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Central
American Attorneys General Support Prosecutors Network
The
attorneys general from the seven Central American countries
signed an agreement that they would strengthen their
cooperation on environmental cases by supporting the
Network of Environmental Prosecutors, and would support
regional crime prevention in other areas such as drug
trafficking and organized crime through cooperative
efforts between the Public Ministries. The agreement
was unveiled at a conference, Environmental Justice
in the Framework of the Penal Prosecutorial System in
Central American, hosted by the Network of Environmental
Prosecutors and held in Tegucigalpa, Honduras from November
14-15, 2002.
The
workshop was designed to raise the awareness of the
region's judges and prosecutors of the importance of
environmental laws in an expectation that future environmental
cases would receive greater consideration by the Central
American legal system. A common complaint among the
environmental prosecutors is that the judges not only
are unschooled in the technical and ecological issues
in environmental cases, but are also unfamiliar with
the new body of environmental laws on which the cases
are based. Approximately 120 judges and prosecutors
heard presentations centering on the need for environmental
protection and content and application of environmental
laws in the region. Invited guests from Brazil, Argentina,
and the United States also shared their experiences
in developing and implementing their own environmental
judicial system.
For
a copy of the event program, along with other information
on activities in Central America, visit http://www.inece.org/region_americas.html.
CEC
Recommends Factual Record in Tarahumara Submission
On
August 29, 2002, the Secretariat of the Commission for
Environmental Cooperation of North America (CEC) recommended
that a factual record be developed on allegations by
indigenous peoples and communities of the Sierra Tarahumara
that the government of Mexico has failed to effectively
enforce its environmental law with regard to allegedly
illegal exploitation and destruction of forest resources
in the Mexican state of Chihuahua. According to the
submission (SEN-00-006), filed on June 9, 2000, by failing
to adequately process citizen complaints and to prosecute
probable environmental crimes, Mexico is denying access
to environmental justice to the indigenous peoples of
that region.
Under
Article 14 of the North American Agreement on Environmental
Cooperation (NAAEC), the Secretariat may consider a
submission from any person or nongovernmental organization
asserting that a Party to NAAEC is failing to effectively
enforce its environmental law. Where the Secretariat
determines that the NAAEC Article 14(1) criteria are
met, it may then proceed with a process that can lead
to the development of a factual record on the matter.
In accordance with Article 15(2) of NAAEC, the Secretariat
shall prepare a factual record if the Council, by a
two-thirds vote, instructs it to do so. For more information,
including a copy of the submission, visit http://www.cec.org.
Bolivia
Cracks Down on Forest Concessions
The
Bolivian government ordered the revision of a large
forest concession after it was discovered that it was
not executed in accordance with environmental regulations.
The General Superintendence of the Natural Renewable
Resources Regulation System (SIRENARE in Spanish) of
Bolivia is responsible for the preservation and sustainable
use of the countries natural resources and recently
handled a case related to the Pilón Lajas protected
area.
In
1991 Berna Enterprises obtained authorization from the
Bolivian Government to exploit 180, 000 hectares of
forestry resources in a rain forest in the northern
region of Bolivia (departments of La Paz and Beni).
But in 1992, Supreme Decree No. 23110 created the Pilón
Lajas Protected Area and Indigenous Territory covering
400,000 hectares, 20% of them (78.050 Ha.) over the
Berna area.
A
few years later, after strong evidence that Berna was
not complying with the environmental rules to extract
wood from the forest, a legal confrontation started
between the company and the National Service of Protected
Areas.
Finally,
in 2001 the case arrived to the General Superintendence
who, after a study of technical and legal components
of the problem, gave a historical judgment, Administrative
Resolution 01/2001, commanding to Forestry Superintendence
to revise the Berna concession in accordance with the
environmental rules.
As
a result, Berna renounced the 78,050 hectares and left
the protected area after receiving compensation from
the International Conservancy, an NGO, for its investments
since 1991. Today, there is no industrial extraction
of wood in Pilón Lajas, and it is considered
one of the most beautiful and richest places in terms
of biodiversity and natural landscapes. Also, this is
one of the few regions where it is possible to find
the remains of mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla),
almost extinct in Bolivia after decades of irrational
extraction. For more information, contact sirenare@entelnet.bo.
UNEP
Publishes Report on Caribbean Environmental Law
Caribbean
Environmental Law: Development and Application, recently
published by the UNEP Regional office for Latin America
and the Caribbean, analyzes environmental legislation
and judicial developments in the English-speaking Caribbean
Countries in the context of compliance with Agenda 21
and the Rio Agreements. Chapter 8 of Agenda 21 cites
the need to develop and implement integrated, enforceable
and effective laws and regulations that are based upon
sound social, ecological and scientific principles and
this publication assesses Caribbean efforts carried
out in the last ten years. The study was lead by Dr.
Winston Anderson, Professor of the University of the
West Indies, in cooperation with UNEP-ROLAC. For more
information contact Alejandra Cervantes Mayora, Secretary/Legal
Officer, UNEP-ROLAC at acervantes@rolac.unep.mx.
For
more news from the Americas see these articles:
In
addition, please visit INECE's Americas Forum at http://www.inece.org/region_americas.html.
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