Stop forest destruction
REFLECTIONS - Fr. Shay Cullen
Manila Times
Safeguarding creation will be one of the new virtues of a good Catholic from now on. The leadership of the Vatican and the inspiring words of Pope Benedict a few weeks ago at the ecology youth rally in Italy will guide the Church, we hope to revive its commitment to protect creation and the environment. Some Catholic bishops in the Philippines have been very outspoken against the destruction caused by the environmental ravages of the irresponsible open pit mining industry. They have the protection of rich political families and they plunder natural resources at will. With the recent conviction of former President Joseph Estrada for plunder and corruption we hope the corrupt politicians whose companies and cronies are raping the forests will stand trial also.
Loggers with political protection and influence have been able to get exemptions from the logging ban and the exploitation goes on in the old growth forests of Samar. They are cutting and felling the last of this exotic and beautiful tropical primary forest left in the Philippines. The buzz of the killer chainsaws echoes through the dense forest. It is the new scythe of death.
When I first heard that high-pitched sound during a forest visit elsewhere it sent shivers down my spine, it is the killer machine deployed by those with no love of nature or creation. They are the millionaire politicians who put profits above the nation or its people.
They reign over logging companies that are bringing rapid extinction to 406 unique flowers and plants found nowhere else on this planet but in the rainforests of Samar, one of the most impoverished province of the Philippines. Not only that but 39 species of rare mammals and 197 exotic birds live in these ancient rainforests. All will be in grave danger of becoming extinct soon. There is no way to bring them back. The San Jose logging company was able to use political connection to log in the Samar forest reserve. They claim they are doing “sustainable” forestry. They are only sustaining big bank accounts, critics say.
The Catholic bishops of Calbayog, Catarman and Borongan are totally opposed to this destruction and are calling for a reintroduction of moratorium on logging and mining in the Samar forests for bauxite. As much as $40 billion will be lost in the environmental destruction of Samar 25 years according to Marcelino Dalmacio, who led the Samar Biodiversity Research Project funded by the United Nations. That’s more than all the bauxite that could be extracted by mining corporations, the benefits of which will go to the mining and logging corporations not the people of Samar.
In a pastoral letter written a decade ago the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) foresaw the destruction and wrote of the forests and all they contain, “These are God’s masterpieces through which he displays his power ingenuity, a love for his creation. We have destroyed their habitat and hunted them ruthlessly. Even now many species are already extinct and the destruction of species is expected to increase dramatically during the next decade as the few remaining stands of forest are wiped out...”
The Vatican is to install hundreds of solar panels on the roof of the Pope Paul IV audience hall in Rome but we need more that that to stop the world wide destruction of nature itself, a nature that sustains all creatures including us humans. Why stand by doing nothing while a few greedy moguls destroy the heritage of the whole nation and the next generation?
The Church ought speak out and act as one more forcibly on the national and international stage against the evils of such exploitation and social sin. The corrupt emperor Nero fiddled while Rome burnt, but now do we all fiddle while the planet burns? We have to join a global campaign for environmental justice and the protection for the last of the remaining forests and species. None of us is exempt from doing our part. The Preda Reforestation project plants 1,200 large fruit-bearing grafted saplings a year to save the soil and give livelihood to the indigenous people and reduce CO2 and global warming. We need to double that number of tall saplings every year. You can join this effort by writing to Preda Upper Kalaklan, Olongapo City, or e-mail preda@info.com.ph: subject reforestation.
Manila Times
Safeguarding creation will be one of the new virtues of a good Catholic from now on. The leadership of the Vatican and the inspiring words of Pope Benedict a few weeks ago at the ecology youth rally in Italy will guide the Church, we hope to revive its commitment to protect creation and the environment. Some Catholic bishops in the Philippines have been very outspoken against the destruction caused by the environmental ravages of the irresponsible open pit mining industry. They have the protection of rich political families and they plunder natural resources at will. With the recent conviction of former President Joseph Estrada for plunder and corruption we hope the corrupt politicians whose companies and cronies are raping the forests will stand trial also.
Loggers with political protection and influence have been able to get exemptions from the logging ban and the exploitation goes on in the old growth forests of Samar. They are cutting and felling the last of this exotic and beautiful tropical primary forest left in the Philippines. The buzz of the killer chainsaws echoes through the dense forest. It is the new scythe of death.
When I first heard that high-pitched sound during a forest visit elsewhere it sent shivers down my spine, it is the killer machine deployed by those with no love of nature or creation. They are the millionaire politicians who put profits above the nation or its people.
They reign over logging companies that are bringing rapid extinction to 406 unique flowers and plants found nowhere else on this planet but in the rainforests of Samar, one of the most impoverished province of the Philippines. Not only that but 39 species of rare mammals and 197 exotic birds live in these ancient rainforests. All will be in grave danger of becoming extinct soon. There is no way to bring them back. The San Jose logging company was able to use political connection to log in the Samar forest reserve. They claim they are doing “sustainable” forestry. They are only sustaining big bank accounts, critics say.
The Catholic bishops of Calbayog, Catarman and Borongan are totally opposed to this destruction and are calling for a reintroduction of moratorium on logging and mining in the Samar forests for bauxite. As much as $40 billion will be lost in the environmental destruction of Samar 25 years according to Marcelino Dalmacio, who led the Samar Biodiversity Research Project funded by the United Nations. That’s more than all the bauxite that could be extracted by mining corporations, the benefits of which will go to the mining and logging corporations not the people of Samar.
In a pastoral letter written a decade ago the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) foresaw the destruction and wrote of the forests and all they contain, “These are God’s masterpieces through which he displays his power ingenuity, a love for his creation. We have destroyed their habitat and hunted them ruthlessly. Even now many species are already extinct and the destruction of species is expected to increase dramatically during the next decade as the few remaining stands of forest are wiped out...”
The Vatican is to install hundreds of solar panels on the roof of the Pope Paul IV audience hall in Rome but we need more that that to stop the world wide destruction of nature itself, a nature that sustains all creatures including us humans. Why stand by doing nothing while a few greedy moguls destroy the heritage of the whole nation and the next generation?
The Church ought speak out and act as one more forcibly on the national and international stage against the evils of such exploitation and social sin. The corrupt emperor Nero fiddled while Rome burnt, but now do we all fiddle while the planet burns? We have to join a global campaign for environmental justice and the protection for the last of the remaining forests and species. None of us is exempt from doing our part. The Preda Reforestation project plants 1,200 large fruit-bearing grafted saplings a year to save the soil and give livelihood to the indigenous people and reduce CO2 and global warming. We need to double that number of tall saplings every year. You can join this effort by writing to Preda Upper Kalaklan, Olongapo City, or e-mail preda@info.com.ph: subject reforestation.
Labels: cullen, environment, preda
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