Report details Chilean government shameful
failure to comply with Convention on Biological Diversity
News Release
April 2, 2002
Leading Chilean environmental law group denounces
the Lagos Administration for failure to comply with the terms of the Convention
on Biological Diversity at the
Sixth Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological
Diversity, April 7-19 in The Hague.
Santiago's Chilean lawyer and president of the Southern Chilean Environmental
Law Center (CEADA) Miguel Fredes will release a report during the Sixth
Meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological
Diversity (COP 6) detailing
the Lagos Administration's disturbing failure to comply with obligations
as a signatory country to the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD),
ratified by the Chilean government on September 9, 1994.
"We do not know if the Chilean government can give any justifiable
excuse to the other signatory nations for its lack of compliance with the
Convention during the more than seven years since the CBD was ratified.
What is certain is that CEADA will be present at COP 6 to explain the causes
of the Chilean government's failure", declared Fredes.
CEADA's research is part of an international independent monitoring and
analysis project charting the progress of implementation of the CBD, specifically
as it relates to the conservation of forest biological diversity. Coordinated
by the European organization Fern, this project is an initiative of the
Global Forest Coalition (GFC), an
international alliance of NGOs. The GFC has been established by a group
of NGOs and Indigenous Peoples Organisations (IPOs) to facilitate the informed
participation of NGOs and IPOs in intergovernmental meetings related to
forests, such as the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) and the CBD.
The project was financed by the Netherlands Directorate General for International
Co-operation (DGIS); the UK Department for International Development (DfID)
and the Swedish Society for Nature Conservation (SSNC).
The objective of the Global Forest Coalition monitoring project was to
evaluate and compare the progress of 21 countries that are signatories
to the CBD in order to identify which countries had difficulties implementing
the agreement and to promote
stronger obligations during COP 6. The report and recommendations,
to be published by FERN in April, consists of case studies in 21 countries,
including:
Australia, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, Chile, Columbia, Czech republic, Ghana,
India, Indonesia, Kenya, Malaysia, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Papua
New Guinea, Russia, South Africa, Surinam, Uganda, United Kingdom, and
Uruguay.The global report will be presented by Fern during COP 6 in the
Hague, Netherlands on April 15th, 2002.
The primary objective of COP 6 is to receive reports from its subsidiary
bodies, the Executive Secretary and the Global Environment Facility, review
the implementation of the programme of work, and focus on the following
issues: forest biological diversity; invasive alien species; access and
benefit-sharing as related to genetic resources; strategic plan, national
reporting and operations of the Convention.
Furthermore, the meeting will adopt a budget for the next biennium.
The GFC evaluation of Chile, performed by CEADA, shows a shameful situation
in terms of failure to comply with the obligations of the CBD and calls
for international condemnation of the Lagos Administration. "While
the Chilean government has
frequently been held up as an example of commercial and political advances
relative to other developing countries, its record regarding the CBD puts
Chile in the same deplorable condition as countries such as Cameroon, Ghana,
India, Kenya and Papa New Guinea," stated Mr. Fredes
Pat Rasmussen
Leavenworth Audubon Adopt-a-Forest
PO Box 154
Peshastin, WA 98847
Phone: 509-548-7640
patr@crcwnet.com
www.leavenworth-leaf.com
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