King-king Copper-Gold Project threatens biodiversity— Canadian technical report

November 2, 2015
Press Statement

King-king Copper-Gold Project threatens biodiversity— Canadian technical report

The King-king Copper-Gold Project, which was reportedly to be approved within this month [1], threatens the biodiversity of Southern Mindanao which will also have an impact on the ecology of neighboring regions in this Southeast Asian island.

According to the 2013 NI 43-101 compliant Technical Report and Preliminary Feasibility Study of M3 Engineering & Technology, the copper-gold open-pit mining project will affect twelve (12) “vulnerable or critically endangered” species of the 253 native or endemic plant species present in the area, as defined by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List and the Philippine National Red List; six (6) species endemic to Mindanao of the 74 bird species present in the area; and a total of 17 mammalian species and 10 reptilian species identified in the area.[2] The report adds that several of the wildlife species found in the region “are listed as near-threatened or vulnerable by the IUCN, while others are protected by Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), including 11 bird species, two (2) mammal species and five (5) reptile and amphibian species.” We also note that the region is also home to the Philippine eagle Pithecophaga jefferyi.

The report also highlights the impact of the project to the coastal and marine ecosystems in the area which is part of the eastern coast of Davao Gulf: “Marine studies showed that several species of sea turtles, dolphins, whales, and seabirds live in the area. Sea cows and whale sharks also live in the region. The sea cow species and all species of sea turtle found in the region are listed as endangered. Phyto-, nano-, zoo-, and ichthyoplankton, as well as coral and benthic species were found in abundance during oceanographic surveys which included diving surveys. The sea grass density ranged from 772.0 to 3,174.2 shoots per square meter.”

M3 Engineering & Technology is a US-based private consultancy firm contracted by St. Augustine Gold & Copper to conduct the study in compliance with Canada’s National Instrument 43-101, which is supposedly required under Canadian laws. [3]

The NI 43-101 is a “codified set of rules and guidelines for reporting and displaying information related to mineral properties owned by, or explored by, companies which report these results on stock exchanges within Canada. This includes foreign-owned mining entities who trade on stock exchanges overseen by the Canadian Securities Administrators, even if they only trade on Over The Counter (OTC) derivatives or other instrumented securities.” [4]

Given this clear threats to the biodiversity by the export-oriented large-scale mining project, the researchers strongly recommends that “it will likely be necessary to implement ongoing monitoring for these species and modify Project activities accordingly to avoid habitat disturbance.” It also recommends that a “comprehensive Biodiversity Action Plan, including a well-designed biodiversity offset program, will be developed and implemented with full consideration of all threatened, endangered, and vulnerable species.”

Aside from these threats to biodiversity, we also call on the Aquino government to look at the adverse social impact this foreign-owned mining project will impose not only on the five (5) barangays directly within the project area but also on neighboring communities whose water supply will also be affected.

The DENR must see to it that these recommendations are being addressed. However, given the government’s track-record in allowing environmental plunderers and destroyers to go on with their business like in the 2012 Philex mine spill, we expect another disaster to happen if this project will push through. Thus, we register our strong opposition to the King-king copper-gold project.

These concerns must not be dismissed by the Aquino government as simply anti-mining propaganda. If the Aquino government cannot protect our treasured biodiversity, who will?
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References
[1] King-King copper mine seen to get approval next month, Reuters, October 30, 2015, http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/10/30/15/king-king-copper-mine-seen-to-get-approval-next-month
[2] King-king Technical Report NI 43-101 Preliminary Feasibility Study, conducted by M3 Engineering & Technology, Tucson, Arizona, US, issued on October 28, 2013, downloaded at http://www.sagcmining.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/NI-43-101_King-king_Rev.0-10-28-13_final.pdf
[3] M3 Engineering & Technology, http://m3eng.com/
[4] Wikipedia entry on National Instrument 43-101, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Instrument_43-101

The Road to Development Justice

Inequality is now so high that a woman garment worker earns less in a year than the Walton family earns every second. Climate change will force 50 million people to migrate from Bangladesh alone. The global crises of inequality and climate are both caused by our global economy. Together they threaten the future of humanity. It's time for a new model - a model of Development Justice. This video explains Development Justice and the shifts civil society in the Global South demand. It makes the case for why we need a new development model to address the double crises of inequality and environmental collapse.

About FSMRC

Our mission is to strengthen the environmental resilience of marginalized communities through agriculture and science education

Introduction

Francis S. Morales, better known as Tatay Francis to many of his younger co-workers, died at age 63 while very active in the establishment of a national network of disaster survivors. His legacy as an advocate of people’s rights, sustainable agriculture, the environment, and disaster response lives on through organizations he was once a big part of. He left this world as the Executive Director of BALSA Mindanao, an organization helping communities rise up from disasters. Before that, he was the spokesperson of the environmental advocacy group Panalipdan! Southern Mindanao from its founding in 2008 until 2012 and the advocacy officer of MASIPAG Mindanao regional office until 2006. Tatay Francis’ contribution to national development started way back before the Martial Law period during which he decided to leave priesthood and, instead, practiced his christian beliefs by actively promoting the defense of people’s rights. With such work experience spanning more than four decades, it is but fitting to establish an institute in his honor.

The Institute

Francis S. Morales Resource Center (FSMRC) aims to be an institute that touches on three concerns: environment, food security, and scientific and mass culture. By providing the educational and training needs of marginalized communities at the forefront of struggles concerning the environment, FSMRC shall help:

1. build their capacities in understanding their environmental problems;
2. enhance their resilience to disasters;
3. strengthen their food security and self-sufficiency.

It shall be governed and guided by leaders from marginalized communities, academic professionals, and ecumenical organizations who volunteer their time, experience, and knowledge for the pursuit of the Institute’s mission.

Environmental and Science Education

Marginalized communities have been so partly because they don’t have access to education. Many Filipino farmers, for instance, have never entered Grade 1. Illiteracy is considered one of the major obstacles to public participation of these communities. However, their direct interaction with their environment can be a powerful background from which their understanding of more complex ecological concepts can take off. FSMRC shall help them understand environmental problems by developing materials that require only basic literacy and are based on direct experiences of the people with their environment.

Agricultural Education

Food is central to ecological survival. For marginalized communities, lackof food is thus their primary problem. Food acquired through cash-oriented livelihood projects has proven to be insecure especially in times of disaster, both man-made and natural. Many communities in the Typhoon Pablo-affected areas have thus realized the need to go back to farming through the initiative of farmers associations and BALSA Mindanao. The FSMRC can help in this endeavor by providing the agricultural education necessary for sustaining such projects. It shall continue in developing training programs which will increase the level of agricultural education of farmers. It shall do so by organizing and mobilizing agriculturists and scientists to serve marginalized farming communities.

Policy Research & Advocacy

Aside from promoting environmental and agricultural education, FSMRC shall also engage local, national, and international policymaking bodies on issues that affect the environmental resilience of marginalized communities. Such issues range from climate change adaptation, disaster risk reduction, to land reform and national industrialization. By doing relevant policy research & advocacy, the underlying causes of the persistent marginalization of many sectors in the country can be rooted out and removed once and for all. FSMRC believes that only by doing so can environmental resilience of these sectors be pushed to significantly higher levels.

FSMRC launched

Center named after an envi activist opens
ZEA IO MING C. CAPISTRANO
Mar. 02, 2015

DAVAO CITY – A resource center named after a local environment activist was formally opened to the public here on Saturday.

The Francis S. Morales Resource Center, Inc. is a non-profit environmental organization “committed to empowering communities towards self-sufficiency and disaster preparedness,” said FSMRC board chairperson Dr. Jean Lindo.

Francis Morales was an environmental activist and an advocate of sustainable agriculture who died on November 12 last year due to lymphocytic leukemia.

Morales spent a lifetime in various causes, starting with the anti-dictatorship movement during Martial Law; as executive director and board member of the national group for sustainable agriculture Masipag; and later as executive director of the disaster rebuilding network Balsa Mindanao.

Morales’ last engagement was the establishment of the Daluyong National Network of Disaster Survivors in Tacloban City in time for the first anniversary of Typhoon Yolanda last year.

Lindo said that the formation of the center was out of the need to continue Morales’ legacy.

Morales, who was fondly called as Tatay Francis by his colleagues, started out as a seminarian, “but he chose to practice his Christian beliefs by directly serving the people and protecting the environment,” Lindo said.

“He played a big role in the growth of environmental rights group Panalipdan! Southern Mindanao, and was the executive director of BALSA Mindanao, a disaster response group which helped thousands of people ravaged by typhoons Sendong, Pablo, and Yolanda,” Lindo said.

One of the members of the board, Kim Gargar, said they wish to continue Morales’ active efforts during relief and rehabilitation for the typhoon survivors.

“All over Mindanao, the trend is the same: foreign companies are slowly encroaching on lands of poor peasants and the indigenous people (IP). As the environment continues to perish, more and more people become involved in the struggle for their life and livelihood as they realize that allowing these business projects to go unstopped will result to greater vulnerability when natural disasters strike the country, especially adversely affecting what remains of the region’s food security,” Gargar claimed.

The center focuses on the environment, food security, and scientific and mass culture.

It aims to help “increase the capacity of marginalized communities in terms of understanding their environmental problems” in order for them to be “more resilient from environmental disasters”.

Gargar said “it will do so by training them in sustainable agriculture and supporting them to attain food security.”

“We wish to show people the importance of protecting the environment. By doing so, we empower communities as genuine stewards of the environment,” Gargar said.

Lindo said Morales will always be remembered as “the man who stood up in defense of marginalized communities and the environment.”

The FSMRC held the ceremony Saturday afternoon at its office at Room 305, Doña Segunda Bldg., C.M. Recto Ave. in Davao City.