Mining – India 1
1. Rio Tinto discovers diamond resource in Madhya Pradesh 1
2. Orissa HC stays grant of PL to Posco 2
3. 'Austerity' is the mantra for domestic aluminium makers 3
4. Mining unit attracts foreign buyer 5
5. Mining & metals sector fundamentals strong 7
Mining – International 7
6. Anti-mining residents thank CHR through song 7
7. Big Iron Range steel project still going -- for now 9
8. Govt issues out more mining licences 11
9. The enduring curse of bauxite 11
10. Vietnam halts licensing of steel projects temporarily 16
11. No uranium mining for QLD 17
12. Barapukuria coal mine project: 406 affected families to get compensation 17
13. Call for Govt to reform mining sector 19
14. Uranium mining a hot issue -- again 20
15. Sustainable Living: End of the coal era 22
Other News – India 24
16. In just 11 weeks of '09, tiger count down by 17 24
17. Forest management could create 10 million new jobs, says FAO 25
18. Biofuels for the poor 27
19. $20m climate change project announced 29
Mining – India
Rio Tinto discovers diamond resource in Madhya Pradesh
New Delhi (PTI): Global mining giant Rio Tinto has discovered an immensely rich diamond resource in Madhya Pradesh, a development that could boost the company's plans of investing "hundreds of million dollars" in the country.
"Rio Tinto has completed an Order of Magnitude study, which has identified an inferred resource (of diamond) of 37 million tonnes," Rio Tinto India Managing Director Nik Senapati told PTI.
It is estimated that the grade of the inferred resource is 0.7 carats per tonne, he added.
Asked about the size of investment that the company would make after it gets mining lease and environmental clearance for diamond mining project, Mr. Senapati said it would depend on further evaluations, but could be in "hundreds of million dollars."
"The investment size would depend on further evaluations such as distribution of diamonds in the pipes, hardness of rocks and so on. But, it would be in the order of hundreds of millions dollars," he said.
Rio Tinto has already spent about USD 60 million in India as part of its exploratory works in a span of over four years. Of the total amount, it has spent the maximum on its Bunder diamond project in Madhya Pradesh.
http://www.hindu.com/thehindu/holnus/006200903221183.htm
Orissa HC stays grant of PL to Posco
BS Reporter / Kolkata/ Bhubaneswar March 23, 2009, 0:42 IST
In yet another setback to the proposed 12 million tonne steel project of Posco , the Orissa High Court has stayed the grant of prospecting license (PL) of Khandadhar iron ore mines to the company till March 25, 2009.
The court directed the Centre not to proceed with the grant of PL till 25th of this month, when the court will hear the matter again. Simultaneously, the court asked the state government for submission of all documents relating to the grant of PL.
The stay came on a petition moved by the public sector Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Limited (KIOCL) in the Orissa High Court against the Orissa government’s recommendations in this regard.
In the petition, KIOCL contended that the Orissa government has recommended for grant of PL favouring Posco without taking final decisions on the applications of Kudremukh and 226 other applicants, who had applied for the same property since 1991. Accepting the petition for hearing, the High Court had directed the state government to produce all the related documents few days back.
It may be noted, KIOCL applied for PL of Kandhadhar mines in 2002 and spent about Rs 1.5 crore for undertaking geological survey.
Since KIOCL moved the Orissa High Court challenging the decision, the issue was referred to the revision court of the Union government. The recommendation was returned to Orissa government and the steel and mines secretary was directed to consider all the applicants before making the recommendation.
Accordingly, the steel and mines secretary heard all the applications and based on merit, Posco was recommended for the grant of PL for Khandadhar mines for an area of 2500 hectares in January this year.
Earlier, in June, 2005, the Orissa government had signed a MoU with the South Korean steel major Posco for setting up of a 12 million tonne integrated steel project in Jagatsinghpur district.
Meanwhile, the government sources said, the legal tangle over grant of PL is unlikely to affect the future of the Rs 51,000 crore project. The contention of the petitioner was that the state government has recommended the name of Posco without taking any final decision on their applications, which meant the issue of rejection letter. But the state government had difficulties in issuing the rejection letters as its recommendation pertaining to grant of PL to Posco is not mandatory.
In case the state government issues the rejection letter to the applicants and the Centre doesn't approve the recommendations of the state government, there cannot be any further hearing for the particular mines, the sources pointed out.
There is also confusion on the 90-day dateline for issue of the rejection letter to the unsuccessful claimants of the property, particularly with respect to the cutoff date from which it should be calculated. Though the state government recommended for grant of PL in favour of Posco in the second week of January 2009, the Centre sat on the recommendation. With the model code of conduct in force, the Centre may not be able to take a decision in this regard till the end of the elections.
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/orissa-hc-stays-grantpl-to-posco/352614/
'Austerity' is the mantra for domestic aluminium makers
analysts` view
Kunal Bose / Mumbai March 23, 2009, 0:49 IST
Blame the market and not the metal groups if they are going to distribute less by way of dividends this time in order to conserve cash in the present hard times. Similarly, much of their capital expenditure programme will be postponed to a future date. This has now become a universal phenomenon.
What alternative do they have at a time when they are experiencing a continuous fall in turnover and profit caused by the price setback since August. Moreover, who knows how far away the better times are. Our import duty on metals being small, developments in the rest of the world will have a significant bearing on the fortune groups like SAIL, Hindalco and Nalco.
Nalco’s profit in the third quarter of this year fell by more than half to Rs219.46 crore from Rs 445 crore in the previous quarter. Hindalco could show a marginal improvement in profit in the third quarter over the corresponding period of 2007-08, thanks to improved earnings from copper, where the concentrate conversion business model is proving to be a hedge against violent changes in the commodity cycle.
This financial year will soon be over and it requires no guessing that margins of these companies have come under further pressure in the final quarter. Hindalco is the country’s only aluminium producer to have continuously expanded its value-added product base. This has been done with the twin objectives of “de-risking the product portfolio” and expanding the market for the light metal in the country. Last year, Hindalco raised production of flat-rolled items to 215,198 tonnes, extrusions to 43,135 tonnes and foils to 25,700 tonnes. It also has a 300,000-piece capacity alloy wheel unit.
As a result, a major portion of the company’s primary aluminium production of 477,723 tonnes in 2007-08 was sold in value-added form. The market having hit the trough, even this model could not arrest the fall in Hindalco’s profit in aluminium.
The pitch was further queered for Hindalco in particular with the spurt in arrivals of aluminium sheets and foils from China, where producers are plagued by overcapacity. Imposition of the 35 per cent safeguard duty on sheets and 22 per cent on foils for a period of 200 days should curb oversupply and allow local producers to get better prices for their products.
New Delhi’s intervention in this case has been prompt and, expectedly, it did not invite any angry protests from China, which was indulging in dumping. The world aluminium market remains in a state of enormous oversupply and this is mostly on account of China. Last year, China’s share of the world aluminium production of 39.828 million tonnes was as much as 13.436 million tonnes.
An important thing to note is that the world aluminium industry’s capacity utilisation in 2008 fell to 88 per cent from 92 per cent in the previous year as current metal prices and demand have led to the closure of high-cost smelters across all producing centres, including China. Nalco chairman C R Pradhan says as aluminium prices have been driven down to the current levels, half of the global industry is believed to be losing money on cash cost basis.
Both Nalco and Hindalco are counted among the lowest cost producers of the metal and they, therefore, have managed to stay in the profit zone. Vedanta Resources’ acquisition of 51 per cent ownership and management control of Balco in 2001 and the subsequently expansion of the Korba smelter by 250,000 tonnes to 350,000 tonnes by employing the Chinese Gami 320 technology, has changed Balco beyond recognition.
In fact, Vedanta has created the base at Korba to lift the aluminium smelting capacity to 1 million tonnes. No one will know it more than Vedanta chairman Anil Agarwal that the fortunes of Indian aluminium operations will be largely impacted by the global business environment.
What is not going to do aluminium any good is the 12.1 per cent fall in Japan’s fourth quarter GDP growth, which led World Bank President Robert Zoellick to say that we are in “serious and dangerous times”. If Japan, a market for 4 million tonnes of aluminium of which half is imported, is using less aluminium, it is bound to result in LME inventory rising.
Another point of concern is the alarming rate at which macroeconomic indicators for the Western world are deteriorating. However, the China Nonferrous Metals Industry Association, which is reconciled to aluminium prices staying below production costs for the rest of the year, says, “The room for a further fall in prices is limited.”
But in case of more reverses in prices, some high-cost production capacity – the major part of the world aluminium capacity is viable if the metal on LME stays above $1,600 a tonne – will have to “quit the market forever”. Whether or not aluminium is now due for technical correction, the message for Indian producers is to tighten the belt in every possible way.
Alcoa, the world’s second largest aluminium producer, is cutting dividend for the first time in more than a quarter century to save $400 million. The story may not be different here.
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/%5Causterity%5C-ismantra-for-domestic-aluminium-makers/352582/
Mining unit attracts foreign buyer
Pradeep Gooptu / Kolkata March 23, 2009, 0:22 IST
The quest for lower costs prompted by slowdown in the mines sector, and the growing hunger of Indian companies to secure mining assets overseas, would lead to more and more mergers and alliances between foreign and Indian SMEs companies in niche areas of the mining sector.
The greater integration appeared inevitable as mining continued to be niche market requiring highly specialised skills and tailormade solutions ideal for delivery through SMEs rather than giant enterprises working on a one-size-fits-all approach, though actual implementation of projects would require the resources and skills held by large enterprises only< said sources in the Indian Mines Bureau.
Mining has always been a sector led by small, innovative companies and extraordinary, even maverick, entrepreneurs rather than structured corporate entities, said mining sector sources in Kolkata at a recent meet.
For example, the UK based IMC Group Consulting Limited (IMC) recently acquired 51 per cent state in Kolkata-based SRG Services and Consultancy Private Limited (SRG), a highly specialised geological, mining and environmental consultancy with capabilities in geological modelling, mine planning and resource valuation with established international experience from consulting projects in countries like Indonesia, Turkey, Iran,
Kazakhstan, Oman, Mexico, DR Congo, Mozambique, Morocco and Liberia.
In recognition of the expertise that an SEM like SRG was brining to the table in the takeover deal, SRG founder and managing director T N Gunaseelan, and directors V S Rao and Hemen Bhagawati, would continue to be on the SRG board, which now had Barry Edwards, Chris Wells and Arif Anwar from IMC as new board members.
The mining sector sources, in the city for global sector meet, said companies like SRG were typical of Indian enterprises that were attracting global attention with its team of about 30 qualified professionals.
IMC, part of the German mining multinational DMT, offered services in the environmental, mining, minerals, engineering and energy industries world wide, and was a recognised world leader in its field.
Chris Wells said the acquisition of SRG would lead to a permanent Indian presence for IMC.
SRG would contribute to IMC businesses like due diligence, data study and project management, in view of its unique expertise to do IT-based modeling with available data, said Gunaseelan.
In the Indian context, the specialised skills of IMC on community rehabilitation and recovery of lands formerly used for mining, and making them suitable for fresh use, would be important, added Gunaseelan. IMC led the international mining activities of its parent company DMT GmbH & Co. KG of Germany, in turn wholly owned by TÜV NORD Group of Germany, with annual turnover in the region of €1 billion.
Currently IMC has active projects in more than 30 countries.
The IMC-SRG websites would be harmonised in the near future, he added. IMC was one of the preferred consultancies for Competent Persons Reports for mining flotations or IPOs on all the major international stock exchanges, especially the London Stock Exchange Main and AIM markets, recent clients being Hochschild Mining plc., KSK Energy Ventures, Kazakhmys, Xstrata plc. and Polska Grupa Energetyczna.
Wells said IMC was also a specialist in training in developing countries, intermediate technology countries, and highly developed nations such as UK, USA, Australia and South Africa through creation of a self-contained training capability within the client organisation.
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/mining-unit-attracts-foreign-buyer/352591/
Mining & metals sector fundamentals strong
ET reported that operators in the mining and metals industry have enjoyed an unprecedented boom over the past decade as China, India and other rapidly developing economies sought to modernize their infrastructure and a rising middle class was able to afford cars and other metals intensive goods for the first time.
An Ernst & Young said the year 2008 saw the worldwide mining and metals industry go from the heights of optimism to the depths of despair with the sudden and severe collapse in mining and metals prices in the third quarter.
The report said that "Although the mining sector was the last to be impacted, financing and deals all but dried up in the fourth quarter. However, while worldwide demand for mining and metal commodities fell sharply in the last half of 2008, the long term picture remains very positive, adding changes in the global economy, including urbanization in fast growing developing economies, creates a demand for steel and other metals that is unlikely to reduce significantly.
Although, consolidation will continue to be slower in the short to medium term due to financing challenges, but mining and metals companies with strong balance sheets need to be aware of the potential opportunities.
The report further added that in 2009, we expect megadeals to continue to slow, while niche deals will increase. We see a number of smaller megadeals, USD 2 billion to USD 10 billio, by the cashed up mid tiers. There will also likely be a focus on streamlining operations through divestment of assets, potentially to private equity or specialist investors, as well as a renewed focus on the sector by specialist funds."
http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/03/23/ODcyNDc%3D/Mining_%2526_metals_sector_fundamentals_strong.html
Mining – International
Anti-mining residents thank CHR through song
By Erika Tapalla
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 12:23:00 03/23/2009
Filed Under: Mining and quarrying, Music, Human Rights
MANILA, Philippines – Residents from mining-affected communities serenaded Commission on Human Rights (CHR) officials Monday to express their gratitude to the agency that has listened to their concerns.
"This is not a protest, I want to clarify that. We are expressing gratitude because CHR has been accommodating to us since August last year. At the same time we also want to just remind CHR, not to forget us despite their big, high-profile cases now," Jesus Garganera, national coordinator of the Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM, Alliance against Mining), told INQUIRER.net.
Led by artist Bayang Barrios, representatives from Nueva Vizcaya, Sibuyan Island in Romblon, and Agusan del Norte held banners and signs of protest against mining activities in their area.
CHR officials stepped out of their offices to listen to the performances and receive flowers from the ATM.
Domingo Marin, resident of San Fernando Romblon, told INQUIRER.net that his son, Armin Marin, was shot dead because he led a rally protesting mining activities in their area.
"October 3, 2007, bale elected councilor siya, tatlong months pa lang [he was an elected councilor for only three months when he was], gunned down by a security guard because he was leading a rally against mining," Marin said.
Marin said that exploration activities in their area have led to erosion and destruction of the rivers.
"May erosion na, nasisira pa yung ilog namin, pati palayan, dahil matarik yung bukid. Wala pa naman gaanong kabigat yung epekto kasi binabantayan namin na hindi matuloy [There is erosion and our rivers are being destroyed, even our rice fields because they are steep. The effects aren’t that bad yet because we are watching them]," Marin said.
On the other hand, Kagawad Peter Duyapat of Barangay (village) Didipio in Kasibu, Nueva Vizcaya, said their homes were in ruins after being demolished allegedly by security guards of mining firm Oceana Gold Philippines.
"Pinilit nila pasukin ang lupa namin, sinira nila bahay namin, lupa, pati mga tulay. Tapos binakuran nila lupa namin sa kanila na daw yun [They tried to forcibly enter our land, destroyed our homes, even bridges. And then they build a fence around our land and claim that it is theirs]," Duyapat said.
ATM urged CHR to continue its support to victims of human rights violations, committed by large-scale mining companies that threatened the lives and properties of marginalized and indigenous peoples.
Garganera said the serenade served as a "kick-off" event for the week-long Anti-Mining Solidarity week hosted by ATM.
ATM is a coalition of mining-affected communities, non-government organizations, private organizations, church, and other support groups against the threat of mining to people’s livelihood.
http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/metro/view/20090323-195680/Anti-mining-residents-thank-CHR-through-song
Big Iron Range steel project still going -- for now
Monday, Mar 23, 2009
By all accounts, construction is proceeding as planned on Essar Steel's new Iron Range taconite and steel facility.
But Essar has had trouble getting banks to back the huge project north of Nashwauk, Minn. Some Iron Range lawmakers reported hearing those financing concerns from Essar North America President Madhu Vuppuluri in a recent meeting.
Vuppuluri is now in India, and he has not been available to respond.
But reports of his comments launched a storm of speculation about the viability of this very big and desirable construction project.
Demand for steel from customers like auto makers has dropped to next to nothing and layoffs have spread across the Range.
Itasca County Commissioner Chair Karen Burthwick admits to some concerns about the Essar project's health.
"We've seen reports in the news that Essar has been unable to obtain all of the funding that it needs for the project, and I know there is a lot of concern out in the community about that, as to whether or not the project can go forward without that," Burthwick said. "And of course, just looking at the economic times that we're in and the downturn in the steel industry is a concern."
But Nashwauk Mayor Bill Hendricks has none of those misgivings. Hendricks said Essar is still preparing ground for a taconite plant.
"They're digging. They're preparing the site. They've got machines out there - moving machines that are in the process of moving forward. And everything is moving forward," said Hendricks.
State Sen. Tom Saxhaug, DFL - Grand Rapids, who was in the meeting with Vuppuluri, said the executive's comments to lawmakers were not about Essar, but about corporate finance in general.
"He was talking in a broad sense, and I don't think Essar has any particular problems with financing," Saxhaug said.
Gov. Tim Pawlenty echoed that in an Iron Range meeting this week, saying the company had told state officials they did not need any of the state's financial help.
Essar is one of several Iron Range mining projects either underway or in the later planning stages.
However, as Iron Range Resources Commissioner Sandy Layman noted, tight credit markets do make this a challenging time to build.
"I think what we're recognizing is that the large projects that are moving forward, and thankfully they are moving forward, are experiencing what all projects are experiencing. And that is a very tight lending market," she said.
And, it's a difficult time to be in the steel industry, with huge financial pressures, according to analyst Steve Oman, with the credit ratings firm Moody's Investors Service.
"Right now things are as about as bad as we've seen for a very long time," he said, "and I'm talking probably pre-World War II."
Oman's firm doesn't rate Essar Steel Minnesota, so he confined his comments to the steel industry in general.
Oman said steel prices have dropped by half since last summer, before the bottom dropped out. Even though labor and material costs for construction are much lower now, most companies, he said, will try to hold onto their cash.
"Companies will be reluctant to throw any more money into a new project right now. They're much more worried about maintaining adequate liquidity -- keeping the cash balances high -- because they just don't know if the banks will be there to support them if they need to raise some cash on a short basis," Oman said.
Essar has a huge Indian conglomerate behind it, and its deep pockets could sustain the Minnesota project for some time.
But no company can afford to burn cash indefinitely, and more freely flowing credit will increase the chances of Essar Steel Minnesota getting completed on schedule.
http://www.yourprojectnews.com/big+iron+range+steel+project+still+going+--+for+now_27287.html
Govt issues out more mining licences
By ARTHUR MORDAUNT on March 23,2009
No matching news for this article
MBABANE – Government is the process of issuing out more mining licenses.
Already, a mining licence for the mining of diamonds at Dvokolwako has been issued.
This has been divulged by Natural Resources and Energy, Minister Princess Tsandzile.
She said work would be starting in this area soon.
The minister said other mining licences were being processed. This includes a licence for coal mining at Mpaka in the Lubombo region and gold mining at Pigg’s Peak in northern Hhohho. The princess was briefing members of her ministry’s portfolio committee. She has also disclosed that there has been interest from investors in reopening the Kaolin Mine at Mahlangatsha in the Manzini region. The minister said these requests were currently being processed by the Minerals Management Board before the issuance of mining rights. She did not state though as to when this would be done.
The minister further said mining companies were expected to assist the hosting communities with jobs, and infrastructure, which includes roads, clinics and schools. The last mine to operate in the country was the Bulembu Asbestos Mine which ceased operating in the late 1990s. Other mines that used to exist include the Iron Ore Mine at Ngwenya and the Dvokolwako Diamond Mine. The only mine currently in existence is the Maloma Coal Mine.
http://www.times.co.sz/index.php?news=6485
The enduring curse of bauxite
COMMON SENSE
JOHN MAXWELL
Sunday, March 22, 2009
ALMOST everything you thought you knew about bauxite is a lie, beginning with the authorised version of how the industry began. "Although deposits of aluminous red earth have been known to occur in the Tertiary Limestone areas (which covers two-thirds of the land surface of Jamaica) since the 1820s, it was not until the 1940s that their economic significance as an ore of aluminium was recognised."
That's not as bad as the garbage disseminated in various quarters, including schools, which attributes the 'discovery' to one of Jamaica's merchant barons in the 1940s. According to that story, the merchant, who owned land in St Ann, noticed that his crops were not doing well on red earth and sent some away to be analysed. And presto! A bauxite industry was born.
The very first Government geologist, JG Sawkins, had mapped some of the major deposits and discussed their possible importance in his official Notes of 1867. And Aluminium Ltd of London has had its agents mapping and getting options on land in Jamaica since 1936.
The discovery of mineral wealth in the Third World has usually been the precursor to communal strife up to and including civil war (Nigerian oil, Congolese cobalt, uranium, oil, etc) and social dissolution. Jamaica has been no different, only slightly less bloody.
Mining usually destroys the environment, fragments communities, intensifies inequality and encourages criminal activity. Bauxite mining has disfigured the landscape, opened land to illegal deforestation and increased soil erosion. The dust nuisance from mining and transporting bauxite is widespread as are the asthma and other collateral medical conditions. The fallout is much greater and more severe in the neighbourhood of alumina refineries. The toxic effusions of these hellholes destroy the roofs of houses, furniture, livestock and most shameful of all, the lungs of children. Red mud-polluted water contributes to hypertension, stroke and early death.
But all this is just a start, a sample, of the enduring curse of bauxite, that magic mineral that only 50 years ago was going to be the engine of our development, was going to make us all rich and happy.
Suicide in the Garden Parish
I spent four years, from age eight to 12, at a school in Claremont, the centre of St Ann - the so-called Garden Parish of Jamaica. On Sundays we went for long walks past groves of cedar, bastard cedar, guango and mahogany, past ponds and their blue and white gaulins, past trees full of anis and doves and brilliant, yard-long green lizards. It was a verdant, gentle landscape, fertile and productive. The big landowners had their 'pens' - cattle ranches - but small farmers produced the sweetest oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, ortaniques and 'uglis' known to man, corn and yams and gungo peas. There was peace, self-sufficiency and little idleness. You get the picture.
I thought I remembered a green place called Inverness. Can't find it anymore. Can't really find Aboukir, and much of Alexandria has vanished as well as most of the dales and greensward, the scrub and bird-rich 'ruinate' of my youth.
Whole districts have been wiped out, whole villages have ceased to exist, replaced by huge holes in the ground - some 'restored' to grassland, if they happen to be alongside a public road and therefore open to scrutiny.
But fly over St Ann, and the mindless, chaotic destruction becomes clear. Huge craters remain, 'unrestored', raw, gaping wounds in the flesh of this once green garden. The people were not considered in this planning; only bauxite; but wait till you get to south Manchester. At Roxburgh, the birthplace of Norman Manley - the destruction has a quality of fascist brutality and sadistic revenge about it. Only so-called 'civilised' human vultures could even contemplate ravaging the earth in this way.
A survey of teenagers in relation to AIDS/HIV, a few years ago, disclosed that in the parish of St Ann, Jamaica's most literate parish and probably the most prosperous and peaceful parish in 1955, 16 per cent - nearly one in five male teenagers - had either attempted or seriously considered suicide. Some of the people I left here in 1945 moved to Kingston, some to London and New York, leaving behind children and destroying extended families, communities and social capital. The villages changed, new kinds of bars, nightclubs and 'guesthouses' to service the newly rich millwrights and dump-truck drivers. The Natural Resources Conservation Authority/National Environmental Planning Agency - NRCA/NEPA - say they have delegated their environmental protection and regulation responsibilities to the Jamaica Bauxite Institute. I find nothing in the law to allow this delegation, and I believe it is illegal and ultra vires. As Wendy Lee of the Northern Jamaica Conservation Association (NJCA) points out, it involves a severe and inherent conflict of interest. And since the JBI some years ago seriously proposed to establish in Jamaica one of the world's most dangerous industrial plants, a facility to incinerate imported PCBs and dioxins, I doubt whether the JBI understands the meaning of ecology - or of environmental integrity. The JBI's environmental competence must be further questioned when one of their principals was quoted in November 2006 as saying that the flora and fauna of the Cockpit Country could be 'relocated'. At that time I asked:
"If Mr Parris Lyew Ayee believes that he can relocate the flora and fauna of the Cockpit Country I would ask him to give us an explanation of how he would deal with just one species - the beautiful Blue Swallowtail butterfly.
"The Blue Swallowtail is a seriously endangered species."
I didn't get any answer then and I won't get any answer now, because Mr Lyew Ayee's proposal is unscientific and impossible.
Planning and Expropriation
The JBI and its sidekick the Commissioner of Mines - CMG - claim the power to relieve landowners of their property rights by a simple declaration. This is the most dangerous and corrupt nonsense. If Jamaica is a nation of laws, it is clear that people can lose their rights only by due process. The law, despite PJ Patterson, QC, is a shackle.
Under the Mining Act and its Regulations, applicants for Prospecting Licences, Mining Leases and Special Mining Leases must provide the commissioner (CMG) with detailed information including surveys (mapping) conducted under strict conditions. Section 24 of the Regulations requires the applicant for a lease to survey the area for which the lease is requested, and requires the application to be advertised in the Gazette and in a Jamaican daily newspaper.
Mining Regulations
"Sec 25(1) Upon receipt of an application for a mining lease the Commissioner shall cause a notice setting out the main particulars of such application to be published at the expense of the applicant once in the Gazette and once in a daily newspaper circulating in Jamaica and shall give notice of the particulars of such application to any person who to his knowledge has any interest in the area contained in such application.
"(2) No mining lease shall be granted until at least three weeks have expired after the publication of the notice in the Gazette as required under paragraph (1)."
No legal bauxite mining
If the law means what it says, it is not only possible but probable that there is not a single legitimate mining lease in existence in Jamaica. In my view, both the JBI and the CMG are operating outside of and contrary to the law. If the CMG operates as he told the Access to Information team he does, then there is no question that the law is being flouted and has been flouted for several years. (See last week's column - Public Mischief and the Public Interest).
I believe on the basis of the facts above, that people affected by the JBI/CMG attempted expropriation have the right, the opportunity and the duty to shut down the mining industry in Jamaica by application to the high court. We could do it tomorrow, and we probably should.
If the CMG/JBI were operating the Mining Act as they are required to, Jamaica would have earned millions more from bauxite than it actually did. The Act requires mining companies to compensate Jamaica for every hectare of land mined but not restored.
Currently there are at least 2,669 hectares on which the companies owe us US$66,725,000 in one-time compensation, at the rate of $25,000 per hectare. In addition, the companies owe the people of Jamaica an additional US$2,500 per hectare for every year the land is not rehabilitated. According to my calculations, which are probably an underestimate, the companies owe us another US$150 to 350 million. We are talking real money here, our money - between US$200 million and US$400 million.
When is the Government going to collect this debt?
In addition to all this, the companies are liable under international law to reclaim and make harmless nearly 100 million tons of red mud - an enterprise that would solve our unemployment problems for a decade or two, and pay pensions to the bauxite workers. Also, we are entitled to seek damages for the reclamation of the aquifers poisoned by red mud, under the Polluter Pays principle, endorsed in 1992 by PJ Patterson in Rio.
The Red Mud Scandal
Listen to what the US Army Corps of Engineers says about bauxite mining in Jamaica: "Bauxite mining is surface mining, which is land-intensive, noisy, and dusty. 'Jamaica can produce about three million tons of alumina per year. The refining process creates a thick fluid called "red mud" which has high levels of sodium and hydroxide ions, iron oxides, and organic substances.
'About one ton of red mud waste or residue will be produced from each ton of alumina. The land mass cannot accommodate this high volume of waste. This waste is often ponded into lakes, either man-made or karst depressions, with no consideration of the environmental effects.
'The effluent is free to seep into the subsurface, or to mix with precipitation, creating caustic ponds. The disposal of the wastes from alumina processing is a major environmental problem. Discolouration, turbidity, and high coliform bacteria counts, due to the high organic content." -Water Resources Assessment of Jamaica; February 2001. - US Army Corps of Engineers.
A few years ago there was in Jamaica a Czech scientist, Dr Jasmino Karanjac, who retired as professor of hydrogeology at UWI, Mona. While he was here he carried out several studies with the co-operation of the Water Resources Authority and its head, Mr Basil Fernandez, who like him is an authority on bauxite refinery contamination. In a paper prepared for a conference, "Water Resources & Environmental Problems in Karst" in September 2006, Professor Karanjac said, inter alia, "Today, it appears that Jamaica, which has the size of 10,991 sq km, may have problems developing enough good-quality water for its population of just over 2.7 million ... ground water in Jamaica is very vulnerable. There are no feasible sites for surface water storage, and ground water remains the major source of water supply. Along the coast, aquifers are overabstracted and in the interior explorations and drilling are prohibitively expensive."
Professor Karanjac points out that under the UN definitions, Jamaica ranks as a water-stressed country and suggests that desalination/reverse osmosis plants will certainly be needed in the near future; before even considering red mud contamination. According to Basil Fernandez, billions of cubic yards of underground water have been contaminated by bauxite waste.
With these factors in mind, it would seem totally insane for anyone to contemplate any activity which has the capacity to reduce Jamaica's water resources capacity. Any bauxite mining will certainly have that effect:
"Recent readings obtained from domestic water wells in the vicinity of Jamaican alumina refineries have indicated elevated sodium and PH readings. Also, the escape of caustic soda (which is used to extract alumina from raw bauxite) into the groundwater supply significantly increases sodium concentration of domestic well water mostly in the rural areas. Sodium is associated with a higher incidence of hypertension. As a result of its genetic composition, the Jamaican population is particularly subject to hypertension, which can be aggravated by high levels of sodium."
It is known that disturbing the Jamaican red earth liberates cobalt, arsenic and other toxic metals. The problem is that no one knows the extent of the damage. The JBI may know, but it won't tell its employers, the Jamaican people. And bizarre as it may seem, in a situation as dangerous as this one, the JBI conducts studies into red mud infiltration of aquifers only once every five years.
The levels of cadmium in some Jamaican soils have been found by ICENS (International Centre for Environmental & Nuclear Studies, UWI, Jamaica) to be 40 times the world mean of 0.5 mg/kg). [In]The soils with the highest levels . about 40% of Cd is bioavailable and could enter the food cycle. I could go on, but I do believe it is time for the ginnigogs to answer the charges against them.
As they say somewhere, you never miss the water till the well runs dry.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/columns/html/20090321T220000-0500_147936_OBS_THE_ENDURING_CURSE_OF_BAUXITE.asp
Vietnam halts licensing of steel projects temporarily
VietNamNet Bridge reported that localities and relevant ministries of industry & trade and natural resources & environment have been requested to strengthen the work on granting investment licenses to steel projects in localities while at the same time, temporarily halt the grant of investment licenses to normal steel projects.
According to a document signed by Deputy Prime Minister Mr Hoang Trung Hai, only those steel projects that ensure sufficient iron ore materials and high quality steel projects are subjected to consideration for investment approval.
Localities are asked to review carefully the already licensed steel projects and work out measures to deal with those projects that have yet to be carried out according to committed progress and failed to find sufficient materials to maintain long term production.
The ministry of natural resources & environment is responsible for checking the sources of materials for licensed steel projects and based on that, making proposals to deal with those projects that do not have enough materials for long term production.
Mr Trung Hai PM also asks the ministry of finance, the ministry of natural resources & environment and the ministry of industry & trade to set natural resources, environmental, import and export tax duties for steel products, based on their estimates of the country’s iron ore reserves, domestic production capacity and demands and the current taxation policies.
http://steelguru.com/news/index/2009/03/23/ODcyMDE%3D/Vietnam_halts_licensing_of_steel_projects_temporarily.html
No uranium mining for QLD
23 March 2009
Uranium mining will not be given the go ahead in Queensland after the Labor government was re-elected for the fifth consecutive term at the state election on Saturday.
The win means there will be no uranium mining in the sunshine state until at least 2012.
Queensland contains an estimated $20 billion in uranium reserves. However, Labor’s policies allow only exploration and not mining of the resource.
Opposition leader, Lawrence Springborg, said uranium mining would benefit the state’s economy, and was set to lift the ban if the LNP party was elected.
However, Premier Bligh says yellowcake mining requires “huge capital for infrastructure” and is standing by her decision to oppose it.
Labor’s uranium mining policies will remain unchanged in the next term.
The Queensland Department of Mines and Energy (DME) declined MINING DAILY’s request for comment until the State’s political advisors are sworn in later this week.
The Bligh government has turned its focus to low-carbon initiatives and is working to introduce higher energy efficiency standards to create a ‘greener Queensland’.
The Labor government will also embark on an infrastructure plan to target key mining towns and improve access, resources and facilities in rural areas.
http://www.miningaustralia.com.au/Article/No-uranium-mining-for-QLD/474097.aspx
Barapukuria coal mine project: 406 affected families to get compensation
Shamim Jahangir
The Committee constituted to determine compensation for the resettlement of 406 affected families of Barapukuria in Dinajpur coalmine project is likely submit its report this week.
Some 2,000 affected people of 406 families living at seven villages in coal mining areas will be given compensation for their rehabilitation.
The committee has already identified five worst affected families of Kalupara and Moupukur villages and called for removing then to safer places as they are living in the coal mining area with great risk to their lives and properties. But the members of these five families have vehemently opposed their rehabilitation at other places unless they were given due compensation.
"We have already visited the coal mining areas several times and prepared our report on the basis of our talks with the affected families," a member of the committee said on the condition of anonymity.
He further said that they would recommend rehabilitation of more than 200 families of Kalupara and Moupukur villages first and then rest of the families of five other villages in coal mining area in phases.
In reply to a question, he said that the committee is yet to assess the size of compensation for the affected families.
The committee will recommend acquiring around 33.5 square kilometres of land at seven affected villages falling in coal mining area by resettling the affected people, he added.
An inter-ministerial meeting on March 3 constituted the eight-member committee to prepare a complete package programme for compensating people affected by land subsidence at the coal mine area and for future course of action including acquiring of land. The meeting also asked the committee to review the land acquiring procedures like Jamuna Bridge. The committee is headed by joint-secretary Ahmed Ullah of the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry.
The government will acquire the land as early as possible for starting open pit mining in future, sources said.
Affected people at Barapukuria have become restive in recent times as huge land subsidence affected 300 acres of land and subsequently many houses at seven villages have developed cracks.
Following the agitation of Jhigagari villagers the coal production of Barapukuria remained suspended from February 25 to March 2.
More land subsidence might occur because of the underground mining. If people continue to live in the mining areas they might be at great risk because of subsidence, sources said.
The committee is likely to recommend a guideline for the government to appoint experts or surveyors to determine what amount of compensation of the people in the area need,
'Before assessing the compensation package, finding the actual number of people living in the area, determination of agricultural and residential land, number of houses, trees and the cost of crops are crucial. Besides, peoples' views should be taken on where they want to go and what they want to do after relocation,' sources noted.
The government has already constructed and renovated several building to resettle the affected families at West Camp in Dinajpur.
The Barapukuria coal field has a reserve of around 389 million tonnes and the authorities will extract 10 to 20 per cent coal from the underground mine in 30 years.
The government has contemplations to establish the mining city at Barapukuria and Madhyapara coal mining project areas, Adviser to the Prime Minister Dr Towfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury told the New Nation earlier.
"There will be arrangements of a mining university as well as other facilities for mining labours at the mining sites," Elahi said, adding, "Barapukuria and Madhyapara might be suitable place for this city."
Even, the government will enact a law for compensation of the affected people and necessary manpower of the mining areas, he further said.
http://nation.ittefaq.com/issues/2009/03/23/news0778.htm
Call for Govt to reform mining sector
By Bethuel Kinyori, Mwanza
The government has been urged to come up with a policy that will ensure people living around the mining areas enjoy the benefits accrued from their God-given resources.
It was also urged at a public dialogue on mining held here at the weekend that efforts should be made to empower Tanzanians exploit mineral resources.
The sector has been listed as the fastest growing in the country but still lags behind in terms of its contribution to the GDP.
Agriculture and service sectors lead in contributing to the GDP. The Vice Chancellor of St. Augustine University Tanzania, Dr Charles Kitima, said that Tanzanians should be supported with capital and technology to access the resources.
He spoke during the inaugural public dialogue on mining that brought together critics of the mining sector, private sector, the government and intellectuals.
The lack of transfer of technology he said, will only lead to more witchcraft related killings as the artisanal miners estimated at over 1 million in the country rely on witchcraft to develop.
"People want to exploit mineral resources, they want their communities to benefit from the sector and companies like Barrick Tanzania should emulate banks and sell at least 20 per cent of their shares to Tanzanians," he said.
Barrick Tanzania's CEO Mr Deo Mwanyika presented a paper entitled 'Success, Challenges and Prospects of the Mining Industry' in which he said that the mining sector's overall contribution to the economy between 1997-2007 was $1.63 billion.
The Commissioner for Minerals Dr Peter Kafumu, acknowledged that the growth of the sector surpasses the government�s capacity to improve the infrastructure.
The current electricity demand stands at 570MW and 15 per cent is spent by mining companies.
By 2010 Buzwagi, Tulawaka, North mara, Buyanhulu, Geita will consume 30 per cent of the generated power, said A Chadema Mp, Mr Zitto Kabwe, who also presented a paper at the dialogue.
"With the addition of Kabanga nickel mine, the lake zone alone will need 200 MW from the national grid which Tanesco will not be able to provide. "By not supplying electricity to the mines we lose out in economies of scale with production costs becoming higher and Tanesco accruing no revenues from electricity," the MP explained.
"The public perception of the sector is negative, the stability of the fiscal regime is unclear, regulation is increasingly unpredictable, and sabotage is on the rise. The cumulative effect of these is negative feedback," said Mr Mwanyika.
The dialogue participants urged the government to implement the Bomani commission report, which includes withdraw of all fuel exemptions, impact assessment before signing mining contracts and aligning surface rights and mineral rights to ensure correct compensation of people relocated from mining sites.
http://thecitizen.co.tz/newe.php?id=11489
Uranium mining a hot issue -- again
Paul Willcocks, Times Colonist
Published: Monday, March 23, 2009
The province's handling of uranium mining brings to mind Homer Simpson's approach to operating a nuclear power plant.
And the stumbles could get expensive for taxpayers, if a disgruntled company does well in court.
Uranium mining brings a classic clash of B.C. values -- the resource sector, used to wresting wealth from the ground, versus the urbanites and retirees, who have never forgotten Three Mile Island and The China Syndrome. And who don't much like mining near them in any form.
This month the cabinet had a Homer Simpson moment. "B.C. strengthens position against uranium mining," a news release claimed. It said cabinet had issued an order-in-council "to prevent permits from being issued for uranium and thorium exploration and development in B.C."
But 10 months ago, the government issued a news release headlined "Government confirms position on uranium development." It wasn't on, said Mining Minister Kevin Krueger. "By confirming our position on these radioactive minerals, we are providing certainty and clarity to the mining industry."
He sure got that wrong. Uncertainty about the government's position prompted the new cabinet regulation.
Krueger's announcement last year said that future mining claims would be barred from rights to uranium. But that suggested existing claims weren't affected. "Government will also ensure that all uranium deposits will remain undeveloped," the 2008 news release did add, without saying how.
The second try at getting it right appears more definitive. The new order says no uranium mining permits will be issued. And it's retroactive, even though governments often get in trouble when they backdate laws.
A large part of the problem is where the uranium lies. Among the most promising deposits is the Blizzard claim, is about 50 kilometres southeast of Kelowna. People did not move to the Okanagan Valley to be that close to a uranium mine.
Canada is already one of the top two uranium-producing countries and the world's largest mine is in Saskatchewan. But that site is so remote it might as well be on Mars. The Blizzard deposits are less than 10 kilometres south of the Big White ski resort. Efforts to deal with the issue are sparked by the activity around the Blizzard claim.
Boss Power Corp., which owns the claim, sued last year after Krueger's announcement. We've got rights here, and potentially valuable uranium deposits, the company said. You can't take them away just because uranium mining is politically unpopular.
And, the company complained, Krueger's fiat came just days "following a series of meetings between Boss Power management and senior provincial officials up to the assistant deputy minister level in which we were assured that our permit applications would be processed in a fair and transparent manner."
The company's share price fell by 50 per cent in the days after the ban.
In October, Boss sued. The ban was imposed "without any meaningful consultation with the mineral exploration industry, First Nations or the general public and has not only harmed the interests of Boss Power Corp. but may discourage other exploration companies who value the ability to work in a consultative environment."
http://www2.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/comment/story.html?id=a13ffe2b-6df2-4bae-970f-dab0ae26f242
Sustainable Living: End of the coal era
by Shawn Dell Joyce
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While it may seem hard for most of us to look beyond the economy right now, there are legions of young people with their eyes fixed on the planet's future. In Chicago, high-school students wearing respirator masks are hurdling over coal piles and racing past power plants in the 2009 Coal-Olympics competition. These community-minded young people are urging President Barack Obama to do something about the two coal plants nearby that are making their families sick and causing global warming.
"This may seem like an odd time to take to the streets," notes climate activist and author Bill McKibben. "After all, the new administration has done more in a month to fight global warming than all the presidents of the past 20 years." Climate activists across the country are hoping the new administration may actually listen and act to curb climate change and move beyond fossil fuels. A recent statement by President Obama announcing that his administration will base its decisions on sound science is heartening for scientists who were shut out and censored by the previous administration.
Among those scientists is NASA climatologist James Hansen, who has been warning our government for the past 20 years that carbon dioxide levels at more than 350 parts per million are "incompatible with the planet on which civilization developed." Right now, the carbon dioxide level is at 387 parts per million and rising. The window of opportunity to reverse this trend is closing quickly, and many people, including Hansen, believe we need to stop talking and start doing.
On the morning after President Obama's inauguration, 40 climate groups launched 100 Days of Action to Power Past Coal. Until the end of April, participants are lobbying their members of Congress to halt mountaintop removal, marching to stop new coal plants, and risking arrest in acts of civil disobedience. The Power Past Coal project culminated March 2, when 12,000 students convened on Capitol Hill for Power Shift 2009. Young people shut down the Capitol's coal-fired power plant for hours in "the largest climate demonstration in our nation's history," according to organizers.
The transition from coal to renewable energy sources needs to be complete by 2030 if we are to return the atmospheric carbon level to 350 ppm anytime soon.
But in communities built by coal, these statements have yet to make a difference. In Wise County, Virginia, residents protested a 1,300-acre mountaintop removal permit that would allow strip mining on Ison Rock Ridge, which would threaten six nearby communities.
"How much yelling is it going to take us before Obama admits coal is just plain dirty?" said Judy Bonds, the director of Coal River Mountain Watch in Whitesville, W.Va. "We're still fighting the same fight as we were 10 years ago. But now we have a chance to win." Bonds, a 52-year-old grandmother, turned into an activist when she watched her grandson, who was wading in a stream, scoop up a handful of fish killed by toxic coal slurry runoff. Bonds went on to form Coal River Mountain Watch.
This toxic runoff is generated by mountaintop removal mining to reach tiny capillaries of coal deep in the oldest mountains on Earth, the Appalachians. The process of mining the coal generates almost as much pollution as burning the coal. Forests are clear-cut; mountains are blasted open; and streams are clogged with toxic slurry. When you factor in the mining, there is no such thing as clean coal. It is time to make coal a thing of the past and embrace clean renewable energy, such as wind power, solar power, geothermal power and hydropower.
Here's what you can do to end the use of coal:
—Join Power Past Coal and organize or join an action in your community, at http://www.PowerPastCoal.org.
—Write letters to the editors of local newspapers encouraging people to think beyond coal and to support renewable energy projects in your community.
—Cut your electricity consumption, because most electric providers get half their power from coal that comes from mountaintop removal mines.
—Support renewable energy by purchasing wind energy through your utility company. In some areas, it only would cost $7 more per 300 kilowatt hours to get all of your energy from wind instead of polluting sources. You can sign up by logging on to http://www.NewWindEnergy.com or by calling your utility company.
—Go solar, and feed your excess energy back into the national grid!
Shawn Dell Joyce is an award-winning sustainable activist and director of the Wallkill River School in Orange County, N.Y. You can contact her at Shawn@ShawnDellJoyce.com.
http://www.bendweekly.com/Living/16694.html
Other News – India
In just 11 weeks of '09, tiger count down by 17
21 Mar 2009, 0454 hrs IST, Avijit Ghosh, TNN
NEW DELHI: India's tiger count has dropped by at least 17 in the last 11 weeks since January 1. Poaching, poisoning, old age and infighting are
the key reasons behind their deaths, say wildlife activists and forest officals.
The incidents have occurred all over India: from Manipur to Maharashtra to Uttar Pradesh. But statistics provided by NGO, Wildlife Protection Society of India, show that a majority of the deaths have taken place in Kanha Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh and Kaziranga National Park, Assam. In fact, officers from Wildlife Crime Control
Bureau have already been dispatched to these reserves to carry out investigations.
Two big cats were found dead in Dhela range of Corbett Tiger Reserve on March 10 and 17 respectively. Forest officer MS Kunwar of Kalagarh says that the second incident was a result of territorial infighting.
"Some portions of the dead tiger were eaten away by the tiger who had killed it. The other tiger died a week ago of old age," he says.
Nonetheless, the confiscation of tiger body parts including 16 kgs of bones, two skulls and two paws by army officials on the Myanmar border in February and the seizure of a fresh tiger skin in Katni the month before clearly shows that poachers continue to be active.
Belinda Wright of Wildlife Protection Society of India says tigers are being killed because they are valued more dead, than alive. "Poachers make a lot of money by killing a tiger and selling its parts: skin, bones, claws, whiskers, penis and so on. Tiger parts are traded illegally, largely to feed the demand of a market in China," she says.
Wildlife activists also feel that forest officials occasionally cover-up a tiger's unnatural death by attributing it to a territorial fight. "There should be total transparency as a first step when tigers are killed, instead of the tendency to hide the problem," says carnivore biologist Advait Edgaonkar. He believes that hiring and training more forest guards as well as involving locals in the protection of parks would go a long way in protecting the tiger.
The latest tiger census figures released in Jan 2008, showed a mere 1,411 tigers alive as compared to 3,508 in 1997, a drastic drop of 60%.
BOX: Tiger toll, 2009
Mar 20: Bhadrawati, Maharashtra: Forest officials nab three persons with tiger claws and bones
Mar 17: Corbett, UP: Infighting claims one tiger at Dhela Range
Mar 10: Corbett, UP: An aged 14-year-old male tiger found dead at Dhela Range
Mar 4: Kanha, MP: One tiger found dead near Daman village
Feb 26: Tadoba Andhari, Maharashtra: One tigress found dead
Feb 24: Faizabad, Uttar Pradesh: Man-eater tigress shot dead
Feb 16: Chandel, Manipur: Army seizes 16 kg tiger bones, two skulls and two paws during vehicle checks near Myanmar border.
Feb 13: Kaziranga, Assam: One tiger killed in infighting
Feb 8: Pilibhit, UP: One tiger found dead near Sharda canal
Jan 31: Kanha, MP: One tiger found dead near Auraicamp
Jan 21: Kaziranga: One tigress dead of suspected poisoning
Jan 19: Katni, MP: One fresh tiger skin seized
Jan 18: Kanha, MP: One tiger found dead
Jan 10: Kaziranga, Assam: One tiger found dead
Jan 5: Kaziranga, Assam: One tigress found dead
Jan 3: Kanha, MP: Two tiger cubs found dead
Jan 3: Kaziranga, Assam: One tiger found dead
Jan 2: Bhandara, Maharashtra: One tiger found dead
(Source: Wildlife Protection Society of India)
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Health--Science/Earth/17-tigers-dead-in-11-weeks/articleshow/4295211.cms
Forest management could create 10 million new jobs, says FAO
Surinder Sud / New Delhi March 23, 2009, 0:31 IST
Investment in sustainable forest management has the potential to create 10 million new ‘green jobs’. This can help cushion the impact of the job losses the current downturn has seen. “The dual challenges of economic turmoil and climate change are bringing the management of forests to the forefront of global interest,” observes the ‘State of the World’s Forests 2009’ report brought out by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) on the occasion of the World Forest Week that ended on March 20.
A recent study by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has indicated that unemployment worldwide could increase from 179 million in 2007 to 198 million in 2009 under the best case scenario; and 230 million under the worst case scenario.
However, increased investment in forestry could provide jobs in areas, such as forest management and agro-forestry, improved management of forest fires, development and management of tracking trails and recreation sites in forests, expansion of urban green spaces, restoration of degraded forests and planting new ones.
Such activities, moreover, could be tailored to local circumstances like the availability of labour, the skill levels among population and the social, economic and ecological conditions.
A statement issued by the FAO points out that several countries, including the US, have included forestry in their economic stimulus plans.
It has particularly referred to India where afforestation has been made an important component of the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP).
The State of the Forests report has, at the same time, also cautioned that, in the short-run, forests and forestry can be negatively impacted due to global economic crisis. Reduced demand for wood and wood products as a result of the collapse in the housing sector and the credit crunch are having a severe negative impact on investments in forest-based industries and forest management.
“A general concern is that some governments may dilute previously ambitious green goals or defer key policy decisions related to climate change mitigation and adaptation as they focus on reversing the economic downturn,” this report observes.
Initiatives for reducing emissions from deforestation and reversing forest degradation, especially those that are dependent on international financial transfers, could also face problems, it has added.
On the positive side, there are several opportunities stemming form the current crisis in the long-run. Increased use of forest products, including wood, in green building practices and emphasis on green development could spur investments in forests.
In the Asia-Pacific region, comprising some of the most densely populated countries in the world and where over half of the world’s population lives, the demand for wood and wood products is expected to continue to swell in line with the growth of population and income.
Though this region is the leader in planted forests (due to large scale afforestation and reforestation), it will still continue to depend on wood from other regions, as land and water constraints limit the scope for self-sufficiency in wood and wood products, the report maintains.
In Europe, on the other hand, forest resources are expected to continue to expand in view of declining land dependence, increasing income, concern for protection of the environment and well-developed policy and institutional frameworks.
http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/forest-management-could-create-10-million-new-jobs-says-fao/352650/
Biofuels for the poor
Johannes Simbolon , JAKARTA | Mon, 03/23/2009 10:30 AM | Opinion
After being criticized for being slow to develop the local biofuel industry, the Indonesian government has finally issued two important policies; first, a decree issued last year obliging industries and the transportation sector to use biofuels; and second, its recent decision to provide subsidies for sales of the fuel.
Both are expected to provide a strong impetus for growth in the country’s nascent biofuel industry.
In issuing these policies, the government has underlined its commitment to seeing the national biofuel development program through to fruition.
Many years from now, Indonesia may emerge as one of the top biofuel producers in the world. If this occurs, people will look back on these two policies as the most important landmarks in Indonesia’s energy history.
The decree, issued by the Energy and Mineral Resources Ministry in September last year, requires the transportation sector to use oil-based fuels blended with 1 percent biofuel (as of January this year), while industries and power plants must use a biofuel blend of between 0.25 and 2.5 percent. Next year, the biofuel content will be increased to between 2.5 and 3 percent for transportation, 5 percent for industry, and 1 percent for power plants.
Recently, the government and House of Representatives agreed to set aside a subsidy of Rp 831 billion (about US$ 70 million) or Rp 1,000 per liter for biofuel sales. Since mid-2006, when the government launched its program to promote the use and production of biofuels, the intiative has seen limited, if any, positive results.
The number of gas stations selling biofuels has in fact declined, and the national biofuel output has also decreased. Few people are interested in buying the fuel, because people are not familiar with it and it costs more than heavily-subsidized oil-based fuels.
The subsidy for biofuels and the obligation to use the fuel are expected to make the new fuel competitive with oil-based fuels.
But, the world is excited about biofuels, and so is Indonesia. Biofuels are considered by some as a solution to the problems of global warming and a way to avoid over inflated future oil prices. The oil prices, though having declined sharply from nightmarish levels of more than $147 per barrel mid last year, are projected to rebound strongly once the current economic crisis is over – and even rise to higher than mid-2008 levels — due to a decline in hydrocarbon resources and few discoveries of new oil fields.
As far as Indonesia is concerned, biofuels could help solve a number of serious problems we now face in the energy sector. We have become a net oil importer for many years now; our hydrocarbon resources have been steadily declining; oil-based fuels account for most of our energy consumption; oil imports are continually increasing; and the government has been forced to allocate huge amounts of money to subsidize oil-based fuels every year.
From an economic perspective, a fuel subsidy is a bad policy, but completely removing the subsidy would not be easy given the social and political consequences of such a move.
Worst of all, however, is the subsidy on oil-based fuels. Consider this: Since Indonesia now produces much less oil than the national consumption, every year PT Pertamina (as the distributor of subsidized fuels), using the subsidy provided by the government, imports billons of dollars worth of crude oil or oil-based fuels from countries that have an output surplus. The subsidy funds thus end up in the pockets of fuel traders in Singapore and oil exporting countries, such as those in the Middle East, that all benefited massively when oil prices went through the roof last year.
This is a sad situation, in view of the fact that we have huge amounts of alternative energy resources – including biofuels -- that remain largely untapped. If we subsidize biofuels, the subsidy funds will end up in the pockets of local companies, most preferably farmers – and thus help alleviate poverty in rural areas.
While the development of biofuels would bring a lot of benefits to Indonesia, the challenges that lie ahead are not small either.
One of the biggest challenges is to make sure the biofuel program brings benefits to the poor. This is what President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono promised in his speech in 2006 when he launched the program.
The National Team for Biofuel Development also placed an emphasis on the poverty-alleviation aspect in its roadmap for biofuels development. In its roadmap, the agency says that the program will create at least one million jobs and significantly increase the value of many areas of land owned by farmers.
The government could work toward achieving its poverty-alleviation goal, for instance, by prioritizing support for biofuels produced by farmers/cooperatives or big companies that use land products of farmers as raw materials.
Another big challenge is to address concerns over the possible impacts of the biofuel program on forests and food availability. At present, our biofuel producers mostly use crude palm oil as a raw material. This has sparked criticism, since by using a food source for fuel in order to solve the energy crisis, we are also creating a food crisis. There are also fears that, in anticipation of growing demands from biofuel sector, CPO firms will continue a trend of clearing forest areas for plantations, thus creating massive environmental problems.
To be fair, the United States and Brazil, the world’s leading biofuels producers, use corn and sugarcane respectively – both are foods – to produce biofuels.
The use of CPO for biofuel can also be considered reasonable, in the light of the fact that it is the most abundant raw material available. However, the use of the commodity should be greatly discouraged in the future. Instead we should be using non-food crops that are friendlier to the environment, such as jatropha.
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2009/03/23/biofuels-poor.html
$20m climate change project announced
23/03/2009 2:01:00 PM
A $20 million science program will help Australia's neighbours understand the impacts of climate change on the region, Minister Penny Wong says.
She opened a national greenhouse conference in Perth on Monday announcing the Pacific Climate Change Science Program.
"(It) will track recent and current trends, investigate climate drivers, provide regional climate projections and improve understanding of ocean processes," Senator Wong said.
"The program will be managed by the Department of Climate Change in collaboration with AusAID. It will be delivered by the Bureau of Meteorology and the CSIRO through their research partnership in the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research," she said.
The program should help to develop a cooperative research network for countries in the region, international science agencies and Australian universities, the minister said.
"How we adapt here in Australia to unavoidable changes from ... climate change is also an important focus to which science can make a major contribution," she said.
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/news/national/national/general/20m-climate-change-project-announced/1466732.aspx
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