgamepopulation
due to logging-activities. Most of
the Penan also have left their nomadic way of
life and do nowadays shifting cultivation on
advice of the Government…
Several Penan leaders have been asking,
that the head of the Committee on Penan
Affairs, Abang Johari, should be replaced by
a person, who at least understands their language,
culture and needs. Sources: The Star,
11/12/98, Penan-messages of march 99.
Siemens interested in Bakun Dam
rg – After the construction of Ekran’s USD
4 million) dam project failed for lack of finances
in November 1997, the government
now wants to build a smaller project costing
an estimated USD 1,4 billion. Representatives
from Siemens have carried out preliminary
talks with the Malaysian government in the
hope to get contracts for turbines and generators
for the 500 megawatt dam.
The world’s rarest small cat
in Borneo
rg – The brown Borneo cat (Catopuma badia)
is regarded as the rarest cat in the world.
Since 1874 only a dead animal and several
furs had been collected. In 1992 poachers
captured a female brown Borneo cat in the
border area between Sarawak and Kalimantan,
keeping it in captivity for several months.
It finally perished from undernourishment and
was dead by the time it was brought to the
museum of Kuching. Genetic analyses
showed that the brown Borneo cat is indeed a
separate species. At the end of 1998 another
cat was caught which had fled from forest
fires. It was released again at an undisclosed
location.
Bornean bay cat
(Catopuma badia).
No living specimen
has been photographed.
This cat,
held by Dr. Charles
Leh, was caught by
trappers in 1992 on
the Sarawak-Indonesia border, bud died before
scientists could examine it.
Bornean bay cat (Catopuma badia) in a 19th
century painting by Joseph Wolf.
4

Forestry in Sarawak
Professor em. Eberhard F. Bruenig,
Associate Member, Oxford
Forestry Institute, Oxford University,
who worked in the Sarawak
Forestry Department from
1954–1963 and 1990–1996,
talked to John Künzli
Responding to a question by Bruno Manser
whether the development of the forestry and
forest industry could be described as catastrophic,
Professor Bruenig asserted that, with
respect to the development in the last three
decades, this could be said with the following
qualifications.
Timber trade, and to a certain degree, the
wood-processing industry flourished, while
the forest growing stock capital was depleted
quickly and drastically, at the expense of future
prospects. Rash and wasteful growing
stock depletion and exodus of capital caused
ecological damages to site and forest stand
caused by the generally careless and inadequate
construction of roads and tracks, inappropriate
harvesting technology, destructive
logging practices and overlogging.
All this could have been avoided, however,
if the political will and strength had been
there. Commercial interests of indigenous and
foreign power-holding groups were, since the
mid-1960s, primarily cash-flow orientated.
The combination of lack of governmental control,
ready markets, pressing buyers and the
in theory free but in reality manipulated and
distorted markets, was ideal for those who
cleverly and in many ways were out to maximise
private profits. The position of the
power-holders was strong enough to fend off
any outside interference. Even the Malaysian
Federal Government found it difficult to make
itself heard. This only changed with the emergence
of the rainforest movements in the international
political and NGO arena. During
the whole period, only a few companies had,
to some extent, managed to adhere to the
principles of sustainability and complied with
existing rules, regulations and management
prescriptions.
Recently for example, the German Technical
Assistance Agency (GTZ – Project FOMISS) is
helping the Samling Co. to implement lowimpact
logging techniques and sustainable
management approaches. (However, even
then, the elusive issues of social justice and customary
or statutory rights of land and resource
ownership remained outside the concern of
Samling Co. The co-operation with GTZ
effected little change.) If forest values worth mentioning
are to be saved, the existing principles,
codes and guidelines for sustainable management,
nature conservation and environment
protection must be enforced without delay in all
concession areas. This would cause 20–30% of
the area of Sarawak’s permanent forest estate
to be automatically excluded from logging and
totally protected in its pristine state as a result of
excessive slopiness, water catchment and
stream/river bank protection or because of
particular ecological sensitivity or uniqueness.
In addition, another 5–10% of each concession
area would be excluded from logging for various
reasons such as poor accessibility or poor
quality. Another 10% outside the producing
forest estate should, according to government
policy, be established as national park, wildlife
sanctuary or biosphere reserve. The total area
of preserved pristine forest would then be very
substantial in absolute and relative terms which
should satisfy any conservationist, environmentalist
and anthropologist.
However, the reality is rather different and
the forest growing stock liquidation and forest
area decline continue almost unabated. Nature
and forest protection have made no notable
headway. The large newly designated
totally protected areas are intentions which
are only slowly established on the ground and
largely remain on paper. Satellite images indicate
that exploitation of Sarawak’s forests
progressed rapidly and engulfs many areas
which should, under any circumstance and aspect,
be totally protected. This causes not only
damage to the sites, forests, environment and
water bodies, but also irreversibly destroys
unique heritage sites and ecosystems.
The Environmental Impact Assessment
(EIA) which is mandatory for any forestry operation
above a specified size is applied reluctantly
or entirely circumvented. Of particular
ecological and economical alarm are the
continued exploitation and destruction of the
fragile Alan-Peatswamp forest ecosystems
which are unique as ecosystem and global
heritage, and the hazardous plan to replace
all types of natural peatswamp forest by
agricultural plantations. A credible and well
implemented EIA and certification would
probably stop the former and prevent the
latter. However, a hopeful sign that a wind of
change is blowing effectively, is the activity
in recent years of the Malaysian Federal
Government towards a national scheme of
certification to support development towards
sustainable forest management and conservation.
5

The great ripening of the fruits
(Tá-un Buá)
bm – Penan nomads live off hunting all
year round – mainly wild boars – and off
sago, a starchy flour from wild palms. Only a
few trees blossom annually in the wild; the
monkeys are usually faster than the people in
plucking their fruit. In intervals of about 5–7
years, however, the whole jungle with all its
noble fruit trees turns into a paradise! There is
food in abundance for months, as the game
also follows the blessing of fruit. 1998/99
was such a year of good fortune.
As the hornbill bird (metui) heralds the arrival
of the large troops of wild boars, the
Penan know that an abundant fruit season is
near by the sight of so-called “root flowers” at
the foot of the Meranti tree. In such a year the
Penan’s needs in vitamins and sweets are met
beyond fulfillment. Over a hundred kinds of
fruit, some of them very nourishing, ripen in
alternating sequence. Among the first gifts are
the Cu-ui balls [ill. 1], beckoning in the low-lying
areas, looking somewhat like mirabelle
plums from far. Those who dare to try the unripe
fruit soon have their teeth full of yellow
resin and the sensation of “long teeth” (kennilou),
caused by the fruit’s acids, signal restraint.
The end of the fruit blessing half a year
later is marked by the date-like blue-black Keramen-Paiáh
fruit in the mountains. They become
nicely sweet after boiling water is
poured over them.
During the fruit season nobody wants to
stay in the settlement. Four-year-old children
even shoulder a rattan bag and join a little
troop for a playful walk through the jungle.
Whoever can climb does so. Even some pregnant
Penean women can climb. For what is
more wonderful than to sit up in a tree in the
Their thin skin does not weigh much during
transport and their ripe sweet juicy meat
smells like the behinds of the Sogok ant (Bo
sak Lotok Sogok). The bitter bark of the tree is
used for treatment of malaria; the green seed
is an ingredient for arrow poison.
A whole row of coveted fruits of lianas,
especially Pellutan species, hang like oranges
in the branches. But their harvest is dangerous,
even when the mother-tree is felled. The
copiously flowing milky sap leaves black
spots on the skin. The latex of the “Pellutan
Unga” liana [ill. 3] is used as a soap: When
applied to the
skin it binds the
other types of latex
and can be
rubbed off when
dry. Watch out:
the method does
not work for hairy
bodies!
About 20 wild
types of Rambuill.
1: Cu-ui fruit
fork of a branch and
fill your belly with
sweet fruit and on top
of that to enjoy the
view in the soft
breeze A few daredevils
can always be
found for dangerous
trees who will get the
fruit to fall by shaking
branches with barbed
sticks or just by chopping
down branches
high up in the tree’s
crown. Unfortunately,
abundant trees such as
Cu-ui, or trees which
can hardly be climbed
like Beripun, or Peta
are also felled in order
to get at the fruit.
One of the noblest
of fruits is the Buá Jet
(Langsat, ill. 2), which
is also cultivated.
ill. 2:
Buá Jet with ant
ill. 3: Pellutan
Unga liana
6

tan beckon. Some glow like flaming red
heads of hair in a green sea of leaves. “Thick
is the skin of the Maha fruit, but sweet its
flesh!” (Kapan ipa buá Maha, tapi mee
luneng néh) says the song to honour a woman
who is not the most beautiful at first sight but
has inner qualities.
In contrast to
the cultivated
Rambutan Kahwin,
the flesh of
the wild fruit [ill.
4] does not easily
come off the
almond-sized
seed. Whoever
does not want
to swallow it
chews the meat
and the sweet
juice off the
seed with his
front teeth. The
ill. 4: Wild Rambutan fruit
only shadow
over this fruit
paradise is the
fact that an astounding
number of young Penan already
have damaged teeth from the fruits’ acids and
urgently need treatment.
The thick skin of a whole family of nut-sized
to peach-sized fruits (Buá Ipa, ill. 5) opens under
pressure into three segments. When fruit
is plentiful only its flesh is collected in a bamboo
container, the contents of which turn into
a sweet alcoholic drink
after 2–3 days (Borak
Buá). Fermentation can
be enhanced through
the addition of a middle
section of a Nakan
fruit. Unfortunately, the
production of this drink
by the Penan, resembling
fermenting grape
juice, was forbidden by
the Christian mission
SIB.
The largest and most
nourishing fruits of the
jungle are summarised
by the Penan as Buá
Jato (fallen fruit). The
most well-known – or
ill. 5: Buá Ipa fruit
the most infamous – of them
is the Durian, head-sized, 1–2 kg heavy and
spiked. It mainly grows on large trees and exists
in types with white, yellow and red flesh
[ill. 6]. Overripe fruit smell like vomit. Neither
hotels nor airlines permit them in the luggage.
Whoever does not (yet) know it, finds it disgusting.
Whoever dares to try it can become
addicted after
the third time.
All indigenous
people love it
and there is
hardly a child
who will not lick
the smeary flesh
from its fingers.
A tree can provide
several
ill. 6: Bela fruit
hundred fruits
and feed a family
for 2 weeks.
For easy transport
only the inside
of the spiky
fruit is carried
home in a leafy package. The flesh can be
dried to a black-brown dough over a fire and
be preserved (dusi). The eyeball-sized seeds
used to be cooked, peeled and dried over the
fire as provisions for later (gurem).
The Nakan fruit (jackfruit, ill. 7) are as fine
as the Durian. Looking like huge hanging
breasts, they grow directly
from the trunk
which, according to
the myth, was once a
Penan woman.
When a group returns
to the settlement
from an expedition,
part of the harvest is
shared with all the
other families and the
feast of fruits continues.
Although the
Penan nomads do not
pursue agriculture,
they become gardeners
during the fruit season:
as the seeds of
eaten fruits are spit out
or land in the bushes
after passing through
the digestive tract, a
new fruit garden soon
sprouts in and around
the settlement!
ill. 7: A Penan boy
plucks Nakan fruit
7

Canada respects the rights of
indigenous Inuit people
Canada makes a start !
rg – Since 1.4.99 the Inuit, formerly known
as Eskimos (raw meat eaters), were granted
a politically self-contained territory within
Canada.
With an area of around 2 million square
kilometres (approximately 50 times bigger
than Switzerland) and with around 27 000
dwellers, the new territory named “Nunavut”
(our land) is extreme sparsely populated.
From the 56 000 Inuit living in Canada,
23 000 now live in Nunavut. The landscape
is stamped by lakes, tree-free polar prairie
and plains and cliffs on the Arctic coast.
Nunavut has been tagged as one of the
world’s most promising mining areas. There
are big deposits of resources like zinc, lead,
silver, gold and diamonds that are already
partially exploited. Through the transfer of
prospecting rights, the Inuit receive from the
Canadian government over the next 14 years
a total of 1.15 billion dollars. Apart from that
the government will take over 90% of the territory’s
expenses in the next years. The Inuit’s
culture has changed a lot in the past years:
monies provided to them by the government
up to social housing assisted to the Inuit’s estrangement
from their traditional lifestyle. Nomadic
camps and dog sleighs have been replaced
by permanent housing estates and motor
sledges. The official language will indeed
be Inuktitut, and although not only the well educated
inhabitants often prefer English, many
The Inuit hunt in kayaks
traditions are preserved specially by the elders.
Because of the language barrier the
younger Inuit find it hard to discuss with their
grandparents. Demand for drugs and other
consume-possibilities is spreading.
NUNAVUT, our Land
Map: NZZ
Tong Tana
Published by
Bruno-Manser-Fonds (BMF)
Society for the peoples of the rainforest
Heuberg 25, CH-4051 Basel, Switzerland
Telephone ++41(61)261 94 74
Fax ++41(61)261 94 73
E-mail: info@bmf.ch
Internet: www.bmf.ch
Donations:
Switzerland/Liechtenstein:
Post account: 40-5899-8
Coop Bank account,4002 Basel, Acct. 421329.29.00.00-5
France: La Poste, Strasbourg, Acct. CCP 2.604.59T
Germany: Deutsche Bank, Lörrach (BLZ 683 700 34) Acct.
1678556
Editor: John Künzli, Bruno Manser
Authors: Bruno Manser (bm), Roger Graf (rg), John Künzli (jk),
Ruedi Suter (rs), David Koechlin (dk), Dominik Bucheli (db)
Photos: B. Manser, BMF, Zoo Zurich, D. Koechlin, IUCN,
E. Bruenig, Keith Snow
Drawings: B. Manser
Translations: Robert Gogel, M.-A. Dodd (French), Barbara Jäckli,
Sara Moylan, (English), J. Künzli, B. Manser (German)
Edition: 6200 (4000 German, 1500 French,
700 English)
Appears trimesterially
Please note:
Voluntary contributions are very welcome
and very needed !
Thank you!
Printed by Gremper AG, Basel
8

Speaking of wood: Amazon
Ban on timber felling in Brazil
a farce
rg – Brazil’s Minister of the Environment,
Jos‚ Sarney Filho, has partly lifted the ban on
timber felling in Amazon due to pressure from
the logging industry. Clear cutting continues
unhindered. According to the secret service,
eighty per cent of Brazil’s timber exports are
from illegal sources. The remaining 20% are
cut by the 377 registered logging companies
which possess logging concessions for over
16 000 square kilometers. Not all by far adhere
to the guidelines for reforestation and
careful logging techniques, as the “Neue
Zürcher Zeitung” dated April 9, 1999, writes.
The Malaysian timber companies WTK and
Samling and the Chinese enterprise Tianjin reportedly
have already bought several million
hectares of forest for future logging. According
to the “NZZ” all experts agree that the environmental
controls have become more strict
in Brazil. Whether this is sufficient to put a
stop to the “timber sharks’” handiwork remains
to be seen.
The Amazon forest is disappearing
faster than assumed
rg – As reported by “Nature” in April
1999, the rainforest is disappearing faster
than assumed. A study questioned 1, 600
people, especially owners of sawmills and
Lowland tapir
land owners. Additionally, aerial photographs
were taken from aircraft. The researchers
stated that their results were by far
more reliable than the satellite photos used until
now. According to the newest calculations
about 44 000 square kilometers (the area of
Switzerland) of rainforest were destroyed
during the past year. This is almost three times
the official Brazilian estimate.
A split up rainforest becomes
species-poor
rg – Behind the front of the loggers and
slash-and-burn farmers remains a rag rug
landscape of patches of more or less intact
forest with clear-cut and burned areas between
them. Many of these small and isolated
fragments are subsequently bought by environmental
organisations or by the state and
placed under protection. Very small areas,
however, are not able to maintain the original
biological/ species diversity, as the journal
“Biological Conservation” (No. 89/1999)
reports. Scientists investigated the number of
mammals living within two large (each about
20 000 hectares), two medium-sized (about
2000 hectares each) and two small (about
200 hectares each) rainforest fragments on
the Atlantic coast of Brazil. Whereas all 36
expected species of mammals were found in
the large areas, 30–31 species remained in
the medium-sized areas
and only 22–23
species were left in
the smallest areas. Especially
large species
with low population
densities roaming
through large territories
such as jaguars,
pumas and lowland
tapirs were missing in
the small forested
areas. Boundary effects
are also especially
detrimental for
the small areas where
a change in the temperature
and wind
regimes causes the
microclimate inside
the forest fragment to
change and to foster
forest fires.
9

Speaking of Wood:
Miscellany news
No relief for Tibet’s forests
rs – The deforesting of Tibet through the
People’s Republic of China rages on unhindered.
Daily more than a hundred cargo
trucks roll along the strategic east-west axis of
Lasha-Kangding-Chengdu passage downloaded
with big trunks for China. Most of the
trunks have diameters ranging from 40 cm to
70 cm – some even over 150 cm – and are often
longer than the cargo truck itself. The Chinese
army also takes part in the transportation
of the logs. Another method of transporting
the felled trunks from Tibet to East China is to
let them float down the rivers in their thousands.
Tibet’s primary forest, with its broad
variety of species, has been tagged by the
Han Chinese as the last “wood warehouse” in
China. Large mountainous areas in Tibet have
already been clearcut under generally primitive
logging methods. The wood taken out of
Tibet is used in China for any imaginable purpose:
house-constructing, ship building, paper
industry, heating – and for making chopsticks.
China satisfies it’s hunger for wood – since
after last year’s flood catastrophe a loggingban
for the upper course of the Yangze-river
was spoken – with timber from military occupied
regions and neighbouring countries.
Batak-family
Murder on Palawan
rg – On 23.3.99 Thomas Adona, an elderly,
highly respected representative of the
Batak people on Palawan (Philippines) was
murdered with a spear stab into the head by
a transient Philippino who was illegally in the
Batak forest looking for rattans. The murder
happened in the Mangapin-camp, a settlement
built by the state-authorities. Traditional
living of the Batak people is increasingly
dwindling. Non-local hunters, using rifles,
have drastically reduced the wild boar stock.
Even the collecting of rattans and Almasiga,
the fruit from Cauri trees was prohibited for
the Batak people through a governmental decision.
The collecting-licenses are now in the
hands of a few wealthy persons who hire people
from the slums of the cities to collect the
forest products. The murder of Thomas Adona
was one of their employees.
By now, practically all the Batak have compulsory
been settled down. They have been
christianised particularly by the “Korea Independent
Baptist One Way Church”, a sect
who drums into their heads that their culture is
bad, uncivilised and underdeveloped. Today,
only 9 Batak family groups do still live in the
traditional nomadic way in the rain forest.
Forest protector living with a tree
for the past year and a half
rg – Within the Redwood Forest, on the
west coast of America, Julia Hill, nicknamed
Julia “Butterfly” has been living within the
leafy folds of a thousand year old Redwood
for the past year and a half in a desperate
struggle to protect the ancient tree and the forest
from further destruction by the Maxxam Pacific
Lumber Company. An avid environmentalist,
Butterfly – who beseeches the protection
of the remaining forest – is supported by sympathisers
who bring her food, water and mail.
Cameroon bans export of rare
timber-species
rg – On july 1 st , 1999 Cameroon put an
export-ban for certain threatened timberspecies
into force. Not concerned by the new
regulation are Sapelli- and Ayoustrees, which
make about 50% of all trees felt in Cameroon.
To balance the financial losses caused by
declined exports, the government intents to
increase the export taxes. The main quantity
of Swiss tropical timber-imports origins in
Cameroon.
10

Switzerland: Why a mandatory
declaration of wood
Why a mandatory declaration for wood
bm – In Switzerland the manufacture of
doors consumes the most tropical wood. 95%
of all veneered doors conceal undeclared
tropical wood under veneer/paint or aluminium.
Even carpenters which expressly
order pinewood doors receive wrongly declared
doors containing concealed tropical
wood like the raw door type shown here from
Entla AG in Entlebuch.
Very cheap picture frames from tropical wood
in the “Bastelzentrum” in Berne (large handicraft
shop). Neither species nor origin of the
wood is declared. A local craftsman would have
to demand ten times the price just to cover costs!
“Entla” door on the Bundesplatz in Berne
The issue is the
consumer’s
right to objective
information.
Neither the
handicraft shop
“Bastelzentrum”
nor Spiess/IDEA
declare illustrated
commodities
according to
species and origin.
All products
are made of
local wood such
as beech, maple
and lime-wood, presumably from Swiss
forests. A clear declaration in this case would
be an advantage on the mark
Claraspital (a hospital) in Basel: Like most
doors in Swiss hospitals, these are made of
tropical wood.
Like in this “forest cherry” chest of drawers
from the furniture shop Yverdon in Berne, the
interior and back sides of many pieces consist
of tropical wood, undeclared of course!
11

Like many shops the large distributors ABM,
JUMBO and Loeb sell picture and mirror
frames made to measure. The salesperson
from Loeb/ BE even assured us there was no
tropical wood involved. The fact is, however,
that over 50% of these products are made of
African and Asian timber…
The furniture shop Conforama in Geneva
(“Where life is less expensive”) conceals its
tropical wood under the label “walnut brown
hue”; further indications are missing completely.
Under the indication “beech decor”, “maple
decor” etc., shops such as Conforama, Migros
and Möbel-Pfister sell the worst junk. This
consists of pollutant and energy-intensive
plywood covered by a plastic wood imitation.
The products are often imported from Denmark,
fall apart after moving house once and
become hazardous waste after that.
Sweeping in front of your own door – with the
right broom! Whereas the department store
Loeb in Berne conscientiously declares the
floor mop as beech-wood, origin Switzerland,
every indication is missing on the handle: it is
made of Ramin wood from the exploitation of
Borneo’s rainforest.
Möbel-Pfister, who already promised in 1992
to completely renounce tropical wood, sell
various closets containing tropical wood,
as does the closet “Laura” shown here
(SF 2670.–). The declaration “ash-wood light,
natural veneer” of Möbel-Pfister is not a
real declaration, the details of the inner door
(Ramin, Malaysia) and the backside (Okumé,
Cameroon) are missing, as are the countries
of origin.
12

JUMBO, the “heavyweight” with the largest turnover on the Swiss market
for building and hobby products, simply does not declare anything!
JUMBO had promised to declare all products according to species and origin by 1995.
Jumbo-Markt AG then wrote us on Aug.4, 1994, “Together with our suppliers we have agreed
upon putting a label with the declaration of the origin on the product in the retail shops. In this
way we enable the consumer to participate in the protection of the environment independently
and with personal responsibility. [...] To date 7 shops have declarations. The remainder are being
prepared and will be revised by about the end of March, 1996.”
This promise has not been kept, as opposed to MIGROS and Coop.
In its branches in Dietlikon, Fribourg and Pratteln
JUMBO misleadingly declares these wall
panels made of Lauan wood from Indonesia
as pinewood from Germany!
The land of origin of these Ramin border
strips from the exploitation of Borneo’s virgin
rainforests was given as Europe. Almost all
laminated or painted border strips are not
declared at all. These are also made of Ramin
wood from Borneo.
Whereas all “Decoline”-curtain poles made
of Ramin wood are not declared, the same
supplier conscientiously declares a product
when it is made of pinewood. Anyhow, the
country of origin is missing in both cases. Is
this a conscious deception of the customers!
Picture frame: Behind such misleading labels
as “walnut style” or “sorbet pistachio” JUMBO
hides tropical wood!
JUMBO’s Garden-furniture “Camping 1999”
made of “hardwood” is made of timber coming
from the plundering of the last remaining
primary forests in Sarawak/Malaysia ...
13

Switzerland – speaking of
wood – with disdain!
rg – The SHIV (Schweizerischer Sägereiund
Holzindustrie-Verband, the Swiss association
of sawmills and wood manufacturers)
and the WVS (Waldwirtschaft Verband
Schweiz, the Swiss forestry association) have
published their annual reports of 1998. The
reports are full of all kinds of snide remarks.
The WVS states that the issue of labelling according
to origin has been resolved by the Q-
label propagated by the WVS, 85% of the
wood having to be from Swiss forests. We
then asked ourselves: what about the remaining
15% and what about foreign wood which
... priori cannot receive a Q-label Three
years ago the same circles were fighting
against the so-called discrimination of wood
by a mandatory declaration. And now this
should not be the case anymore with a onesided
declaration of wood which is 85% worthy
of getting a Q-label
rg – Emil Mosimann, president of the SHIV,
formulated his “realistic demands” for the
favourable development of basic conditions
for the wood manufacturing industry in the association’s
annual report. Apart from fair
transport conditions, research capacity at universities,
a good presence at the Expo 2001
and “hopefully” at Sion 2006, he called for
“fair certifying partners (a. o. WWF, Pro
Natura, Greenpeace, BMF, etc. – the Ed.)
who are primarily interested in the actual state
of the forest and forestry, not in selling labels.”
The gentlemen responsible for the policies of
the association never tire in repeating the
same phrases about the eco-product wood
over and over again like a mantra and at the
same time shooting verbally at its potential
partners. As long as such gentlemen do not
disappear from the stage the goodwill of a
wide range of consumers can (unfortunately)
hardly be strengthened towards using native
wood.
rg – The newspaper “Neue Zürcher
Zeitung” dated June 8, 1999, printed a supplement
on the subject of paper manufacturing.
Under the title “The forest and paper –
widespread misunderstandings due to bad information”
the CEO of the paper factory
Biberist AG, Jürg Müller, could contribute his
personal truths. Müller formulated statements
such as, “Whereas in some countries outside
Europe more wood is cut than can grow back
in the same time span, the world’s forest land
is increasing” or “There is no global lack of
wood, on the contrary, in order to keep the
forests in balance more wood has to be
felled”. Furthermore, “It does not make sense
to forbid the renewal of a forest under the
pretext of wanting to save forests. It is just as
misleading to leave forests in their original
state without considering the economical
difficulties of the owners of the forests; environmental
protection should show consideration
for the economy.” The fact that the latter
point stated by Müller is still a common one at
the end of the 20 th century seems to be clear.
The assumption that economy has priority
over environmental protection does not really
show competence in someone who feels entitled
to write about “widespread misunderstandings
due to bad information on paper
and the forest”.
rg – The carpenters’ journal “Schreinerzeitung”
dated March 25, 1999, published
its views on the calls for the boycott of tropical
wood under the title “The use of tropical
wood: the facts”. According to the opinion of
the “Schreinerzeitung”, such renunciations
point in the wrong direction when measured
against the main reasons for the destruction of
the tropical forests – mismanagement and
social ills in the tropical wood producing
countries. Alleviation can only be achieved
through development aid in those areas
under the condition that the aid be used for
the given purpose and not disappear into
the pockets of corrupt government officials!
That the wood industry is interwoven with the
interests of a privileged class of politicians,
that the land rights of local peoples are disregarded
and that corruption is daily fare,
are, unfortunately, all facts. The “Schreinerzeitung”
indirectly confirms these facts – it just
sees the use of development money as the
problem...
14

The import of tropical wood
db – A rough estimate made by the BMF of
tropical wood imports into Switzerland during
the past year amounts to a minimum total of
20 311 tons worth 42 million SF. This includes
logs, sawn wood, plywood and products
which can be identified as made out of tropical
wood. Swiss customs statistics unfortunately
do neither deliver any information on
the type of wood used in partly finished and
finished products nor on products imported
into Switzerland over a third country; the imports
would therefore be even higher.
The miracle of Kleinlützel –
this beech tree should have died but didn’t!
Fireproof doors made of tropical
wood Unnecessary!
jk – The well-known company Precious
woods advertises parts for fireproof doors
made of tropical wood in the “Schreinerzeitung”.
The FSC certified wood comes from
the Brazilian virgin forest and should be an
alternative to native oak, or, respectively,
African Sipo. The BMF advises against the
purchase and recommends instead the fireproof
doors tested by the EMPA made of
glued layers of local beechwood and poplarwood
from the firm Norma Reiden AG, in
Reiden/LU. Phone: 062 758 42 42; fax: 062
758 42 43.
Crimes against trees for snake
protection project
bm – There was a lack of wood just 50
years ago in Switzerland. It was forbidden to
go into the forest with an axe and cut firewood
in many places. Thanks to the import of
cheap fuels and wood from exploited virgin
forests, Swiss forests are recuperating. The
wood is unused and lies rotting away in many
places.
In the region of the Laufental (Liesberg, BL/
Kleinlützel, SO) projects are being carried out
which should create new habitats for the Jura
viper. This endangered species of reptile loves
sunny cliffs. On the one hand, undergrowth is
sensibly being cut and piled on to heaps,
giving the snakes and other animals good
cover. On the other hand, almost all vegetation
is being removed in some places in a kind
of mini-clearcutting process; beech trees thick
as bodies, as old as 50 years, oaks and pines
as well as rather rare species of shrubs and
small trees such as snowy mespilus (Amelanchier
ovalis), a buckthorn (Rhamnus frangula),
the wild service-tree (Sorbus torminalis)
and a whitebream (Sorbus chamaemespilus/
S. mougeotii) have been indiscriminately cut
down and left to rot on the ground. In January
the bark of the thickest, probably 300 yearold
beech tree in the area has been cut off
around the trunk to cause it to die. Miraculously
the sap could rise up in spite of this,
the buds opened in Spring and the tree still
stands in full foliage today, in July!
The BMF requests the manager of the project
and the BUWAL to spare older (> 150
years) trees, oaks and rare woody shrubs in
order to enable virgin forest-like biotopes to
develop in dry areas with cliffs, to cut all
wood in winter and to utilise trunks sensibly,
or to wait with felling until the demand for
wood increases. Not only the snakes would
profit from this in future.
In praise!
We congratulate the following communities
on their decision to renounce the use of
tropical wood from the exploitation of virgin
forests: Aarau/AG, Gonten/AI, Kreuzlingen/TG,
Neunforn/TG, Jouxtens/VD, Lutry/
VD, Mex/VD, Préverenges/VD, Dürnten/ZH
and Illnau-Effretikon/ZH. Apart from 4 cantons,
a total of 250 communities with a population
of 2 626 572 desist from using wood
from the exploitation of virgin forests. Is your
home community not yet included Become
active – we will be happy to send you the
necessary information.
15

BMF Internal
jk – The eighth annual general assembly
took place on 26 th June. The 1998 balance
sheet indicated a surplus of CHF 16 934.80
– many thanks to all donators who have made
this delightful result possible! After Bruno presented
the annual report, the members held a
discussion about possible avenues to finally
secure a protected area for the Penan people.
Those who wish to have a look at the annual
account should contact the BMF secretariat.
Thank you!
dk – A VERY BIG THANK YOU to the organisation
“Kein Stolz auf Tropenholz”, René
Rohner and all the volunteers that helped to
organise and to carry through a wonderful
evening for the benefit of the BMF. An addition
to the lovely atmosphere was the great
diner and the entertainment of Masha Dimitri
who gave us the possibility to forget our daily
sorrows! The proceeds of the event was a
check over CHF 10 842.50 – thank you!
On the opening weekend Bruno Manser
will build a Penan hut. The evenings of October
20 th , 1999 and of January 20 th , 2000
have been designated for video presentations
with a concluding lecture by Bruno Manser.
Beginning at 20:00 p.m.
The Free Market
As much as possible and more
As big as possible and bigger
As fast as possible and faster
As long as possible and longer
More and if possible all
Bigger and if possible the biggest
Faster and if possible the fastest
Longer and if possible the longest
From a volume of poetry “Fahrlassig” by
Peter Fahr, Nemesis-Verlag
René, Bruno and check on an oak
Merchandise for Sale
dk – Video SAGO available in English now!
The film by Bruno Manser is a unique document
on the daily life of the Penan nomads, on the
search of Sago-Palms, their staple food in the
rainforest. CHF 50.–, US$ 45.–
Exhibition
“The Diary of Bruno Manser”
This exhibition runs from September 11 th ,
1999 to march 19 th , 2000
Place: “Naturmuseum” Kasernenplatz 6,
Luzern, Switzerland
Open: Tue to Sat: 10–12 hr and 14–17 hr
Sun and holidays: 10–17 hr (through)
Mon: closed
The Petronas Towers in Kuala Lumpur are
still the highest buildings in the world.
16