Description

Commercial loggers are often believed to be the prime destroyers of tropical forests. But opinions among the experts are divided about the long-term impact of commercial logging.

Transcript

Impact of Commercial Logging in Guyana Narrator: Commercial loggers are often believed to be the prime destroyers of tropical forests. But opinions among the experts are deeply divided about the long-term impact of commercial logging. Operations in Guyana in Northern Latin America are dominated by investors from South East Asia. Barama, a Malaysian and Korean owned company has a huge concession almost half the size of Belgium. They’ve been criticized for driving logging roads too wide. KT Chung: The reason why our road is comparatively wider than other Guyanese loggers is that they don’t harvest, they have less production ways. Once we build the road, we will use this road for 50 years. Narrator: Barama’s 50-year contract of this camp returned to Guyanese economy. Just $30,000.00 was reportedly paid in royalties for millions of dollars worth of timber exported in 1994. Indian homes and graves were bulldozed to create the space for Barama’s forest operations. Here, their toughest critics are Amerindian people. Jean La Rose: The Barama community had been operating in Malaysia in Sarawak to be specific. And they had been responsible in that country for the deforestation, devastation taking away of the land of the indigenous people in that area. KT Chung: We make the contract, the sign with the government. But the indigenous people’s land titles entirely belong to their government matters. It has no relations with us. Narrator: Barges shift timber to Barama’s new plywood factory. Critics claim that the factory where Barama has built up several stocks of plywood masks another operation, the much more lucrative export of raw logs. The government insists that it needs to set its timber wealth to pay off the debts to West. There are then no simple reasons while forests in the tropics are not being used sustainably. It follows that there are no simple solutions either, even the experts are divided, but most degree that if the world fails to respond at least a quarter of the world’s biological treasure could be eliminated. Now in this special report, we will look at what is being done to prevent this catastrophe.