The conflict in Mehuin
THE CHILEAN FORESTRY COMPANY CELCO IS VIOLENTLY AFFECTING THE LIFE AND FUTURE OF MAPUCHE LAFKENCHE INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IN THE AREA OF MEHUIN, CHILE.
The Chilean forestry and wood pulp company CELCO has caused several ecological disasters in Chile. Scientific reports have demonstrated that the sewage dumped from one of its pulp plants caused an ecological disaster in a Nature Sanctuary in 2004. (Mulsow and Grandjean, 2006; Jaramillo et al., 2007). In 2007, another of CELCO’s pulp plants dumped sewage twice in the river Mataquito. In this case the company acknowledged its responsibility and compensated the fishermen in that area economically, but uncertaintities about the environmental effects of that disaster remain.
One of the scientific reports previously quoted (Jaramillo et al. ) has also stated the following: “One of the new pathways for those waste waters could be the ocean waters nearly 30 km west of the plant. However, the possible construction of a pipeline to the ocean provokes concern within the fishermen living in a wide coastal area and about the uncertainty of environmental effects similar to those reported for the wetland of Río Cruces. These would probably affect seaweed, shellfish, and fish, which represent the fishermen’s main income” (Jaramillo et al.,2007).
Some of those coastal areas are Mehuin and Mississippi. There, fishermen and Mapuche Lafkenche indigenous people have since more than 10 years resisted the plans of Celco in order to dump its sewage in that coastline. Because of the same reasons that the Scientifics have affirmed, they are worried about their future and they do not trust in the environmental policies currently ruling in the country. This fact has also been pointed out by that scientific report and its authors have said: “The dramatic biotic changes occurring in the sanctuary as a result of water quality changes induced by the discharges of the waste water of the pulp mill into the river upstream this Ramsar site have promoted a discussion about the role of the Chilean environmental policies, which, under uncertain or eventual environmental impacts, authorized those discharges. During June 2005, the Regional Environmental Commission (COREMA) resolved that no later than 2007, the pulp mill will have to avoid the use of Río Cruces as a recipient of its liquid effluents“ (Jaramillo et al., 2007).
In October 2007, CELCO subscribed a contract with a number of fishermen that had resisted the company’s plans before. The company paid a sum of money as a way of getting those fishermen’s collaboration and other sums will be cancelled once CELCO has obtained environmental authorizations to build the sewage pipeline. In practical terms, CELCO divided the community and since that moment violent events between part of the people in Mehuin and Mississippi have gone scaling up.
Last week things became even worse since a group of people attacked the village of Mississippi, located on the other side of the river that divides both villages. In Mississipi there are mainly Mapuche Lafkenche indigenous people that are opposing the plans of CELCO and they have prevented other boats to get the sea and so they are trying to defend the coastline. What they are doing is to stop CELCO’s plans to carry out studies to be used in order to obtain environmental authorizations in the future. There are also communities of Mapuche Lafkenche indigenous people living in the mountains and inner lands that are defending the sea because they also base their livelihoods on marine resources of that area.
The environment they are protecting is one with high ecological value and it is a zone with important fish stocks and other marine resources. There are also Management Areas that are used by the communities according the Chilean fisheries law and other legal regulations. Those regulations give the management of the marine resources to fishermen and they have the duty of preserving the sustainable use of the resources.
Solidarity and support now!
The people defending the sea in Mehuin need help, support and solidarity. The company that is causing the conflict has a partnership with Stora Enso and this makes Stora Enso a part of the conflict. Since Stora Enso’s representatives affirm to be working with CSR standards and aiming at sustainability and other goals, it appears very obvious that its partnership with CELCO demonstrates that those are only rhetoric strategies and it is impossible to believe in what Stora Enso is affirming in terms of sustainability.
It is also a motive of indignation that CELCO is being benefited for the CDM, a mechanism that the Kyoto protocol sees as aimed at sustainable development.
Sources:
Jaramillo et al., Ambio Vol. 36, No. 7, November 2007
Mulsow and Grandjean, Ethics in Science and Environmental Politics, ESEP, Vol. 2006: 5–11, Published June 20
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