A Critical Conversation on Climate Change ... - Green Choices

230 development dialogue september 2006 – carbon tradinggrounds and transform them into the private property of Europeans.It has also been used in India, with more mixed success, since the colonialera, and in Africa as well. And it was used in Europe during thegreat eras of enclosure 200 and more years ago. In each of these casesthe claim concealed and justified takeovers of land that was not onlyusable and ecologically rich, but used for all sorts of livelihood purposes.And the same is true of the paramo.PROFAFOR’s says that it would have liked to use native species but that‘the majority of native species have almost disappeared, and local knowledge ofindigenous tree species has been lost with the trees.’ 15Although the paramo zone has never been thickly forested, peoplethere retain a knowledge of native trees. In one PROFAFOR area,San Sebastián de SigSig in Azuay province, villagers are easily ableto name and describe uses for a dozen native species. 16 Yet the onlyAndean tree species used by the PROFAFOR project, and on a verysmall percentage of its sites, is Polylepis incana. This is a sub-paramospecies and it too is being planted in monoculture.The English-language PROFAFOR brochure says that local people ‘have asay in species selection and they prefer planting non-indigenous pine and eucalyptusspecies.’ 17 And the Ecuadorean government sees PROFAFOR as contributingto its own plans for aff oresting or reforesting 250,000 hectares in theAndean zone over 15 years.But what do local people themselves say about the pine plantations?Lets look at the history.PROFAFOR said the communities would get both income and employmentfrom the project. In addition to payments per planted hectare,they would get seedlings, technical assistance and training. Theywould have work for many years. They would have access to the plantationsto collect mushrooms, resins, firewood and wood from thinning.And after 20-30 years they would be allowed to harvest the treesand sell the timber. All PROFAFOR asked in return was 100 per centof the rights to the carbon fixed in the trees. It sounded terrific.Pine plantings in Ecuador.I have a feeling you’re going to tell me that things didn’t turn out as promised.That’s an understatement. Let’s start by looking at what happened inthree communities that signed contracts with the company between1997 and 2000. Communities were offered payments of between usd165 and usd 189 per hectare planted. But the cost of plants and technicalassistance during the first three first years of plantation was thendeducted, leaving the communities with about half of what they wereinitially offered (see Table 5).