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See also other materials on "Logging & lumber industry".

Lawsuits:

Inter-American Court of Human Rights: Awas Tingni Mayagna (Sumo) Indigenous Community v. Nicaragua:

• International Court Rules in Favor of Indigenous Community Land Rights: The Inter-American Court on Human Rights, in a precedent-setting ruling, recognized the property rights of indigenous community traditional lands which were threatened by illegal commercial timber harvesting. The international court, located in San José Costa Rica and the American hemisphere’s most important human right tribunal, declared that the state of Nicaragua violated the human rights of the Mayagna Sumo Indigenous Community (the Awas Tingni) and ordered the state of Nicaragua to recognize and protect the legal rights of the community with respect to its traditional lands, natural resources, and environment. (Center for Human Rights and the Environment, CEDHA, 9 Oct. 2001)

• International human rights court to rule on Indian land rights case against Nicaragua (Indian Law Resource Center, 4 Feb. 2000)

• Amicus curiae brief by International Human Rights Law Group and CEDHA (Center for International Environmental Law) (1999)

• Nicaragua is Sued before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Indian Law Resource Center, 13 July 1998) 

General:

2002:

U.S. and Boise Cascade reach Clean Air Act settlement...Air pollution to be reduced by 95 percent [USA]: The U.S. Justice Department and the Environmental Protection Agency today announced a comprehensive Clean Air Act (CAA) agreement with wood products industry giant Boise Cascade Corporation that will require reductions of up to 95 percent of the harmful emissions from the company's eight plywood and particle board plants. (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 13 Mar. 2002)

2001:

A Tribal Struggle to Preserve What's Left of a Borneo Forest [Malaysia]: What once was rain forest owned by a local community has been destroyed in the name of development. Rumah Nor, 60 kilometers (about 40 miles) southeast of Bintulu, site of the world's largest natural gas complex, is the scene in a land rights struggle in which Sarawak's indigenous people are fighting government and industrial powers. Lani, 33, was one of four plaintiffs in a legal battle that conservationists say has produced a major victory. His Iban tribal longhouse community of 70 families successfully sued to regain 672 hectares (1,660 acres) of land. The court decided the land had been illegally acquired by Borneo Pulp and Paper and the Sarawak state government, which turned forest into a huge acacia plantation. (Paul Spencer Sochaczewski, International Herald Tribune, 12 Sep. 2001)

'I cannot describe how happy I feel.' Nor Nyawai, village headman - Sarawak [Malaysia]: Tribal people celebrate an historic court ruling...in May this year, in a landmark ruling, a judge finally recognised that tribes like the Iban do actually own their land, and companies have no right to log them, irrespective of whether they have been given permits. (Survival International, Sep. 2001)

Environmentalists sue to halt federal clean water violations by Pacific Lumber Co. in Northern California: Charging that Pacific Lumber Company is illegally dumping pollution and violating the Clean Water Act, the Environmental Protection Information Center ("EPIC") filed a federal lawsuit today in the United States District Court to challenge logging operations in one of the most imperiled watersheds on California's North Coast. (Earthjustice and Environmental Protection Information Center, 25 July 2001)

• company website: Pacific Lumber Company - Protecting the Environment (Pacific Lumber Company)