Tsunami Devastates Asian Coasts
Tamil Nadu, Cuddalore District, India. Photo by Nityanand Jayaraman
The December earthquake off the northwest coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, triggered massive tsunamis that devastated coastal areas of South and Southeast Asia. In Indonesia`s remote Aceh province, more than 90,000 died and many more are missing, injured, and displaced. More than 50,000 died in Sri Lanka, India, and Thailand, with others missing and dead in Bangladesh, Myanmar, Malaysia, the Maldives, the Seychelles, Somalia, Tanzania, and Kenya. E-LAW partners are working to help communities recover and learn from the disaster. Together, we are now working to advance sound policies that will protect coastal communities from future natural disasters.
The tsunami disaster has touched all of us in the E-LAW network. On hearing initial reports of the tragedy, our first concern was hearing from partners in the affected nations. We were relieved to learn that no one in the E-LAW family was lost.
As the magnitude of the disaster sank in, E-LAW partners shared feelings across borders: concern for survivors, a desire to help, and a determination to prevent such a disaster from happening again.
Intact mangrove forests and healthy coral reefs helped reduce the damage in some areas. Many people in the E-LAW network are working together to protect these vital ecosystems.
Now, the tsunami tragedy has sparked the greatest humanitarian relief effort of all time. Seeing this generous response and watching people in the E-LAW network come together in the face of this tragedy give me hope.
Looking to the future, we must remember: we share a fragile planet, we must respect nature, and we can accomplish great things if we work together.
Bern Johnson
Executive Director
E-LAW U.S.
E-LAW Advocate Firsty Husbani of Indonesia
Report from Indonesia
Firsty Husbani
A big part of Aceh is underwater now and several small islands have been totally destroyed. People are busy with logistics and handling refugees. The disaster opened the isolated area of Aceh. People there now realize they have brothers and sisters outside. A comprehensive plan for rebuilding is moving slowly, with a soft voice.
Civil society is discussing environmentally sound planning. We need restrictions for building on beaches, and mangroves should be planted along the coast. Civil society can provide leadership on developing an early warning system for future disasters. The public must participate in this planning process.
We learned that exploitation of natural resources can bring hardship. For example, areas with intact mangroves were not as heavily damaged. We also learned the importance of traditional knowledge and passing local wisdom about nature from generation to generation.
The most important thing is the need for a coordinated response, not only between civil society and government, but among civil society itself. We’re in that process now.
E-LAW partner Firsty Husbani works with Yayasan Kemala and Forum Pengembangan Partisipasi Masyarakat (Forum for Popular Participation). She is based in Jakarta.
Report from India
T. Mohan
The recent tsunami is a particularly grim reminder that nature is not something that can be conquered at human will. Humankind must learn to live in harmony with nature and the true tragedy is that lives have to be lost before these elementary lessons can be learned.
For years, global warming and sea level increases have underlined the need to curb consumerist lifestyles and build our societies so as to live more respectfully of nature and the limitations of our natural resources.
India`s Coastal Regulation Zone law (CRZ) of 1991 was progressive for its time. It anticipated sea level rise and mandated state governments to identify areas likely to be flooded. It prohibited construction activity almost entirely in these high risk areas. It also mandated the protection of mangroves which are storm barriers for coastal communities.
These concerns have been lost both on policymakers and affluent citizens who have been part of the mad rush to colonize India`s coast and put up monstrous construction in violation of the CRZ. The CRZ law was even amended to permit the construction of a Prototype Fast Breeder Nuclear Reactor (PFBR) at Kalpakkam, a coastal village in south India. Concerns were raised at public hearings about the risk of seismic activity at the PFBR, but these concerns elicited indifference. Although the reactors have been shut down temporarily, there does not seem to be a sustained policy shift in India`s nuclear power establishment.
Many questions were raised in the aftermath of the disaster: Where were the early warnings for the earthquake? Why weren`t these alerts taken seriously? These questions demand answers lest people think that tragedy is part of their everyday karma.
One worries what the impact of the tsunami would have been if the Sethu Samudram Shipping Channel were under construction or even operational. E-LAW U.S. scientists Mark Chernaik and Meche Lu reviewed the project`s Environmental Impact Assessment and found the project failed to anticipate weather conditions, such as cyclones, that would increase the probability of ship groundings.
Many policymakers find industrialization the panacea to all ills, and that environmental laws and regulations are to be tolerated though not implemented. The thousands of poor who have lost their lives should remind policymakers and regulators that environmental regulations ought to be strengthened, not diluted, so that lives are not lost in vain.
T. Mohan is an E-LAW partner based in Chennai (formerly called Madras), on India`s southeast coast. Mohan has been collaborating with the E-LAW network since 1995 to help enforce India`s Coastal Regulation Zone, a 1991 regulation protecting India`s coasts from ill-advised development and ensuring access for local fishing communities.
Hemantha Withanage of Sri Lanka
Report from Sri Lanka
Hemantha Withanage
The tsunami was sudden, unexpected, and over rather quickly, but the after-effects will reverberate for years. An estimated one third of the 30,000 Sri Lankans who died were children. Beach hotels and houses vanished, and much of the coastline was changed beyond recognition. Debris that flowed out to sea smashed half of our coral reefs. Toxic materials, including PCBs, entered the sea at many points. On land, wells and freshwater streams have been contaminated with seawater.
Environmental activists had warned the government about sea flooding. Though we never expected a tsunami, we advocated that government agencies be prepared for rises in sea level. We supported many public interest law suits challenging coral mining, hotel construction, and calling for beaches to remain public property.
There are many reasons why damages were high in Sri Lanka.
We received two major waves. After the first wave retreated, many people ran to the beach to collect fish. This lack of awareness caused the loss of many lives. A tsunami warning system for the Pacific Ocean has been in place for 60 years, but the system is not available to Sri Lanka. We have good cellular phone systems, and many TV and radio stations, but no system for receiving information from Hawaii or national plans for vacating coastal zones.
Tsunami damage in Sri Lanka. Photo by Hemantha Withanage
A disrespect for law also played a role. The Coast Conservation Department has been ineffective in enforcing a coast conservation act which requires appropriate building setbacks on shorelines.
The Urban Development Authority has also approved the construction of ill-advised buildings along the coast. Damages were highest where there were no greenbelts and where the lime industry had been breaking corals. The water was deep in these areas, so the waves were high and the damage was high. Where the beach was protected by coral, mangroves, and other vegetation, the damage was less.
The Centre for Environmental Justice commends the Government of Sri Lanka for its recent decision to ban construction within the 100 metre coastal zone, including a 200 metre zone in the north and eastern province. The Centre also commends the government`s decision to regulate construction within a 700 metre zone beyond the coastal zone.
The Sri Lankan government needs support for an accelerated environmental restoration plan, and it is critical that civil society participate in planning, monitoring, and implementation. The tsunami killed many people, but we have seen the power of civil society to help each other without ethnic, religious or national bias. We believe the future will be brighter. Let us understand and respect the power of nature. That will help us all survive.
Hemantha Withanage is the Executive Director of the Centre for Environmental Justice in Colombo, Sri Lanka. He is a scientist who has collaborated with the E-LAW network for many years to protect the environment and public health in Sri Lanka and around the world.
Typhoons, Deforestation, Landslides
by Ipat Luna
 |
Typhoons named Unding, Violeta, and Winnie wreaked havoc in the Philippines last year. In the last ten days of November, three provinces on the eastern coast of the island archipelago were slammed, resulting in devastating landslides that killed more than 1,000 people, with many more still missing. In the town of Infanta, recovery will take more than a year and the layer of mud will not be cleared for at least two cropping seasons.
Regional officials from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources quickly blamed illegal logging, but the national government had a different story. The unprecedented volume of rain loosened even primary forest areas and most scientists declared the landslides could not be attributed to logging alone. Certainly, commercial logging and the failure to enforce our strict environmental laws exacerbated nature`s fury.
The staff of nine at Tanggol Kalikasan`s Southern Tagalog office mobilized the day after the third typhoon and became a quasi disaster relief center. Lawyer Asis Perez (whose leadership of Task Force Matatag has netted scores of illegal fishers, their vessels, and catch) flew over the area to help determine the best response. All timber licenses in the southern part of the disaster area had expired in 1993, so it was difficult to go after the concession holders.
Following the advice of public interest scientists, Tanggol is working to ensure that appropriate parties undertake geohazard mapping and that open-access forests are replaced by properly managed community-based forestry agreements. Meanwhile, communities need legal assistance to take action against illegal and ill-advised logging. In the town of Dingalan in Aurora Province, Tanggol lawyers are now strategizing on steps the community can take to challenge an existing Private Land Timber Permit.
Ipat Luna is a longtime member of the E-LAW network. She is Chair of Tanggol Kalikasan, the Philippines` leading environmental law organization.
Yachats 2005: E-LAW Annual International Meeting
 E-LAW advocate Carla Zendejas is based in Tijuana, Mexico. Carla works with U.S. and Mexican non-governmental organizations on cross border issues such as water monitoring, sustainable power plants, and law reform. Carla will be a keynote speaker at this year`s Public Interest Environmental Law Conference. |
Pioneering grassroots advocates from roughly 25 countries are coming to Oregon in February to participate in the 2005 E-LAW Annual International Meeting. This inspired gathering will take place in the seaside town of Yachats, February 27–March 3.
Meeting participants will share legal and scientific resources with their colleagues from around the world and gain skills they need to build a sustainable future, including how to use electronic communication tools and build strong organizations.
E-LAW`s annual meeting will be immediately followed by the 23rd annual Public Interest Environmental Law Conference (PIELC) at the University of Oregon School of Law (March 3 - 6).
The PIELC will bring together roughly 4,000 attorneys, students, scientists, and citizens from around the globe. Dozens of E-LAW advocates will participate in panel discussions at the PIELC. (For more information, see: http://www.pielc.org.)
Holding the E-LAW Meeting in conjunction with the PIELC creates an exceptional opportunity for people in the U.S. to learn from leading environmental advocates around the world.
Look for a full report on the 2005 E-LAW Annual International Meeting in the next E-LAW Advocate.
Victories & Steps Along the Way: Papua New Guinea, Wangari Maathai
Free Speech Victory in Papua New Guinea
 Landowners have complained that waste discharged from RD Tuna spills onto customary lands. John Musas (center), his brother Bap (right), and nephew (left). |
E-LAW advocates at the Environmental Law Centre (ELC) in Papua New Guinea have successfully defended local public health and environmental advocates from a defamation suit brought by multinational fishing giant RD Tuna.
In 2003, the Filipino-owned RD Tuna filed a lawsuit against local residents who had criticized the company for unsanitary canning practices and pollution of local water resources. Such lawsuits, referred to as Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (or "SLAPPs") are often brought to silence criticism from those who cannot afford to defend themselves, in effect limiting free speech.
E-LAW U.S. Staff Attorneys assisted ELC advocates with information about U.S. defamation laws and a U.S. Food and Drug Administration recall of RD Tuna products in Michigan.
RD Tuna dropped its suit against the local residents and a Papua New Guinea National Court judge ordered RD Tuna to compensate the defendants for court costs.
This ruling will discourage similar SLAPPs and protect citizens` rights to debate on important issues.
Wangari Maathai Wins Nobel Prize
 Wangari Maathai PHOTO: Martin Rowe |
E-LAW U.S. congratulates Wangari Maathai of Kenya for receiving the prestigious Nobel Peace Prize. We have long admired her courageous work. E-LAW U.S. is now working with strong Kenyan environmental lawyers inspired by Wangari`s leadership.
Wangari is the first environmental advocate to win the Nobel Peace Prize. She founded Kenya`s Green Belt Movement in 1977, which has planted more than 10 million trees to prevent soil erosion and provide firewood for cooking fires.
In announcing the prize, the Nobel committee said: "Peace on earth depends on our ability to secure our living environment." E-LAW U.S. shares this belief.
In many countries where E-LAW U.S. works, environmental degradation is a matter of life and death. Communities lack clean water and fresh air. People see multinational corporations exploiting natural resources, while they can not feed their families. They feel the impacts of toxic chemicals sprayed on crops that are destined for export.
To secure lasting peace, we must take better care of our natural environment. We must ensure that natural resources are used sustainably and the benefits of using natural resources are distributed fairly. We must ensure that citizens have a voice in decisions about the envi- ronment. We must ensure that people have access to clean air and clean water. We must protect critical ecosystems.
E-LAW U.S. is working with courageous advocates around the world who are taking on environmental abuses and building a sustainable future. These grassroots advocates are our best hope for building a sustainable, peaceful future.
Protecting Western Gray Whales
A Western Gray Whale near an oil drilling platform operated by Shell, Mitsubishi, and Matsui near Sakhalin Island.
Photo by Greenpeace Russia
E-LAW U.S. is pleased to welcome pioneering Russian environmental lawyer Yulia Yakel to Eugene for a ten-week Working Exchange Fellowship. Yulia and her co-workers at Legal Centre Rodnik in Moscow recently brought a groundbreaking case to protect the breeding grounds of the Western Gray Whale off Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East.
While in Eugene, Yulia will work with E-LAW U.S. Staff Attorneys and Staff Scientists to tap legal and scientific tools she needs to protect Western Gray Whales, defend indigenous peoples` land rights, and challenge oil industry abuses. Yulia will also complete an intensive English program at the University of Oregon`s American English Institute and attend the 2005 E-LAW Annual International Meeting.
The Western Gray Whale is a cousin to the Eastern Gray Whale that migrates up and down the west coast of Canada, the U.S., and Mexico each year. Both populations were decimated by commercial whaling in the 19th and 20th centuries. Eastern Gray Whale populations have recovered, but Western Gray Whales are still at the edge of extinction. The Western Gray Whale was placed on The World Conservation Union (IUCN) "Critically Endangered" list in 2000.
Scientists believe that fewer than 100 Western Gray Whales remain. Highly migratory, these whales return from May to October to feed in the same 60 x 5 km area off the northeast coast of Sakhalin Island. Unfortunately, within 20 km of this vital and irreplaceable habitat, multinational oil companies are developing major offshore oil and gas fields. In addition to the risk of an oil spill, the whales face the dangers of high intensity seismic exploration, construction of drilling rigs and platforms, and increased ship and helicopter traffic.
Yulia Yakel
Yulia and the Legal Centre Rodnik are challenging multinational companies, including Shell, Mitsubishi, and Matsui. They have won preliminary victories in the case, including a ruling recognizing the public’s interest in the case and granting standing to citizens.
Yulia has worked at Legal Centre Rodnik since its founding in 1999. She attended the 2004 E-LAW Annual International Meeting in Slavske, Ukraine, and called on colleagues in the E-LAW network for legal and scientific support to help protect marine life in the Sea of Okhotsk.
After the meeting, she wrote: "I met with advocates from many different countries who are working to protect the environment. I learned about their activities and methods, and exchanged contact information . . . I was inspired by new and interesting ideas."
E-LAW U.S. thanks the Trust for Mutual Understanding and the American English Institute for making Yulia`s Working Exchange Fellowship possible. We also thank Sue Fisher, U.S. Director of the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society, for her help with this report.