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Chile's Sleeping Beauties |
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By Gustavo González*
The
substitution of concrete for wood in the construction of sleeper
cars for the Chilean railroad is worrying owners of native forest
parcels.
SANTIAGO - Chile's state-run railroad company,
EFE, is considering replacing 200,000 wooden sleeper cars with concrete
structures -- an initiative praised by environmentalists and criticized
by the lumber industry, which says it will hurt owners of small
plots of native forests.
''I think it's an excellent idea and I applaud it,'' said biologist
Adriana Hoffman, president of Defenders of the Chilean Forest and
former executive secretary of the National Commission on the Environment
in the first years of the President Ricardo Lagos administration,
which took office in 2000.
''If the Chilean railroad embarks on an expansion policy it must
be environmentally friendly,'' Manuel Baquedano, president of the
Instituto de Ecología Política, told Tierramérica. He also applauds
the EFE initiative to use concrete, but said the eco-focus must
be broader.
The national and international bidding process begun by the company
on Oct. 4 includes the purchase of 200,000 concrete sleepers for
the lines between Santiago and Chillán, 400 km south of the capital.
From Chillán and Puerto Montt, 1,000 km further south, will see
the replacement of another 250,000 sleepers, maintaining the wooden
pieces.
The construction of the 450,000 sleepers will cost EFE an estimated
26 million dollars. According to Baquedano, for a complete maintenance
and renovation of the railroad cars would require 1.2 million of
the transversal pieces. If they are made of wood it would require
the destruction of 3,600 hectares of forest, he said.
The volumes of weight and rail traffic that the sleepers must support
mean they must be made with very hard wood, which are slow growth.
In Chile, these include red oak (Quercus rubra), coigüe (Nothofagus
dombeyi), ulmo (Eucryphia cordifolia) and the tepa (Laureliopsis
philippiana), all autochthonous and threatened by overexploitation
or illegal logging.
The Forestry Institute, a state-run technical agency, proposed that
the EFE apply ''positive discrimination'' in favor of wooden sleepers
in the bidding, arguing that their quality is similar to that of
concrete and withstand intense rail traffic for 30 to 45 years if
the lumber is adequately treated.
Construction of the wood-based sleepers ''contributes to the development
of a large sector of small forest owners,'' who are committed to
rational management and exploitation of native forests, according
to Forestry Institute director Rodrigo Ipinza.
But Baquedano says the technical reports with which the institute
approves the orders ''are part of the pressure that the logging
industry imposes so as not to lose that market.''
The environmentalist said he would not oppose sleeper cars made
of wood if they are certified as sustainably produced lumber by
independent technical agencies, but in his opinion such conditions
do not exist in Chile.
''It has to be an international, credible certification, because
Chile is trying to create its own 'green stamp'. The forestry industry
wants to create its own certification, which we don't believe guarantees
anything,'' said Baquedano.
Forest defender Hoffman says the Forestry Institute's position is
''unacceptable'' because Chile lacks regulatory measures for forest
exploitation, and instead of favoring the small forest owners, benefits
''the vicious traffickers of fine lumber,'' as was proven earlier
this year when a smuggling ring of Patagonia cypress (Fitzroya cupressoides)
was discovered.
''There are some good owners who are concerned about effective management
of native forests,'' but they are the exception, just as among the
companies that produce high quality sleeper cars, said Hoffman.
''The concrete sleeper cars are much more durable, more solid, facilitate
more stable rail lines, and prevent the logging of the forest,''
said the activist.
The Forestry Institute's argument that the purchase of wooden sleeper
cars could contribute to sustainable management of native forests
is ''fallacious'', according to Baquedano, who pointed out that
in Europe ''all wooden sleeper cars are being replaced with concrete
cars.''
Baquedano said his environmental group also opposes EFE obtaining
wooden sleeper cars in other countries. ''Five years ago the company
tried to import such cars from Bolivia, which would have meant the
destruction of native forest in that country.''
In Yumbel, a town 480 km south of Santiago, owners of native forest
who sell their lumber to the biggest sleeper car company protested
the use of concrete, saying it would jeopardize a thousand small
lumber producers.
* Gustavo González is an IPS correspondent.
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