Page 22 RAIN November/December 1985 ACCESS: International Development NICARAGUA APPROPRIATE 1 TECHNOLOGY V~A PROJECT The Nicaragua Appropriate Technology Project (NICAT) 3112 Alderwood Bellingham, WA 98225 NICAT works to support Nicaragua's efforts to develop technologies appropriate to local needs. It provides a way for people skilled in alternative energy and agriculture to use their skills and information to assist Nicaraguans in their efforts to develop a better way of life based on local participation and indigenous resources. In Nicaragua, NICAT works with the Agricultural Ministry's Center for Appropriate Technology and with non-governmental development projects. Local NICAT groups are forming across the U.S. to do fundraising and education, and to "adopt" specific Nicaraguan appropriate technology projects. The national NICAT network provides coordination and support for the local groups. —FLS ECONET 1220 Brickyard Cove Road Suite 100 Point Richmond, CA 94801 ECONET is a project of the Farallones Institute, begun in 1983 with the aid of the Apple Computer Community Affairs Grants program. Its purpose is to enhance communications among national and international development organizations through the use of computer technology. Christian Stalberg, manager of ECONET, notes that development and relief efforts are often stifled due to ineffective communications. "There are so many stories of overseas projects being held up indefinitely, and even abandoned, purely due to lack of information." ECONET now has over 100 members around the world, from California State University at Sonoma to the Agriculture and Trade School in Micronesia. ECONET is currently working with some of its network participants to utilize the INTELSAT global satellite system to access ECONET under a special program for international development organizations. This program is called "Project Share" and is sponsored by the 109-nation consortium that owns and operates INTELSAT'S global network of 15 satellites. —FLS Chipko Information Center Ron Rabin Box 200 Langley, WA 98260 What do theforests bear? Soil, water, and pure air. Soil, water, and pure air. These are the basis of life. This is the slogan sung by the women of India's Chipko movement, who have been laying their bodies on the line to prevent the devastation of India's Himalayan forests since the early 1970s. Chipko means "embrace," and reflects one of the movement's primary tactics of nonviolent resistance to logging practices— hugging trees to protect them from the loggers saws. Village women are at the forefront of the Chipko movement as they are the ones who must walk sometimes more than 10 miles a day to find enough wood for their basic needs. In the last one hundred years, three-fourths of Himalayan forests have been removed, leading to landslides, floods, loss of topsoil, and sedimentation of river beds. In addition, the products and profits from the commercial forestry go primarily to the larger cities, as do many of the young men of the villages, in search of economic opportunities that have been dwindling in the impoverished villages. Chipko has been sucessful in drawing attention to the problems caused by deforestation, and helped convince the Indian government to stop commercial logging in many areas. Chipko has also instituted India's most successful reforestation program, which has already planted over one million Cyprus, walnut, and oak trees. We were very pleased to have Sunderlal Bahuguna, one of the movement's leaders, visit the RAIN office in July of this year during a West Coast speaking tour arranged by Ron Rabin of Children of the Green Earth. Bahuguna had originally come to this continent to address the World Forestry Congress in Mexico City, a testimony to the movement's growing international acclaim. Bahuguna's philosophy draws together elements of Ghandian non-violent resistance, the Hindu spiritual tradition, the Sarvodaya movement, and Richard St. Barbe Baker's work with trees. He stressed that Chipko is not merely an attempt to protect trees, but is a whole philosophy of how to live in harmony with the earth and respect the sanctity of all life. Much of what he said was reminiscent of the principles of permaculture and deep ecology. Bahuguna explained that not all trees are equally useful, and made a distinction between forests and "timber mines." The latter consist of areas planted solely with fast-growing and profitable trees such as eucalyptus, which deplete the soil and use large amounts of water. Native forests, however, are whole systems, diverse and abundant. Chipko emphasises the planting of what they call "five F" trees—trees that provide food, fuel, fodder, fertilizer, and fiber. The benefits derived from such forests when managed in a sustainable manner greatly exceed the value of the products derived from cutting these forests down. Bahuguna's philosophy, knowledge, and commitment (he once walked over 2500 miles spreading the Chipko message through the villages of northern India) was an inspiration to all who gathered at the RAIN office to hear him speak. As a result of this speaking tour, Ron Rabin agreed to set up the Chipko Information Center so that people in this country could continue to follow and support the acitivites of Chipko. This is just one of the ways that the Chipko message is coming to inspire ecological activists the world over. —FLS
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