For the third day running, transport and communications in the south of Peru have been paralized owing to a blockade of the Panamerican highway between Lima and Arequipa by approximately 6,000 "informal" miners protesting against government decrees declaring their activities illegal.
My personal stake in this issue is that I was supposed to travel to Lima tonight and had already bought my ticket. This can be postponed and is no big deal, supposing the strike is lifted in the next couple of days. Over time and repeated visits to Peru, I've come to understand that holding strikes and blocking roads can be an understandable, even necessary, response to the inability of groups of citizens to have their legitimate issues considered through normal institutional, democratic channels. However, such strikes and the way they are resolved also represent the inability of the State to exert authority (except in disastrously heavy-handed ways; viz, the tragedy at Bagua in 2009) and to act as a just, independent guarantor of the "public good". Rather, it seems that the State is merely a passive conduit for conflicting private interest, with the most powerful at any one time prevailing. While the government gave the Conga mining project conditional approval
in spite of what seems to be the opposition of most of Cajamarca, here
the Prime Minister hurriedly offered to modify its edicts to give the
miners two more years to "formalize" their activities -- still not good
enough for the miners to lift their strike.
The arguments behind the current miners' strike are considerably more dubious than in some other cases where citizen groups have opposed the (perceived) loss of their territory or livelihoods. Informal mining is undertaken by between 500,000 (official sources) and 1 millon (the miners' estimate) Peruvians, so is a significant source of employment and income. However, the uncontrolled use of mercury is severely damaging to the environment and has resulted in significant pollution of waterways in the areas where it is prevalent, including some leading into Lake Titicaca. It's likely that the majority of the population in districts affected by informal mining would not support its continuation. In addition, the untaxed income from informal mining is rather high, with a gram of gold (a conservative minimum collected per day) worth S/. 70, more than what is earned by the majority of workers in farming, commerce or services whose livelihoods are currently being put on hold.
The surprise manner in which the highways were seized meant that many vehicles were on the road and have been trapped at the various blockade points. Around 2,500 bus passengers are stuck between Kilometres 590 and 640 on the Panamericana and are suffering hunger, thirst, heat and cold. Already one elderly man has died from a heart attack due to the long distance he had to walk from the blockade in the sun. La Republica reports that the mayor of the district of Ocoña has declared a state of emergency, with agriculture and commerce paralized and a growing shortage of food, medicines, gas and petrol.
With tensions running high on all sides, tomorrow will surely produce some kind of (hopefully peaceful) solution.
Showing posts with label Environment. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Environment. Show all posts
Friday, May 11, 2012
Sunday, November 06, 2011
Demographics, Shmemographics
I don't quite get it.From time to time you occasionally see articles like this one and this one on the world's changing demographics. Birth rates are dropping, not just in the developed world, but also in middle and even low-income countries. At current rates, the world population is likely to stop replacing itself by 2020 and will eventually peak (thanks to increasing life expectancies) around mid-century.
You'd think that might be a good thing, as it might help avoid the Malthusian crisis where the population overshoots the environment's carrying capacity. An end to population growth should reduce some of the drivers for climate change and the "peaking" of various natural resources.
However, articles such as these raise alarms about the prospect of population stabilization because it will reduce the number of "workers" as a proportion of the population:
The consequences of rapid aging are manifold: a shrinking workforce and a narrower pool for entrepreneurship, which undermines prospects for economic growth; a looming threat to the sustainability of “pay-as you go” public pensions systems; and increased health-care and other costs associated with an elderly population.
This doesn't seem to fit the story we constantly hear (in reports such as this one) that widespread unemployment and stagnant wages are due to technological change and globalization. In short, workers are being replaced by machines and increasingly forced to compete with one another on a global level. If this story is broadly true*, then a relative decrease in the supply of workers should be a good thing. Increased competition for human labour should both increase wages and incentivise further innovation.
If productivity has increased because of technological change, and presumably will continue to do so, then why do we need the same ratio of "young workers" to "dependent older people" as in the past? People increasingly remain healthy and active into later in life. And as the articles note, the kinds of work demanded in a technologically and demographically different society -- such as health care -- might be appropriately carried out by older people**.
That's not to overlook the specific issues with the projected demographic transition. The societies that age earliest -- such as Europe -- are going to have to adjust better to immigration if they're going to maintain some sort of balance. The serious gender imbalance predicted for China and India (a shortage of females) could have explosive consequences. And experience suggests that demographically younger places tend to be brighter and more hopeful, whatever their material circumstances: the obverse being the kind of malaise that some attribute to contemporary Japan.
Nevertheless, the "hump" of older people will enventually pass and the demography will correct itself. Meanwhile, if humanity is to remain anything like a sustainable venture, the predicted trend is surely the preferable one.
*If this is all a fiction and all the value really is produced by the young workers, then they're being roundly exploited, in which case shouldn't we have a revolution or something?
**The "narrower pool for entrepreneurship" also seems like a misguided concern: there were plenty of new ideas and inventions in the 19th century when the absolute numbers of potential entrepreneurs was much lower than it will be in thirty years.
You'd think that might be a good thing, as it might help avoid the Malthusian crisis where the population overshoots the environment's carrying capacity. An end to population growth should reduce some of the drivers for climate change and the "peaking" of various natural resources.
However, articles such as these raise alarms about the prospect of population stabilization because it will reduce the number of "workers" as a proportion of the population:
The consequences of rapid aging are manifold: a shrinking workforce and a narrower pool for entrepreneurship, which undermines prospects for economic growth; a looming threat to the sustainability of “pay-as you go” public pensions systems; and increased health-care and other costs associated with an elderly population.
This doesn't seem to fit the story we constantly hear (in reports such as this one) that widespread unemployment and stagnant wages are due to technological change and globalization. In short, workers are being replaced by machines and increasingly forced to compete with one another on a global level. If this story is broadly true*, then a relative decrease in the supply of workers should be a good thing. Increased competition for human labour should both increase wages and incentivise further innovation.
If productivity has increased because of technological change, and presumably will continue to do so, then why do we need the same ratio of "young workers" to "dependent older people" as in the past? People increasingly remain healthy and active into later in life. And as the articles note, the kinds of work demanded in a technologically and demographically different society -- such as health care -- might be appropriately carried out by older people**.
That's not to overlook the specific issues with the projected demographic transition. The societies that age earliest -- such as Europe -- are going to have to adjust better to immigration if they're going to maintain some sort of balance. The serious gender imbalance predicted for China and India (a shortage of females) could have explosive consequences. And experience suggests that demographically younger places tend to be brighter and more hopeful, whatever their material circumstances: the obverse being the kind of malaise that some attribute to contemporary Japan.
Nevertheless, the "hump" of older people will enventually pass and the demography will correct itself. Meanwhile, if humanity is to remain anything like a sustainable venture, the predicted trend is surely the preferable one.
*If this is all a fiction and all the value really is produced by the young workers, then they're being roundly exploited, in which case shouldn't we have a revolution or something?
**The "narrower pool for entrepreneurship" also seems like a misguided concern: there were plenty of new ideas and inventions in the 19th century when the absolute numbers of potential entrepreneurs was much lower than it will be in thirty years.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Voices of the Not So Poor
It wouldn't cost that much more, in international terms, to fly from Lima to Arequipa, but for me it wouldn't be quite right. After arriving, I wanted to work my way into the country by land, as if making its acquaintance again.
On my way to the bus station in Lima, I had a more jovial and conversational taxi driver. Still preoccupied with the theme of security, I asked him which parts of Lima were more or less safe. He thought a second and said: "only really the very centre". He said that things had got no better in the last couple of years. What was worse for citizens was that the very police supposed to protect them were sometimes implicated in the crimes. He cited two cases where police were accused of robbing motorists who had stopped or been pulled over.
My driver acknowledged that some things had been improved in Lima; public works and the modernization of some parts, but that while credit had to be given to Luis Castañeda for gettig things done, "no one holds him to account".
He was particularly critical of public education and health services:
"if it's an emergency and you're dying, you'll get treatment; anything else, they send you off to wait, even though you're sick. Then you get the basic treatment, but they send you off to get a whole range of scans and tests, which of course you have to pay for. Or there's some process to get reimbursed, but you know, those processes...and then you have to pay more for brand medicines, otherwise you only get the generic ones, which aren't effective, and you have to take ten times as much".
We moved on to talking about politics, and my driver reported himself unimpressed with Alan Garcia, who this time around was only doing better because, he had more money:
"Last time things were ok from 1985 to 1987, until the money ran out. It's like, in football, if you've got some skill, you're playing with good team mates, you get on the field, you'll do ok".
Not quite following the analogy, I asked: "So, is Alan a bad player surrounded by good team mates, or a good player surrounded by bad team mates?"
"I think he's a bad player surrounded by bad team mates", said my driver.
His theory on what underlaid Peru's problems was a familar one: "insitutionalized" corruption, at every level. I asked him how he thought that could be changed, and after a moment's thought he replied: "with difficulty...with great difficulty".
At the Ormeño bus terminal on avenida Javier Prado, surgical masks were again ubiquitous. The terminal has been improved, and now has a cafe, nice seats and a TV. However, passengers were scare, and when the Arequipa bus was called only a handful of people hopped on. The announcement for the bus indicated its destinations would include Cañete, Chincha, Ica, Nazca, and Camaná, before arriving in Arequipa. This contradicted the stated "direct" service of the Royal Class buses, but given the paucity of clients, I could forgive them.
On board, I struck up a conversation with practically my only fellow passengers in the front of the bus. Carlos and Claudio were from Ayapata, which they explained to me is reached from Juliaca, first heading southeast to the frigid Andean town of Macusani and later dropping down to around 3,000 metres on the way towards the jungle of Puno.
They explained that the main industry there is gold mining. With the current high prices of gold, it has become worthwhile to work over the tailings of old mines, and business is good. Carlos is a middle man, buying the gold off the prospectors, while Claudio is himself a prospector. He said that on average he could get 2 grams per day, worth around $250 USD, but some days there could be 10 or even 20 grams.
Carlos told me that in their territory, "the state is almost entirely absent", and the government does nothing for them, except for the paved highway from Macusani to Puno, "which in any cse was put in by Fujimori". He also criticised the level of bureaucracy that the central government imposes on the regions, and makes it difficult to get any projects moving. "They make an example out of the Puno regional government for only spending 1 percent of its investment budget, but it's them who made it so hard to do anything".
I asked if the state didn't even provide basic functions like police and health services.
"No, we threw the police out", said Carlos. He said that the police post used to be staffed by unwilling recruits sent from the likes of Lima and Arequipa, who didn't fit into the local culture. He claimed that they abused local women, and hassled local youths by constantly imposing fines on them. Now, security was provided by the ronda campesina, a kind of district-wide, rural neighbourhood watch. If a thief was caught in the community, "we take care of him ourselves".
In their community, Carlos and Claudio had developed a cooperative project to generate hydroelectric power, but wanted to expand it from 100 MW to 400 MW, to be able to supply the whole district with electricity. They had met with similar community groups from Junin who had received loans from NGOs to support them, and they wanted my advice on how to get something similar going. I gave them the names and addresses of some Peruvian NGOs that could possibly help.
According to Carlos, the community was welcoming the development of the Interoceanic Highway between Brazil and Peru, which, if they could get a 13km connecting road built, would greatly improve the ability to get their products to market, including subtropical fruits from the lower part of the territory.
This would be a typical story from the development literature: mariginalized rural, ethnic community, ignored or abused by the central government, working things out for themselves and becoming more empowered in the process. But reality usually has something incongruous to add to the picture.
As Carlos dropped off to sleep, Claudio, who had been pretty quiet, began to tell me about the Chinese herbal medicine for which he was a sales representative. I'll have to find the pamphlet that he gave me for the exact name and description, but it apparently involves different pastes, creams and tonics, which cure a range of ills, and are sent prefabricated from China according to a secret recipe. According to Claudio, this medicine was originally introduced to Peru after some soldiers with lingering ailments from the Peru-Ecuador jungle frontier war found that it was the only thing that worked for them. It was now so popular that a company representative had been received in the government palace by Alejandro Toledo.
Disturbed that Claudio was turning quacky on me, I said ¨what about the gold mining?". "Oh, I do both", he said. He explained that the medicine was sold through a system of "affiliation", and offered to get me the affilitation papers out of his suitcase. I politely declined, and adjusted my conceptual settings to recognize the possibility of a Chinese-origin Amway scheme operating out of remote Quechua communities.
The jet lag was still messing with me, and by the time we got to Ica, I was practically the only one still awake. A young guy occupied the seat behind me, and I apologised for the angle my seat was pushed back at. He introduced himself as Abraham, and said he was originally from Chumbivilca, a remote pueblito about halfway between Arequipa and Cuzco. He was an operator of heavy machinery, and had been working on construction projects in the area affected by the 2007 earthquake. He said that he earned about 1,500 soles monthly for working "at least" 10 hours a day, six days a week.
This, readers, is now up to what would count as a "decent" salary in Peru. Even as the sole income for a family of four or five, it would still leave them miles above the poverty line. But take into account the conditions and the hours of work, and you'll admit that what amounts to $125 USD per week is nothing to get excited about.
I asked Abraham how the reconstruction of the earthquake-affected zone was going and he said it was more or less on schedule. I recalled that he would mainly be working on the highways. What about the planned rebuilding of people's houses, I asked?
"Ahh, well, that's going a bit slower", he said.
On my way to the bus station in Lima, I had a more jovial and conversational taxi driver. Still preoccupied with the theme of security, I asked him which parts of Lima were more or less safe. He thought a second and said: "only really the very centre". He said that things had got no better in the last couple of years. What was worse for citizens was that the very police supposed to protect them were sometimes implicated in the crimes. He cited two cases where police were accused of robbing motorists who had stopped or been pulled over.
My driver acknowledged that some things had been improved in Lima; public works and the modernization of some parts, but that while credit had to be given to Luis Castañeda for gettig things done, "no one holds him to account".
He was particularly critical of public education and health services:
"if it's an emergency and you're dying, you'll get treatment; anything else, they send you off to wait, even though you're sick. Then you get the basic treatment, but they send you off to get a whole range of scans and tests, which of course you have to pay for. Or there's some process to get reimbursed, but you know, those processes...and then you have to pay more for brand medicines, otherwise you only get the generic ones, which aren't effective, and you have to take ten times as much".
We moved on to talking about politics, and my driver reported himself unimpressed with Alan Garcia, who this time around was only doing better because, he had more money:
"Last time things were ok from 1985 to 1987, until the money ran out. It's like, in football, if you've got some skill, you're playing with good team mates, you get on the field, you'll do ok".
Not quite following the analogy, I asked: "So, is Alan a bad player surrounded by good team mates, or a good player surrounded by bad team mates?"
"I think he's a bad player surrounded by bad team mates", said my driver.
His theory on what underlaid Peru's problems was a familar one: "insitutionalized" corruption, at every level. I asked him how he thought that could be changed, and after a moment's thought he replied: "with difficulty...with great difficulty".
At the Ormeño bus terminal on avenida Javier Prado, surgical masks were again ubiquitous. The terminal has been improved, and now has a cafe, nice seats and a TV. However, passengers were scare, and when the Arequipa bus was called only a handful of people hopped on. The announcement for the bus indicated its destinations would include Cañete, Chincha, Ica, Nazca, and Camaná, before arriving in Arequipa. This contradicted the stated "direct" service of the Royal Class buses, but given the paucity of clients, I could forgive them.
On board, I struck up a conversation with practically my only fellow passengers in the front of the bus. Carlos and Claudio were from Ayapata, which they explained to me is reached from Juliaca, first heading southeast to the frigid Andean town of Macusani and later dropping down to around 3,000 metres on the way towards the jungle of Puno.
They explained that the main industry there is gold mining. With the current high prices of gold, it has become worthwhile to work over the tailings of old mines, and business is good. Carlos is a middle man, buying the gold off the prospectors, while Claudio is himself a prospector. He said that on average he could get 2 grams per day, worth around $250 USD, but some days there could be 10 or even 20 grams.
Carlos told me that in their territory, "the state is almost entirely absent", and the government does nothing for them, except for the paved highway from Macusani to Puno, "which in any cse was put in by Fujimori". He also criticised the level of bureaucracy that the central government imposes on the regions, and makes it difficult to get any projects moving. "They make an example out of the Puno regional government for only spending 1 percent of its investment budget, but it's them who made it so hard to do anything".
I asked if the state didn't even provide basic functions like police and health services.
"No, we threw the police out", said Carlos. He said that the police post used to be staffed by unwilling recruits sent from the likes of Lima and Arequipa, who didn't fit into the local culture. He claimed that they abused local women, and hassled local youths by constantly imposing fines on them. Now, security was provided by the ronda campesina, a kind of district-wide, rural neighbourhood watch. If a thief was caught in the community, "we take care of him ourselves".
In their community, Carlos and Claudio had developed a cooperative project to generate hydroelectric power, but wanted to expand it from 100 MW to 400 MW, to be able to supply the whole district with electricity. They had met with similar community groups from Junin who had received loans from NGOs to support them, and they wanted my advice on how to get something similar going. I gave them the names and addresses of some Peruvian NGOs that could possibly help.
According to Carlos, the community was welcoming the development of the Interoceanic Highway between Brazil and Peru, which, if they could get a 13km connecting road built, would greatly improve the ability to get their products to market, including subtropical fruits from the lower part of the territory.
This would be a typical story from the development literature: mariginalized rural, ethnic community, ignored or abused by the central government, working things out for themselves and becoming more empowered in the process. But reality usually has something incongruous to add to the picture.
As Carlos dropped off to sleep, Claudio, who had been pretty quiet, began to tell me about the Chinese herbal medicine for which he was a sales representative. I'll have to find the pamphlet that he gave me for the exact name and description, but it apparently involves different pastes, creams and tonics, which cure a range of ills, and are sent prefabricated from China according to a secret recipe. According to Claudio, this medicine was originally introduced to Peru after some soldiers with lingering ailments from the Peru-Ecuador jungle frontier war found that it was the only thing that worked for them. It was now so popular that a company representative had been received in the government palace by Alejandro Toledo.
Disturbed that Claudio was turning quacky on me, I said ¨what about the gold mining?". "Oh, I do both", he said. He explained that the medicine was sold through a system of "affiliation", and offered to get me the affilitation papers out of his suitcase. I politely declined, and adjusted my conceptual settings to recognize the possibility of a Chinese-origin Amway scheme operating out of remote Quechua communities.
The jet lag was still messing with me, and by the time we got to Ica, I was practically the only one still awake. A young guy occupied the seat behind me, and I apologised for the angle my seat was pushed back at. He introduced himself as Abraham, and said he was originally from Chumbivilca, a remote pueblito about halfway between Arequipa and Cuzco. He was an operator of heavy machinery, and had been working on construction projects in the area affected by the 2007 earthquake. He said that he earned about 1,500 soles monthly for working "at least" 10 hours a day, six days a week.
This, readers, is now up to what would count as a "decent" salary in Peru. Even as the sole income for a family of four or five, it would still leave them miles above the poverty line. But take into account the conditions and the hours of work, and you'll admit that what amounts to $125 USD per week is nothing to get excited about.
I asked Abraham how the reconstruction of the earthquake-affected zone was going and he said it was more or less on schedule. I recalled that he would mainly be working on the highways. What about the planned rebuilding of people's houses, I asked?
"Ahh, well, that's going a bit slower", he said.
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Burro Sitting on a Lithium Mine
I came across this story on the BBC when I was clarifying some facts about Bolivia's Salar de Uyuni for a page on my Andean Observer website.
It turns out that below the surface of the salar lies about 50% of the world's commercially viable lithium deposits. As anyone who has compared a lithium battery to a normal alkaline battery will be aware, lithium stores energy better than alternative substances. Lithium batteries are the preferred technology for new fully electric and hybrid cars being produced by Toyota, GM and other companies. With demand for lithium set to increase rapidly, auto makers are eager to see its production stepped up.
Ironically, impoverished Bolivia once again has something that the rich world desparately wants.
The BBC article itself is quite a good, well-balanced piece. But the guy who writes the copy doesn't get to do the captions, and I can imagine Damian Kahya not being particularly impressed by the note under a photo of salt mounds on the salar that Bolivia's lithium reserves could bring wealth to the country.
As the article points out, wave after wave of resource extraction certainly has not brought wealth to the altiplano. Bolivia is a classic illustration of the 'resource curse', where a surfeit of natural riches within a country produces only massive inequality, corruption, conflict and environmental damage.
Bolivia's government is not enthusiastic about opening up the salt flats to mining. The BBC reports Minister for Mining Luis Alberto Echazu as saying:
"We will not repeat the historical experience since the fifteenth century: raw materials exported for the industrialisation of the west that has left us poor."
This is fair enough. Bolivia's original experience with mineral riches was the mass enslavement of indigenous workers in the silver and tin mines of Potosi. Times have moved on since the 16th century, but the current simmering conflict over gas revenues demonstrates that turning resource wealth into benefit for all is far from a straightforward proposition.
Of the countries 'cursed' with mineral riches, Chile (copper) and Botswana (diamonds) are the notable exceptions where this wealth has contributed to sustainable development. And even in the best cases the unhealthy dominance of a single product produces economic and social distortions. Chile's military still benefits from a law developed during the Pinochet regime which awards it a guaranteed percentage of the revenue from the national copper mining company, and the military's disproportionate strength continues to cast a shadow over local democracy and the regional balance of power.
Bolivia's government is planning a small-scale lithium mining pilot project which will be under local control. The BBC article suggests impatience from the auto companies that this will not lead to enough production quickly enough to satify their demands.
Although it's good that car companies are now getting over their reluctance about developing electric vehicles, this isn't as progressive as it might look. I'm not all that sympathetic to 'no more growth' environmentalism, but in this case the pattern that environmentalists warn about is all too evident. The problems of peak oil and global warming caused by historical modes of western oil consumption are being 'addressed' by moving on to exploit another finite resource extracted from another environmentally fragile setting.
In essence, the purpose of escalating lithium production would be to allow people in the rich world to swap one addiction for another and carry on driving their cars around in the same way as before. In Bolivia, where functional roads are few and far between, and private cars extremely rare, there's an understandable lack of urgency about this objective.
With its 10,000 square kilometres of shimmering salt, the Salar de Uyuni is one the natural wonders of the world. It's not even economically 'idle', but is a focus of tourism which leaves visitors in awe their surroundings and gives reign to the imagination. It would be a tragedy to see such a unique place despoiled by mining.
It turns out that below the surface of the salar lies about 50% of the world's commercially viable lithium deposits. As anyone who has compared a lithium battery to a normal alkaline battery will be aware, lithium stores energy better than alternative substances. Lithium batteries are the preferred technology for new fully electric and hybrid cars being produced by Toyota, GM and other companies. With demand for lithium set to increase rapidly, auto makers are eager to see its production stepped up.
Ironically, impoverished Bolivia once again has something that the rich world desparately wants.
The BBC article itself is quite a good, well-balanced piece. But the guy who writes the copy doesn't get to do the captions, and I can imagine Damian Kahya not being particularly impressed by the note under a photo of salt mounds on the salar that Bolivia's lithium reserves could bring wealth to the country.
As the article points out, wave after wave of resource extraction certainly has not brought wealth to the altiplano. Bolivia is a classic illustration of the 'resource curse', where a surfeit of natural riches within a country produces only massive inequality, corruption, conflict and environmental damage.
Bolivia's government is not enthusiastic about opening up the salt flats to mining. The BBC reports Minister for Mining Luis Alberto Echazu as saying:
"We will not repeat the historical experience since the fifteenth century: raw materials exported for the industrialisation of the west that has left us poor."
This is fair enough. Bolivia's original experience with mineral riches was the mass enslavement of indigenous workers in the silver and tin mines of Potosi. Times have moved on since the 16th century, but the current simmering conflict over gas revenues demonstrates that turning resource wealth into benefit for all is far from a straightforward proposition.
Of the countries 'cursed' with mineral riches, Chile (copper) and Botswana (diamonds) are the notable exceptions where this wealth has contributed to sustainable development. And even in the best cases the unhealthy dominance of a single product produces economic and social distortions. Chile's military still benefits from a law developed during the Pinochet regime which awards it a guaranteed percentage of the revenue from the national copper mining company, and the military's disproportionate strength continues to cast a shadow over local democracy and the regional balance of power.
Bolivia's government is planning a small-scale lithium mining pilot project which will be under local control. The BBC article suggests impatience from the auto companies that this will not lead to enough production quickly enough to satify their demands.
Although it's good that car companies are now getting over their reluctance about developing electric vehicles, this isn't as progressive as it might look. I'm not all that sympathetic to 'no more growth' environmentalism, but in this case the pattern that environmentalists warn about is all too evident. The problems of peak oil and global warming caused by historical modes of western oil consumption are being 'addressed' by moving on to exploit another finite resource extracted from another environmentally fragile setting.
In essence, the purpose of escalating lithium production would be to allow people in the rich world to swap one addiction for another and carry on driving their cars around in the same way as before. In Bolivia, where functional roads are few and far between, and private cars extremely rare, there's an understandable lack of urgency about this objective.
With its 10,000 square kilometres of shimmering salt, the Salar de Uyuni is one the natural wonders of the world. It's not even economically 'idle', but is a focus of tourism which leaves visitors in awe their surroundings and gives reign to the imagination. It would be a tragedy to see such a unique place despoiled by mining.
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Alan Garcia's Dog in the Manger
It's always good to see governments be open with the public about the vision that drives their policies and actions. It's also relatively rare that they attempt to persuade by written arguments that can be analysed and critiqued. For this reason, it's quite impressive to see Peruvian president Alan Garcia publish a lengthy op-ed in Lima newspaper El Comercio, in which he argues that Peruvians opposing greater exploitation of the country's natural resources are 'dogs in the manger' who are impeding progress.
So I've translated the entire article and posted it below. Even for those who aren't especially interested in Peru, this is an interesting contribution to the debates about economic development, environmentalism, sustainability and democracy. This is not to say that I agree with all or even most of Garcia's argument: in many respects it's disappointing, out of touch and even perplexing in its choice of theme. In another post I'll discuss some of these criticisms.
Translation note: I've kept it pretty literal, so it has a slightly awkward feel in places. Garcia uses in several places the expression 'poner en valor' (literally to 'put into value'), which I understand has no real English equivalent, being a Spanish transliteration of the French phrase 'mise en valeur'. I've generally translated this as 'to make productive'.
By Alan Garcia Perez, President of the Republic
There is great demand for legal titles to family homes. Every Peruvian knows that a legalized property that can be sold, mortgaged, or passed on through inheritance, can improve their situation. But Peru as a whole has the same problem and doesn't know it. Many of her goods can't be made productive, can't be sold, invested in, or made to generate employment.
There are millions of hectares for forestry that are idle, millions of hectares more that communities and local associations haven't cultivated nor will cultivate, as well as hundreds of mineral deposits that can't be exploited and millions of hectares of sea that are never commercially fished. The rivers that run down either side of the cordillera are a fortune that goes to the sea without producing electrical energy. There are, as well, millions of workers that don't exist, although they labour, since their jobs don't provide them with social security or a pension for later on in life, because they don't contribute what they could to building national savings.
So there are many unused resources that aren't tradeable, don't receive investment, and don't generate employment. And all that because of the taboo of left-behind ideologies, because of idleness, indolence, and the law of the dog in the manger who prays: “If I don't do it, let nobody do it”.
The first resource is the Amazon. It has 63 million hectares and abundant rainfall. Within it forestry could be established, especially in the 8 million hectares already destroyed – but for that, property rights are required; that is, a secure plot of land of 5,000, 10,000 or 20,000 hectares, since on smaller areas of land there won't be formal, long-term investment with high technology.
At present the only concessions that exist depend on the will of the Government and the bureaucrats who can [later] modify them. For this reason nobody invests, nor creates one job for every two hectares, as should be the case; nor is there wood processing or furniture exporting. For the most part, these concessions have only served to extract the finest wood, deforest and abandon the land. In contrast, formal property ownership by large collective businesses like pension funds will allow long-term investment, from planting through to harvesting, years later.
Those who are opposed say that property rights cannot be granted in the Amazon (and why so in the coast and the sierra?). They also say that granting property in large lots would give profits to big business; sure, but it would also create thousands of formal jobs for Peruvians who live in the poorest areas. It's the dog in the manger.
Let's respect the virgin native forests, but let's start with the 8 million hectares that have been turned into deserts and destroyed in recent years by the scorched-earth concessions, the [cultivation of] coca and indiscriminate logging. There, a million jobs can be created, as well as employment in the manufacture of furniture.
It's an embarassment that Chile exports US $2 billion in wood without having a hectare of the Amazon, Uruguay $1 billion, Brazil $8 billion, while Peru barely exports $200 million.
The same is true in a second area – the land. For there to be investment, secure property rights are needed, but we've fallen into the trap of granting small plots of land to poor families that don't have a cent to invest, so apart from the land, they have to ask the State for fertilizers, seeds, and irrigation technology as well as guaranteed prices. This 'minifundista' model without technology is a vicious circle of misery. We must support medium-sized properties, and an agricultural middle class that knows how to obtain resources, find markets, and can create formal employment.
But what do we see in this country? When someone sees a beautiful beach, someone else already claimed it years ago and hasn't invested a cent to make a nice swimming area, so it will stay for decades more without value. The hills that surround Lima are like that – where investment could work miracles. So are all the cement quarries claimed but never worked.
In addition, there are true peasant communities but also artificial communities that have 200,000 hectares on paper but only use 10,000 hectares while the rest is idle property, 'dead handed', while its inhabitants live in extreme poverty waiting for the State to bring them help instead of making their hills and land productive, leasing them, trading them. Because if this land is unproductive for them, it would be productive with a high level of investment and the know how that a new buyer brings.
But the rhetoric and deception says that these lands can't be touched because they are sacred objects and that this communal organization is the original organization of Peru, without realizing that it was a creation of Viceroy Toledo to round up the indigenous people into the unproductive lands.
The third area is mineral resources, of which Peru has the greatest riches in the world, not only for the quantity but also the variety of minerals, so that if there's a drop in price it can be compensated for with other products. However, barely a tenth of these resources are being exploited, because here we still debate whether mining techniques destroy the environment, which is an argument from last century. Of course it destroyed [the environment] in the past, and the environmental problems of today are basically because of the mines of yesteryear, but currently mines exist alongside cities without problem. And in any case it depends on how strict the State is in the technological requirements placed on mining companies and in negotiating greater economic and labour participation for the regions where the mines are.
When I go to the city of Ilo and see its urban development, which is the most advanced in Peru, I know it's the product of mining and the fishing industry, and it pains me to compare this with the town of Ayabaca, which has more mineral resources than the Cuajone mine in the south, but lives in great poverty. And it's there that the old anticapitalist communist of the 19th century disguised himself as the protectionist in the 20th century, and changed his shirt once more in the 21st century to be an environmentalist. But always anticapitalist, against investment without explaining how, with a poor agriculture, a leap forward can be taken to greater development.
And against petroleum they've created the figure of the 'isolated' jungle native; that is, unknown but presumed [to exist], because of which millions of hectares must not be exploited, and Peruvian oil must stay in the ground while the world price of oil is US$90 a barrel. It's preferable that Peru continues importing and improverishing itself.
A fourth area is the oceans: Japan has fewer marine riches but eats five times more fish per capita per annum than Peru, because it has developed its aquaculture. But here, whenever it is proposed to grant an area of sea for an investor to put their fish farms, this is opposed by the local small-scale fishermen who see the birth of more modern competition and say that it will block their free access and pollute the ocean, while others invoke the Sacred Sea of [Peruvian war hero Miguel] Grau, instead of accepting this activity that could generate hundreds of thousands of jobs.
In addition, Peru has enormous riches from the rain that falls in the cordillera. It's calculated that 800 billion cubic metres of water annually flows down in the rivers that head towards the Pacific and the Atlantic. Of that which goes to the Pacific, we use a small amount for agriculture and electrical generation, but with the water that goes to the Atlantic, we do practically nothing.
How to make the most of it? Now that the price of oil keeps going up, we must think about electrical generation that is renewable, almost inexhaustible, and clean. And to think about its use and sale in continental terms. Large electric plants on the Marañón and in the rapids of the lower Urubamba would allow us to sell energy to Ecuador, Colombia, Chile and Brazil. For this it would be necessary to obtain large amounts of private or international capital that needs long-term security to invest billions and be able to achieve a return on the investment. But the dog in the manger says: 'Why are they going to make money from our rivers? Better that the regional government does it' But they don't say with what money.
In fifth place, people's own labour is not made productive for those who work. Informal employment is dominant, which is work not incorporated into the economy and without legal status; it doesn't provide social security because payments are not made, and it doesn't contribute to any pension system. To give value to this work and benefit the individual, the logical thing would be to make progressive advances so that the employees of small business, who number in the millions, have in the first place the fundamental minimum rights – health insurance, a pension, and an eight hour day. That's more than they have now. This would strengthen the pension fund and health insurance fund.
But the demagogues oppose this progressive access, saying: “Full rights must be given immeidately to all the employers of small family or informal businesses”. But they don't know (or perhaps they do) that the only thing they'd achieve is that the small businessman, unable to pay these costs, would close the business and lay off lots of employees, so the cure would be worse than the sickness.
There are also others who say: “If it's not possible to provide workers all the fringe benefits and 30 days holidays just yet, the State should provide full health cover and a minimum pension without them having to contribute. But it turns out that these are the same ones who are against investment in forestry because the jungles are sacred, against opening more mines because Peru should only be agricultural, and that don't want aquaculture in the oceans. And so, without investment, without jobs created, they think that the State is a bottomless well from which all resources can eternally emerge, and they end up saying: “Cut the work day to 6 hours, pay more salaries, even if Peru doesn't produce any more”.
As a final point, I could add that neither are the brains of our students and childrens made productive. Education is delivered in the majority of cases to pass with an 11 [out of 20] instead of promoting excellence and to aim at an 18. A group of bad teachers and bad bureaucrats refuse to be evaluated in order to hide their mediocrity and so the system carries on producing worthless results. And the same ones as always say: “Give me more, without me changing or making any effort”. So, they are allies of informal mining, clandestine logging, peasant poverty, informal employment and lack of merit or effort.
Faced with the philosophy of the dog in the manger, reality tells us that we must make productive the resources that we don't use and work with more effort. We have the example of successful peoples: the Germans, the Japanese, the Koreans, and many more. And this is the bet for the future, the only thing that will make us progress.
Categories: Alan Garcia, economic development, Peru, el perro del hortelano, Amazon
So I've translated the entire article and posted it below. Even for those who aren't especially interested in Peru, this is an interesting contribution to the debates about economic development, environmentalism, sustainability and democracy. This is not to say that I agree with all or even most of Garcia's argument: in many respects it's disappointing, out of touch and even perplexing in its choice of theme. In another post I'll discuss some of these criticisms.
Translation note: I've kept it pretty literal, so it has a slightly awkward feel in places. Garcia uses in several places the expression 'poner en valor' (literally to 'put into value'), which I understand has no real English equivalent, being a Spanish transliteration of the French phrase 'mise en valeur'. I've generally translated this as 'to make productive'.
By Alan Garcia Perez, President of the Republic
There is great demand for legal titles to family homes. Every Peruvian knows that a legalized property that can be sold, mortgaged, or passed on through inheritance, can improve their situation. But Peru as a whole has the same problem and doesn't know it. Many of her goods can't be made productive, can't be sold, invested in, or made to generate employment.
There are millions of hectares for forestry that are idle, millions of hectares more that communities and local associations haven't cultivated nor will cultivate, as well as hundreds of mineral deposits that can't be exploited and millions of hectares of sea that are never commercially fished. The rivers that run down either side of the cordillera are a fortune that goes to the sea without producing electrical energy. There are, as well, millions of workers that don't exist, although they labour, since their jobs don't provide them with social security or a pension for later on in life, because they don't contribute what they could to building national savings.
So there are many unused resources that aren't tradeable, don't receive investment, and don't generate employment. And all that because of the taboo of left-behind ideologies, because of idleness, indolence, and the law of the dog in the manger who prays: “If I don't do it, let nobody do it”.
The first resource is the Amazon. It has 63 million hectares and abundant rainfall. Within it forestry could be established, especially in the 8 million hectares already destroyed – but for that, property rights are required; that is, a secure plot of land of 5,000, 10,000 or 20,000 hectares, since on smaller areas of land there won't be formal, long-term investment with high technology.
At present the only concessions that exist depend on the will of the Government and the bureaucrats who can [later] modify them. For this reason nobody invests, nor creates one job for every two hectares, as should be the case; nor is there wood processing or furniture exporting. For the most part, these concessions have only served to extract the finest wood, deforest and abandon the land. In contrast, formal property ownership by large collective businesses like pension funds will allow long-term investment, from planting through to harvesting, years later.
Those who are opposed say that property rights cannot be granted in the Amazon (and why so in the coast and the sierra?). They also say that granting property in large lots would give profits to big business; sure, but it would also create thousands of formal jobs for Peruvians who live in the poorest areas. It's the dog in the manger.
Let's respect the virgin native forests, but let's start with the 8 million hectares that have been turned into deserts and destroyed in recent years by the scorched-earth concessions, the [cultivation of] coca and indiscriminate logging. There, a million jobs can be created, as well as employment in the manufacture of furniture.
It's an embarassment that Chile exports US $2 billion in wood without having a hectare of the Amazon, Uruguay $1 billion, Brazil $8 billion, while Peru barely exports $200 million.
The same is true in a second area – the land. For there to be investment, secure property rights are needed, but we've fallen into the trap of granting small plots of land to poor families that don't have a cent to invest, so apart from the land, they have to ask the State for fertilizers, seeds, and irrigation technology as well as guaranteed prices. This 'minifundista' model without technology is a vicious circle of misery. We must support medium-sized properties, and an agricultural middle class that knows how to obtain resources, find markets, and can create formal employment.
But what do we see in this country? When someone sees a beautiful beach, someone else already claimed it years ago and hasn't invested a cent to make a nice swimming area, so it will stay for decades more without value. The hills that surround Lima are like that – where investment could work miracles. So are all the cement quarries claimed but never worked.
In addition, there are true peasant communities but also artificial communities that have 200,000 hectares on paper but only use 10,000 hectares while the rest is idle property, 'dead handed', while its inhabitants live in extreme poverty waiting for the State to bring them help instead of making their hills and land productive, leasing them, trading them. Because if this land is unproductive for them, it would be productive with a high level of investment and the know how that a new buyer brings.
But the rhetoric and deception says that these lands can't be touched because they are sacred objects and that this communal organization is the original organization of Peru, without realizing that it was a creation of Viceroy Toledo to round up the indigenous people into the unproductive lands.
The third area is mineral resources, of which Peru has the greatest riches in the world, not only for the quantity but also the variety of minerals, so that if there's a drop in price it can be compensated for with other products. However, barely a tenth of these resources are being exploited, because here we still debate whether mining techniques destroy the environment, which is an argument from last century. Of course it destroyed [the environment] in the past, and the environmental problems of today are basically because of the mines of yesteryear, but currently mines exist alongside cities without problem. And in any case it depends on how strict the State is in the technological requirements placed on mining companies and in negotiating greater economic and labour participation for the regions where the mines are.
When I go to the city of Ilo and see its urban development, which is the most advanced in Peru, I know it's the product of mining and the fishing industry, and it pains me to compare this with the town of Ayabaca, which has more mineral resources than the Cuajone mine in the south, but lives in great poverty. And it's there that the old anticapitalist communist of the 19th century disguised himself as the protectionist in the 20th century, and changed his shirt once more in the 21st century to be an environmentalist. But always anticapitalist, against investment without explaining how, with a poor agriculture, a leap forward can be taken to greater development.
And against petroleum they've created the figure of the 'isolated' jungle native; that is, unknown but presumed [to exist], because of which millions of hectares must not be exploited, and Peruvian oil must stay in the ground while the world price of oil is US$90 a barrel. It's preferable that Peru continues importing and improverishing itself.
A fourth area is the oceans: Japan has fewer marine riches but eats five times more fish per capita per annum than Peru, because it has developed its aquaculture. But here, whenever it is proposed to grant an area of sea for an investor to put their fish farms, this is opposed by the local small-scale fishermen who see the birth of more modern competition and say that it will block their free access and pollute the ocean, while others invoke the Sacred Sea of [Peruvian war hero Miguel] Grau, instead of accepting this activity that could generate hundreds of thousands of jobs.
In addition, Peru has enormous riches from the rain that falls in the cordillera. It's calculated that 800 billion cubic metres of water annually flows down in the rivers that head towards the Pacific and the Atlantic. Of that which goes to the Pacific, we use a small amount for agriculture and electrical generation, but with the water that goes to the Atlantic, we do practically nothing.
How to make the most of it? Now that the price of oil keeps going up, we must think about electrical generation that is renewable, almost inexhaustible, and clean. And to think about its use and sale in continental terms. Large electric plants on the Marañón and in the rapids of the lower Urubamba would allow us to sell energy to Ecuador, Colombia, Chile and Brazil. For this it would be necessary to obtain large amounts of private or international capital that needs long-term security to invest billions and be able to achieve a return on the investment. But the dog in the manger says: 'Why are they going to make money from our rivers? Better that the regional government does it' But they don't say with what money.
In fifth place, people's own labour is not made productive for those who work. Informal employment is dominant, which is work not incorporated into the economy and without legal status; it doesn't provide social security because payments are not made, and it doesn't contribute to any pension system. To give value to this work and benefit the individual, the logical thing would be to make progressive advances so that the employees of small business, who number in the millions, have in the first place the fundamental minimum rights – health insurance, a pension, and an eight hour day. That's more than they have now. This would strengthen the pension fund and health insurance fund.
But the demagogues oppose this progressive access, saying: “Full rights must be given immeidately to all the employers of small family or informal businesses”. But they don't know (or perhaps they do) that the only thing they'd achieve is that the small businessman, unable to pay these costs, would close the business and lay off lots of employees, so the cure would be worse than the sickness.
There are also others who say: “If it's not possible to provide workers all the fringe benefits and 30 days holidays just yet, the State should provide full health cover and a minimum pension without them having to contribute. But it turns out that these are the same ones who are against investment in forestry because the jungles are sacred, against opening more mines because Peru should only be agricultural, and that don't want aquaculture in the oceans. And so, without investment, without jobs created, they think that the State is a bottomless well from which all resources can eternally emerge, and they end up saying: “Cut the work day to 6 hours, pay more salaries, even if Peru doesn't produce any more”.
As a final point, I could add that neither are the brains of our students and childrens made productive. Education is delivered in the majority of cases to pass with an 11 [out of 20] instead of promoting excellence and to aim at an 18. A group of bad teachers and bad bureaucrats refuse to be evaluated in order to hide their mediocrity and so the system carries on producing worthless results. And the same ones as always say: “Give me more, without me changing or making any effort”. So, they are allies of informal mining, clandestine logging, peasant poverty, informal employment and lack of merit or effort.
Faced with the philosophy of the dog in the manger, reality tells us that we must make productive the resources that we don't use and work with more effort. We have the example of successful peoples: the Germans, the Japanese, the Koreans, and many more. And this is the bet for the future, the only thing that will make us progress.
Categories: Alan Garcia, economic development, Peru, el perro del hortelano, Amazon
Monday, September 17, 2007
Peruvian Communities Vote Against Mine
Peruvian news sources report on a highly-charged plebiscite in the sierra of Piura, northern Peru, where local communities voted overwhelmingly last Sunday against the development of a planned copper mine, which local farmers and environmentalists say could poison water sources and affect biodiversity in the region .
More than 90 percent of voters in the districts of Ayabaca, Pacaipampa and Carmen de la Frontera, voted against the plans of Chinese-owned company Minera Majaz to mine copper and molibdenum in a project known as Rio Blanco. Around 60 percent of 31,000 registered electors turned out across the three districts, some walking many hours to arrive at a polling station.
The vote, which was organised by the mayors of the three district municipalities, was criticised in advance by Peru's national government, which called it 'illegal' and 'non-binding'. Peru's electoral office (ONPE) and national election jury (JNE) had refused to recognise the plebiscite, and called for the confiscation of official electoral materials that were to be used in the vote.
But the vote went ahead peacefully, despite prior claims of threats against locals who do support the mine. International observers from Ecuador, Bolivia, Canada, Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Switzerland attended.
Majaz Minera is a subsidiary of British company Monterrico Metals, which has recently been acquired by Chinese consortium Zijin. Exploratory work has been occurring in the region since 2002. Preliminary results from a study by the University of Texas suggest that this phase has already caused some damage to the region's biodiversity, which includes the Andean spectacled bear and highland tapir. Local farmers fear that mining operations will diminish the quantity and quality of rivers which irrigate both the western (Pacific) and eastern (Amazonian) slopes of the Andes. The latter is a notable coffee-exporting region.
The Peruvian government has claimed that the vote was promoted by 'anti-mining' NGOs, who along with foreign missionaries it blames for stirring up opposition to the mine. Prime Minister Jorge del Castillo said that 'people who oppose investment can't demand its benefits'. President Alan Garcia called anti-mining activists 'old communists' responsible for 'a conspiracy to stop the country growing and producing'.
But analysts say that opposition owes more to bad historical experiences with mining operations in Peru. They cite lack of direct benefit for mining regions, weak governmental regulatory capability, and a poor record of mining company environmental and labour practices.
Also, Peru doesn't have a Ministry for the Environment or independent environmental agency. The organisation responsible for assessing environmental impact reports for mining projects is the Ministry of Energy and Mining, which is also charged with attracting and promoting mining investment.
Del Castillo is now calling for dialogue between the government, mining company and local authorities. District mayors have said they would be happy to engage in dialogue but that it must include community leaders from the respective districts.
The mining company, whose public face until now has been its English spokesman Andrew Bristow, says it is also prepared to talk. But for now, local communities have had the final say.
Categories: mining, Rio Blanco, Peru, Majaz, Piura
More than 90 percent of voters in the districts of Ayabaca, Pacaipampa and Carmen de la Frontera, voted against the plans of Chinese-owned company Minera Majaz to mine copper and molibdenum in a project known as Rio Blanco. Around 60 percent of 31,000 registered electors turned out across the three districts, some walking many hours to arrive at a polling station.
The vote, which was organised by the mayors of the three district municipalities, was criticised in advance by Peru's national government, which called it 'illegal' and 'non-binding'. Peru's electoral office (ONPE) and national election jury (JNE) had refused to recognise the plebiscite, and called for the confiscation of official electoral materials that were to be used in the vote.
But the vote went ahead peacefully, despite prior claims of threats against locals who do support the mine. International observers from Ecuador, Bolivia, Canada, Spain, the United Kingdom, Germany, and Switzerland attended.
Majaz Minera is a subsidiary of British company Monterrico Metals, which has recently been acquired by Chinese consortium Zijin. Exploratory work has been occurring in the region since 2002. Preliminary results from a study by the University of Texas suggest that this phase has already caused some damage to the region's biodiversity, which includes the Andean spectacled bear and highland tapir. Local farmers fear that mining operations will diminish the quantity and quality of rivers which irrigate both the western (Pacific) and eastern (Amazonian) slopes of the Andes. The latter is a notable coffee-exporting region.
The Peruvian government has claimed that the vote was promoted by 'anti-mining' NGOs, who along with foreign missionaries it blames for stirring up opposition to the mine. Prime Minister Jorge del Castillo said that 'people who oppose investment can't demand its benefits'. President Alan Garcia called anti-mining activists 'old communists' responsible for 'a conspiracy to stop the country growing and producing'.
But analysts say that opposition owes more to bad historical experiences with mining operations in Peru. They cite lack of direct benefit for mining regions, weak governmental regulatory capability, and a poor record of mining company environmental and labour practices.
Also, Peru doesn't have a Ministry for the Environment or independent environmental agency. The organisation responsible for assessing environmental impact reports for mining projects is the Ministry of Energy and Mining, which is also charged with attracting and promoting mining investment.
Del Castillo is now calling for dialogue between the government, mining company and local authorities. District mayors have said they would be happy to engage in dialogue but that it must include community leaders from the respective districts.
The mining company, whose public face until now has been its English spokesman Andrew Bristow, says it is also prepared to talk. But for now, local communities have had the final say.
Categories: mining, Rio Blanco, Peru, Majaz, Piura
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Flora to the Fore
The indigenous vs. exotic vegetation debate issue refuses to die. In Auckland, there's been a major outcry over the city council's plans to replace 20 exotic trees with indigenous ones as part of the redevelopment of Queen St. Russell Brown covers it pretty well in three separate posts (he also links to my previous post on Rosemary McLeod's "eco-fascist" column).
Clearly, the issue seems to provoke a reaction out of all proportion to the trees themselves. Latest to pick up the torch is Dominion Post columnist Karl du Fresne in a piece titled "Eco-Nazis face a backlash" Du Fresne claims there's a conspiracy to eliminate exotic vegetation and replace it with natives, based on what he calls "an ideological fixation" that exotic plants don't belong.
Apparently, the protests in Auckland consistute "the stirrings of a backlash against the eco-Nazis", while in Wellington "there is mounting resistance to the eradication of Monterey pines on the Tinakorki Hills" (though it may be suggested that such "resistance" is a little tardy, given that the planned clearance of storm-damaged pines was completed by last June).
Du Fresne is convinced there are underhand agendas at work:
"I suspect the safety argument is a smokescreen. Concealed behind it is an ideological fixation that exotic trees don't belong in New Zealand and should be eliminated"
Well, if there were an evil cabal bent on wiping out introduced flora, perhaps as a prelude to invading Poland, you would expect to find some evidence of it in Wellington City Council's Town Belt vegetation management plan (for non-Wellingtonians, the Town Belt comprises all the wooded and green areas in the hills surrounding the city).
Unfortunately for the conspiracy theorists, the vision presented by this document is boringly balanced and inclusive:
"The variety of vegetation types on the Town Belt offers a range of recreational and visual experiences which is valued by the people of Wellington. There are those who will argue for the creation of pure native forest cover, and those who prefer the open understorey of the coniferous forest. There is scope to accommodate a range of preferences. The landscape and microclimates are varied enough to carry variety in the vegetation cover and, as this is a public reserve, the desires of as many of the community as practicable should be accommodated."
Admittedly, this is still consistent with the existence of eco-fascists who think all exotic trees should be eradicated. But they perhaps seem a little less scary once you realise they're not actually in charge -- or if they are, they have heroically subjected their views to the constraints of democracy. At the risk of sounding politically correct, any such exotic tree-haters are entitled to their views. Just as Rosemary McLeod is entitled to broadcast her breezily ignorant dislike of "sludgy-green" native vegetation.
The plan does propose that "native vegetation [be] established on a much greater proportion of the Town Belt than at the present time", moving from 20 percent at present to eventually 60 percent. This will involve some development of existing native regeneration, replacement of most grass and scrub, and, yes, some replacement of exotic conifers, "notably on Tinakori Hill".
Does this mean Council stormtroopers will be dispatched to uproot innocent Monterey pines under the cover of night? Not exactly. This shift in proportions is considered "a realistic approach within the timeframe of this plan" -- 50-100 years.
Both McLeod and du Fresne mention Mt Victoria, an iconic area of mixed conifer and eucalyptus, and a setting for some of Lord of the Rings. McLeod is agitated about its future:
Something like [Tinakori Hill] will happen on Mount Victoria, too, before long. The giant eucalypts must already offend the taste fascists, and the very hills here have to be political"
In fact, the plan states that "the largest area to be retained in conifers and mixed conifer/eucalypt forest is on Mt Victoria". It further points out that the conifers "are unlikely to regenerate on their own. Where continued exotic forest is desired, replanting will be necessary". In other words, the exotic trees will not just be left alone; they will be actively maintained.
Those who like colour will also be pleased to note that the Council plans to mow some of the grassland areas less frequently, allowing for seasonal (and principally exotic) flower displays.
It's always possible that the City Council plan is all a lie, and is just providing cover for the eco-fascists. But in the absence of any evidence to support this it's probably prudent to take the document at face value.
Personally, though I am not a fascist, eco- or otherwise, I welcome the planned move to 60 percent native vegetation. Like others, I'm fond of Mt Victoria's current exotic cover (which also produces charming bush fires whenever Wellington goes two weeks without rain in summer) but overall find the pine-dominated hills around much of the city rather monotonous. And as I pointed out in my previous post, there are large areas of nothing but grass and scrub which could be hugely improved by regenerating some of the original vegetation.
Others, of course, will disagree, and some will want to retain every last iconic bush of gorse and broom against intruders such as flowering southern rata. Given the necessarily drawn out processes involved in vegetation management, they will have every opportunity to make their views known. Sadly, though, they will required to argue rationally, on a case-by-case basis. Which is a whole lot less fun than getting worked up, shouting about nazis, and pretending you're a freedom fighter.
Categories: New Zealand, Wellington, Mt Victoria, Tinakori Hill, trees
Clearly, the issue seems to provoke a reaction out of all proportion to the trees themselves. Latest to pick up the torch is Dominion Post columnist Karl du Fresne in a piece titled "Eco-Nazis face a backlash" Du Fresne claims there's a conspiracy to eliminate exotic vegetation and replace it with natives, based on what he calls "an ideological fixation" that exotic plants don't belong.
Apparently, the protests in Auckland consistute "the stirrings of a backlash against the eco-Nazis", while in Wellington "there is mounting resistance to the eradication of Monterey pines on the Tinakorki Hills" (though it may be suggested that such "resistance" is a little tardy, given that the planned clearance of storm-damaged pines was completed by last June).
Du Fresne is convinced there are underhand agendas at work:
"I suspect the safety argument is a smokescreen. Concealed behind it is an ideological fixation that exotic trees don't belong in New Zealand and should be eliminated"
Well, if there were an evil cabal bent on wiping out introduced flora, perhaps as a prelude to invading Poland, you would expect to find some evidence of it in Wellington City Council's Town Belt vegetation management plan (for non-Wellingtonians, the Town Belt comprises all the wooded and green areas in the hills surrounding the city).
Unfortunately for the conspiracy theorists, the vision presented by this document is boringly balanced and inclusive:
"The variety of vegetation types on the Town Belt offers a range of recreational and visual experiences which is valued by the people of Wellington. There are those who will argue for the creation of pure native forest cover, and those who prefer the open understorey of the coniferous forest. There is scope to accommodate a range of preferences. The landscape and microclimates are varied enough to carry variety in the vegetation cover and, as this is a public reserve, the desires of as many of the community as practicable should be accommodated."
Admittedly, this is still consistent with the existence of eco-fascists who think all exotic trees should be eradicated. But they perhaps seem a little less scary once you realise they're not actually in charge -- or if they are, they have heroically subjected their views to the constraints of democracy. At the risk of sounding politically correct, any such exotic tree-haters are entitled to their views. Just as Rosemary McLeod is entitled to broadcast her breezily ignorant dislike of "sludgy-green" native vegetation.
The plan does propose that "native vegetation [be] established on a much greater proportion of the Town Belt than at the present time", moving from 20 percent at present to eventually 60 percent. This will involve some development of existing native regeneration, replacement of most grass and scrub, and, yes, some replacement of exotic conifers, "notably on Tinakori Hill".
Does this mean Council stormtroopers will be dispatched to uproot innocent Monterey pines under the cover of night? Not exactly. This shift in proportions is considered "a realistic approach within the timeframe of this plan" -- 50-100 years.
Both McLeod and du Fresne mention Mt Victoria, an iconic area of mixed conifer and eucalyptus, and a setting for some of Lord of the Rings. McLeod is agitated about its future:
Something like [Tinakori Hill] will happen on Mount Victoria, too, before long. The giant eucalypts must already offend the taste fascists, and the very hills here have to be political"
In fact, the plan states that "the largest area to be retained in conifers and mixed conifer/eucalypt forest is on Mt Victoria". It further points out that the conifers "are unlikely to regenerate on their own. Where continued exotic forest is desired, replanting will be necessary". In other words, the exotic trees will not just be left alone; they will be actively maintained.
Those who like colour will also be pleased to note that the Council plans to mow some of the grassland areas less frequently, allowing for seasonal (and principally exotic) flower displays.
It's always possible that the City Council plan is all a lie, and is just providing cover for the eco-fascists. But in the absence of any evidence to support this it's probably prudent to take the document at face value.
Personally, though I am not a fascist, eco- or otherwise, I welcome the planned move to 60 percent native vegetation. Like others, I'm fond of Mt Victoria's current exotic cover (which also produces charming bush fires whenever Wellington goes two weeks without rain in summer) but overall find the pine-dominated hills around much of the city rather monotonous. And as I pointed out in my previous post, there are large areas of nothing but grass and scrub which could be hugely improved by regenerating some of the original vegetation.
Others, of course, will disagree, and some will want to retain every last iconic bush of gorse and broom against intruders such as flowering southern rata. Given the necessarily drawn out processes involved in vegetation management, they will have every opportunity to make their views known. Sadly, though, they will required to argue rationally, on a case-by-case basis. Which is a whole lot less fun than getting worked up, shouting about nazis, and pretending you're a freedom fighter.
Categories: New Zealand, Wellington, Mt Victoria, Tinakori Hill, trees
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