|
This section contains the Guayubira Group information
-available in English- related to the campaign against the spread of large
scale monoculture tree plantations and against the installation of polluting
pulp mills linked to those plantations. The social and environmental impacts
of these megaproyects are widely denounced by the Group.
National
Initiative for the Suspension of monoculture tree plantations
- also available in Portuguese
/ French / Spanish
- May 2007.
Different
Uruguayan actors' viewpoints
Nordic companies such as Metsa Botnia, UPM/Kymmene and Stora Enso are
buying large areas of land in Uruguay and planting them with eucalyptus,
as a first step for setting up pulp mills in the country. We believe it
important to make the Finnish and Swedish public aware about the growing
opposition in Uruguay to such investments.
For that purpose, we aim to provide you with the opinion of different
local actors and their reasons for opposing plantations and pulp mills,
as well as their description of the impacts of such type of development.
In this way, the Nordic public will be able to learn –in spite of
the companies’ claims– that many people are opposing this
move of the pulp industry to Uruguay.
I.- With Gonzalo Abella. "The
ancestral roots of environmentalism".
II.- With the National Commission
for Rural Development. Small farmers under target
III.- With Panario, Altesor
and Cayssials. The forestry model under discussion
IV.- With María Selva Ortiz, from
Friends of the Earth Network. Alternatives to forestation
V.- With Adriana Marquisio,
from National Commission in Defence of Water and Life (CNDAV). Water,
development and national sovereignty.
Local
people's testimonies about the impacts of monoculture tree plantations
Uruguay: A new land redistribution...in
favour of forestry companies - February 2009.
Tree Plantations in Uruguay
(Paysandú) - July 2008.
Testimonies about the impacts
of large-scale tree plantations on flora and fauna - April
2006.
Testimonies about the impacts
of large-scale tree plantations on water - April 2006.
Videos
Mountains
of Paper, Mounting Injustice - by the World Rainforest
Movement - 2008.
El
Impacto de la forestación en Uruguay - (only
in Spanish) by REDES / Friends of the Earth Uruguay - 2007.
Historia
de dos orillas - Un documental sobre las papeleras - (only
in Spanish) by Emilio Cartoy Díaz.
El
Papel del Sur. Frente a la industria trasnacional - (only
in Spanish) by Chayar / Grupo de comunicación cooperativa
- 2006.
Pulp
Mills ¿A future for whom? - by Grupo Guayubira,
on the installation of two pulp mills in Uruguay - 2004 / 2005.
Voices
of Latin America against the Green Desert. The threat of the Eucaliptus
Monocultures - (English Subtitles) - Production
and Realization: Guadalupe Rodríguez & Klaus Schenck
The
Green Invasion - WRM's video about the large scale monoculture
tree plantations impacts.
(you can watch the video in English, Spanish or Portuguese)
Stora
Enso in Brazil - (English Subtitles) - by Kerstin
Edquist, Magnólia Fagundes, Frida Svensson and Helena Soderqvist
IN collaboration WITH MST, UBV, Biskops Arno Folkshogskola - 2006 /
2007.
Publications
Greenwash:
Critical analysis of FSC certification of industrial tree monocultures
in Uruguay - by Ricardo Carrere. The aim of this report
is to provide documented information and analysis to all those who are
currently struggling against large-scale monoculture tree plantations
and must face the additional problem posed by the fact that these same
plantations are being certified by the FSC - March 2006.
Pulp
Mills: From monocultures to Industrial Pollution - by WRM,
selection of articles published in the monthly electronic bulletin of
the World Rainforest Movement - April 2005.
Plantations
are not forests - by WRM, selection of articles published
in the monthly electronic bulletin of the World Rainforest Movement,
addressing the issue of the impacts of large scale monoculture tree
plantations - August 2003.
Plantations Campaign. The
carbon shop: planting new problems - by Larry Lohmann,
WRM, December 2000.
Plantations Campaign. Ten
replies to ten lies - by Ricardo Carrere, WRM, August 1999.
Plantations Campaign. Pulpwood
Plantations: a growing problem - by World Rainforest Movement,
June 1999.
Tree
Plantations: Impacts and Struggles - by WRM, selection
of articles published in the monthly electronic bulletin of the World
Rainforest Movement on the issue of industrial tree plantations, February
1999.
Pulping
the South: industrial tree plantations and the world paper economy
- by Ricardo Carrere & Larry Lohmann. 1996. World Rainforest Movement
& Zed Books Ltd. 1996.
Other
relevant information on plantations & pulp mills
A different view of the report on Botnia’s environmental performance - press release – 12 August 2009.
Eucalyptus plantations
degrade soils and release carbon - article by WRM, November
2008.
Labour conditions
in two FSC certified tree nurseries - article by WRM, October
2007.
More
Pulpmills to be Built in Uruguay - article by Radio Mundo
Real / FoEI - September 2007.
The sad situation
of tree plantation workers - article by WRM, September
2007.
Botnia’s fortresses
- article by Ricardo Carrere, July 2007.
The Swedish pulp
and plantation industry’s plan for moving South -
article by WRM, May 2007.
Botnia pulp mill
– “Why is EU public money being used?”
- article by WRM, May 2007.
Subsidies
and the Botnia Pulp Mill - Presentation at “Sustainable
pulp production in Latin America or just pulp fiction?” - European
Parliament, Brussels, 16 May 2007. By Chris Lang, World Rainforest Movement.
Though not yet
in operation, Metsa Botnia’s pulp mill already smells rotten
- article by WRM, December 2006.
Partners
in Crime: a Greenpeace investigation into Finland’s illegal timber
trade with Russia - by Greenpeace, 19 September 2006.
Chilean
Economist Warned About Pulpmills’ Impacts - article
by Radio Mundo Real / FoEI - 18/09/2006.
Brazil and Uruguay:
Stora Enso’s promises and the harsh reality - article
by WRM, September 2006.
The Botnia pulp
mill project intends to profit from climate change - article
by WRM, August 2006.
Four companies
that should not be certified / Certified plantations in Uruguay: Can
the FSC really guarantee peace of mind to consumers? -
article by WRM, July 2006.
FSC certification
greenwashes monoculture tree plantations - article by WRM,
March 2006.
Pulp mills and
citizen participation – the World Bank in the limelight
- article by WRM, February 2006.
The pulp mill companies’
falsehoods - article by WRM, January 2006.
World Bank Ombudsman
confirms pulp mill risks - article by WRM, November 2005.
Pulp
friction. Multinational timber companies are bringing jobs to Uruguay,
but some people are concerned about the environmental consequences -
by Oliver Balch, The Guardian UK. Wednesday August 17, 2005.
Campaign against
IFC funding of pulp mill projects - article by WRM, June
2005.
Uruguay-Argentina:
A huge demonstration against pulp mills - article by WRM,
May 2005.
To continue celebrating
without pulp mills - article by WRM, February 2005.
Either with the
people or with pulp mills and tree plantations - article
by WRM, June 2004.
Uruguay-Argentina:
Joint struggle against a pulp-mill - article by WRM, October
2003.
Semi-slave work
in plantation forestry - article by WRM, September 2003.
Inhuman working
conditions at a Chilean forestry company plantation - article
by WRM, April 2003.
The absurd injustice
of promoting tree plantations - article by WRM, March 2003.
What is FSC certifying?
- article by WRM, November 2002.
Will IDB-funded
private port include a pulp mill? - article by WRM, January
2002.
The sad figures
of employment generated by plantation companies - article
by WRM, September 2001.
About
Guayubira Group
"Guayubira" is the name of a rare and
beautiful native tree of northern Uruguay, known for its elastic and incorruptible
wood. The Group was established in May 1997 to highlight the value of
and threats to native forests as well as to oppose the plantation of alien
tree monocultures. It consists of a network of volunteers across Uruguay,
including teachers, doctors, academics, students, social workers, environmentalists,
foresters, Non Governmental Organizations and people affected by tree
plantations.
Today, only 3 per cent of the territory of Uruguay is covered
by native forests, and even this small area is threatened. According to
estimates, almost 25% of the country was under forest cover at the time
when the Spaniards arrived in the country (Sixteenth Century). So-called
"reforestation" (eucalyptus and pine tree monocultures) has
resulted in some 800.000 planted during the past 18 years, resulting from
government incentives (direct and indirect subsidies) to promote this
activity.
Initially, Guayubira’s two main activities were focused specifically
on:
* promoting the knowledge on the uses and values of our native forests
and at the same time generating awareness on the threats they are suffering
* generating awareness and supporting local groups opposing plantations
and suffering from their impacts.
As a result of the arrival of the pulp industry and its billion dollar
projects at the turn of the century, the Group includes this new issue
as a major component of its agenda because of its role in the consolidation
and further expansion of monoculture pulpwood plantations.
Guayubira is one of the founding members of the "National Initiative
for the Suspension of monoculture tree plantations" launched in May
2007.
|
