52 Weeks to Save the Cardamoms: Suwanna's Blog--Week 2
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 11:42AM 
This is a special series in which Suwanna Gauntlett, Founder and CEO of Wildlife Alliance, details the process of securing legislation to provide protection for 1 million acres of rainforest in the Southern Cardamoms by the end of 2012.
I spent the entire week in meetings negotiating with the government. We have now entered the first phase of drafting the legislation: shaping the initial agreement on the map and boundaries for the new proposed Protected Forest. The agency that is in charge of making the initial decision on the map is the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. This ministry has legal jurisdiction over the area. All of the departments within the ministry must first agree on the map before the legislation can be drafted.
I knew that obtaining any agreement within the ministry was going to be a difficult task, since different offices have different agendas. As I anticipated, negotiations proved to be tense and stressful. Opposing factions presented their position again and again but could not agree. At one end of the table, Forestry Administration officers took a very strong position, proposing Protected Forest status and vehemently defending the boundaries presented on the map. At the other end of the table, representatives from the land licensing office had a pro-development agenda and were trying to cut out pieces of the forest to earmark for agro-industrial plantations. My role was to advise the meeting participants about the real situation on the ground. When discussions became heated, the Chair would turn to me and ask: “Could Wildlife Alliance please show us the satellite photos and data for this specific section of forest?” Then I’d present technical maps and data on how forest cover in that area provided key watershed and water supply for one of the hydropower facilities. To support this data, I used several excerpts from the Prime Minister’s speech last month at the Atai hydropower plant opening ceremony, where he ordered this forest to be preserved for electricity production. But I became increasingly frustrated because even this order from the Head of State did not seem to have a great affect on the licensing officers and their position remained the same.
To keep my calm during the meetings, I had to remind myself of another long negotiation process undertaken years ago by Wildlife Alliance, starting in 2003. We worked with all levels of provincial government and the local people to provide exact boundaries for the rainforest along the newly constructed freeway 48. We facilitated endless meetings to negotiate clear delineation of land for 5 main communities and for over 500 kilometers of forest borders. We installed hundreds of cement demarcation posts to show strictly protected forest zones. Every single post had to be signed off by four agencies! It was long and tedious, but very successful in the end.
By the end of the week, negotiations came to a grinding stand still and the decision making process was completely “stuck.” I knew that I needed help, help from somewhere to move this process forward. Obviously, the only help that could be effective in this situation is at the top. I rarely do this. And it’s not always politically correct to go directly to the top. But, however daunting, I must strengthen my resolve and be bold enough to ask. Please join me next week as I request meetings with high level officials who have been defenders of the Southern Cardamoms in the past. Let’s see if they are willing to take a stance once again and to provide a push for this new Protected Forest.
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Take heart, you are doing an incredible job. I hope you are successful!!