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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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