Balam Nah Forest Declaration on the WTO
(Balam Nah, which means
"the temple of the jaguar" in Maya, is the original name
of
Felipe Carrillo Puerto, Quintana
Roo, Mexico, where forest groups met from June 10-12, 2003)
We, the forest communities of the Mayan region
and representatives of local, national and international non-governmental
organizations, stand for the preservation of forests and indigenous
communities. We oppose the model of global trade promoted by the
World Trade Organization (WTO) which causes the destruction of our
traditional livelihoods and native forests. Because decisions to
be made by trade ministers from 10-14 September in Cancun could
determine the future of forests, we call for all concerned citizens
of the world to join us in to demand that another world is possible.
We share these concerns:
- Through the WTO, developed countries are seeking
to end the global south’s ability to control its economic
activities, in favor of unregulated foreign investment. This benefits
transnational corporations at the expense of the poor.
- In the economic dogma of the WTO, forests are
seen only as wood and genetic resources to exploit. For us, life
is not a good which can be bought or sold. The WTO system legalizes
and encourages biopiracy by allowing private corporations to patent
and "own" our genetic resources, not only threatening
our rights to use these resources, but replacing our natural forests
& crops with transgenic organisms.
- The WTO seeks liberalization of trade policies
that govern forests, placing at risk many practices that conserve
forests and protect communities. Under this model all that will
regulate the consumption of our forests is the free market constructs
of supply and demand. This will accelerate the destruction of
our natural forests and the world’s ecosystems, replacing
these valuable resources with plantations devoid of biodiversity.
- Efforts undertaken in the Mayan forests of
Quintana Roo, and in places throughout Mexico and the world, to
promote responsible & sustainable management of forest resources
are resulting in the conservation of biodiversity, the preservation
of the indigenous culture and traditional farming communities,
and the rights of local people to control their territories and
resources. Increasing WTO’s control over forests threatens
all of our efforts to conserve our land, resources and culture.
- The WTO itself is an anti-democratic body,
allowing little participation from those whom its decisions will
most affect. The legal regime of the WTO conflicts with the existing
constitutions of many nations, states, and communities. Adopting
WTO rules threatens our national, state and community sovereignty.
Trade ministers are making rules without consulting those who
will be most impacted by their decisions: people who work in and
support the forestry sector.
We propose:
- Communities and nations must be able to defend
and protect their forests and the multiple functions that they
provide.
- The WTO should in no way impede nations from
choosing the means by which they decide to protect their forests,
or from complying with international agreements governing the
environment, human rights, and the rights of workers and indigenous
peoples.
- The WTO should not authorize and legitimate
the patenting of life.
- Our governments, and their trade representatives,
must not advance any trade negotiations without transparency and
prior-informed consent of the communities to be affected.
- Forest advocates from the north and south must
build strong and lasting relationships to derail the machinery
of corporate globalization, as dictated by the WTO.
- The current model of international trade must
be replaced by one of fair trade that values environmental and
human rights concerns, including biodiversity and cultural integrity.
We invite all forest communities, the groups that
support them, and all citizens interested in the conservation of
the forests to spread this declaration widely and make plans to
travel to the WTO meeting in Cancun September 10-14, 2003.
SIGNATORIES
OEPFZM) (Organization of Communal
Forest Producers of the Zona Maya)
UCIZONI (Union of Indigenous
Communities from the North Isthmus)
UNORCA (Mexican Union of Regional
Campesino Organizations)
Red MOCAF (Mexican Campesino
Forest Producers’ Network)
RMALC (Mexican Action Network
on Free Trade)
Institute for Global Justice
(IGJ), Jakarta, Indonesia
National Network of Forest Practitioners,
US
International Forum on Globalization
Forest Action Network (FAN),
Kenya
International Indian Treaty
Council
Baikal Environmental Wave, Russia
Yaxche’, Árbol de
la Vida, A.C
Friends of the Earth, Costa
Rica
Rainforest Action Network
Forest Peoples Programme
American Lands Alliance
Cortes Ecoforestry Society
Forest Stewards Guild
Pacific Environment
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