Plantations, poverty and power - Critical Information Collective

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35 In April 2004, about 2,000 families 146 from the Brazil’s Landless Peasant Movement (MST – Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra) occupied 25 hectares of land and cut down four hectares 147 of Veracel’s eucalyptus trees. 148 “Nobody eats eucalyptus,” they shouted as they occupied the land 149 and started planting corn, manioc and beans. 150 Veracel wrote immediately to Brazil’s President, Lula da Silva, demanding “a more energetic action” from the President. 151 “It’s a very bad sign for investors. The government can’t lose control like this,” Vitor da Costa, then Veracel’s president, told the Financial Times. 152 After five days, the MST decided to avoid what would probably have been a violent confrontation with the state police and accepted an offer from the federal governmental agency for land reform in an area covering 30,000 hectares. Six months later another protest against Veracel took place. This time, 300 indigenous Pataxó blocked the BR-101 highway for 19 hours to protest against the fact that Veracel had planted eucalyptus on their traditional lands. 153 In 2004, the Brazilian NGO FASE Espirito Santo explained the contradiction between the enormous amounts of money invested in the pulp mill compared to the amount spent on addressing the problem of landlessness in Brazil – a problem much more immediate to millions of Brazilians than producing pulp for the international paper industry: “The occupation of the Landless Peasant Movement, the MST, shows the huge contradiction between two policies that are priority for the Federal Government but, in practice, cause very different results: on the one hand, billions of dollars of investments is at the disposition of the export-oriented plantation industry that will create few concrete jobs and perspectives for the majority of the local people. The Veracel pulp mill, in construction right now, an investment of US$1.25 billion, will create around 500 direct jobs in the pulp mill; on the other hand, the MST had to pressure the government with tens of occupations over the past few weeks, so that a total amount of about US$1 billion will be finally spent this year by the government, less than the total investment of Veracel, but enough to settle directly around 60 thousand families, according to the federal government, by the end of 2003. But, while the Veracel pulp mill is in fact being constructed, the land reform, even with the intended budget, deals with all types of problems that are causing the present dissatisfaction among the MST and the social movements in Brazil in general, resulting in a paralysed land reform.” 154 146 “Multiple setbacks erode support for Lula”, Brazil Report,20 April 2004. 147 “MST occupies eucalyptus area of Veracel Cellulose”, FASE Espírito Santo, 7 April 2004. 148 Raymond Colitt (2005) “Brazil is top of the tree in tale that is no pulp fiction”, Financial Times, 21 June 2005. 149 “Ninguém come eucalipto”, O Globo, 6 April 2004. Paulo Prada (2004) “Landless, and Restless. Brazil’s poor grow more aggressive in property grabs”, The Boston Globe, 24 April 2004. 150 “MST occupies eucalyptus area of Veracel Cellulose”, FASE Espírito Santo, 7 April 2004. 151 “‘Red April’ kicks up a gear”, Latinnews Daily, 7 April 2004. 152 Raymond Colitt (2004) “Brazil’s landless in widespread protests”, Financial Times, 7 April 2004. 153 “Brazilian Indians in the War of Eucalyptus”, Brazzilmag, 4 November 2004. http://www.brazzilmag.com/content/view/612/41/ “Indigenous people block a highway – Stora Enso involved”, Conselho Indigenista Missionário, 21 October 2004. http://www.cimi.org.br/system=news&action=read&id=632&eid=142 154 “MST occupies eucalyptus area of Veracel Cellulose”, FASE Espírito Santo, 7 April 2004.
36 In March 2008, Veracel’s plantations were certified as well managed under the Forest Stewardship Council system. SGS Qualifor, FSC’s certification body, awarded the certificate despite the impacts on land rights, despite the impacts on local livelihoods, despite the fact that Veracel has established parts of its plantations on land converted from forest – all of which is in breach of FSC’s standards. WRM declared the Veracel certificate as the “death of FSC”. 155 The June 2008 Eunápolis court ruling ordering Veracel to pull up its eucalyptus plantations must surely lead to the withdrawal of the FSC certificate. It should also lead to investigations within the banks that lent to Veracel (in particular the European Investment Bank) to find out how their due diligence process failed to alert the banks to the fact that Veracel was illegally destroying areas of the Atlantic Forest. 155 “Veracel: FSC’s ‘Death Certificate’”, World Rainforest Movement, March 2008. http://www.wrm.org.uy/actors/FSC/Veracel_Death_Certificate.html
Page 2 and 3: 1 Plantations, poverty and power: E
Page 4 and 5: 3 CONTENTS Introduction 1. Plantati
Page 6 and 7: 5 New investors have emerged recent
Page 8 and 9: 7 1. Plantations do not plant thems
Page 10 and 11: 9 plantations established on grassl
Page 12 and 13: 11 Nations Food and Agriculture Org
Page 14 and 15: 13 Another reason for the move to t
Page 16 and 17: 15 In his book, “Khor Jor Kor, Fo
Page 18 and 19: 17 Between 1991 and 2006, the numbe
Page 20 and 21: 19 are asking for”, notes WWF. 60
Page 22 and 23: 21 consume fewer goods. Less advert
Page 24 and 25: 23 credit crunch, unstable oil pric
Page 26 and 27: 25 Investment in plantations in the
Page 28 and 29: 27 possible price. Subsidies, linke
Page 30 and 31: 29 2. The anatomy of five pulp proj
Page 32 and 33: 31 However, while the Bank confirme
Page 34 and 35: 33 make way for its tree plantation
Page 38 and 39: 37 Sappi, Swaziland: 50 years of in
Page 40 and 41: 39 after an assessment by the Soil
Page 42 and 43: 41 impact of the plantations on wat
Page 44 and 45: 43 Advance Agro, Thailand: Deforest
Page 46 and 47: 45 confiscation and liquidation of
Page 48 and 49: 47 management was facing a bankrupt
Page 50 and 51: 49 Indah Kiat, Asia Pulp and Paper,
Page 52 and 53: 51 company owners want profits to b
Page 54 and 55: 53 • US$4.5 billion owed by APP i
Page 56 and 57: 55 explained that “association wi
Page 58 and 59: 57 Indah Kiat faces a series of lan
Page 60 and 61: 59 logging. While the investigation
Page 62 and 63: 61 experimental areas and not from
Page 64 and 65: 63 Staples and Office Depot in the
Page 66 and 67: 65 “the exhaustive studies have c
Page 68 and 69: 67 CEDHA has also filed complaints
Page 70 and 71: 69 of converting grasslands to indu
Page 72 and 73: 71 3. Pulp Inc. Profiles of seven p
Page 74 and 75: 73 Thailand, a power plant for a Ne
Page 76 and 77: 75 Management’s experts the possi
Page 78 and 79: 77 A year after Aracruz’s third p
Page 80 and 81: 79 In January 2003, Pöyry announce
Page 82 and 83: 81 Bank in the early 1990s. Groome
Page 84 and 85: 83 Pöyry’s role in the Baikal Pu
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85 Under carbon financing, Pöyry o
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87 Pöyry is working on second gene
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89 The Confederation of European Pa
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91 CEPI Eurokraft states that “it
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93 sectors need to reduce by 21% co
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95 The ADB’s report notes that th
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97 Nepal In Nepal, the target area
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99 loan for the second plantations
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101 International Finance Corporati
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103 •In December 2000, IFC approv
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105 firm’s activities. After his
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107 safeguards are in practice.
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109 Bank projects are approved by a
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111 •€80 million to Portucel to
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113 The Food and Agriculture Organi
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115 Nevertheless, Poore and Fries n
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117 failure to define industrial tr
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119 FAO’s guidelines recommend th
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121 Rosengren did not reply to my e
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123 Forest Stewardship Council: Mis
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125 body that rubber stamps operati
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127 Criterion 1.6, for example, sta
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129 fast wood plantations have take
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131 Principle 10.8 should prevent t
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133 By April 2004, FSC had, at last
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135 plantations, because it creates
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137 integrated set of common Princi
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139 for clearing areas of Atlantic
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141 Colombia were certified by SGS.
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143 The dissociation became necessa
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145 4. Future planned pulp mills As
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147 Planned pulp projects: 698 Comp
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149 UPM and Sveza Group Vologda Rus
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151 paper industry along ecological
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