ORGANIZATIONS FROM 8 COUNTRIES DEMAND THE FSC TO WITHDRAW CERTIFICATES

Uruguay - Letter for the De-Certification of EUFORES, COFOSA, COFUSA and FYMNSA

We the undersigned wish to register our concern over the certification of tree plantations in our country by the FSC, which has granted a green label to monoculture plantations that have proven to be socially and environmentally destructive.

We are aware that the FSC is carrying out a review of its plantation certification policy, and it is our hope that the result of this process will be an end to the certification of these types of plantations by the FSC in the future.

Nevertheless, the fact remains that the FSC has already certified large areas of monoculture tree plantations in our country, and we believe that their certification should be re-assessed as part of the current review process in order to determine whether they deserve to keep the FSC label.

There are well-documented cases of plantations in our country that never should have received this label and clearly merit de-certification.

As proof that the current review process is genuinely aimed at a profound change in plantation policy, we are calling for the immediate de-certification of the plantations that most blatantly violate the FSC’s mission and the re-evaluation of all other certified plantations in the country.

We therefore demand the immediate de-certification of the plantations owned by EUFORES, COFOSA, COFUSA and FYMNSA, whose impacts have been largely documented (1).

Sincerely,

- Grupo Guayubira
- Red Uruguaya de ONGs Ambientalistas
- Redes Amigos de la Tierra Uruguay
- Programa Uruguay Sustentable
- Red de Acción en Plaguicidas y sus Alternativas - Uruguay
- Eco Tacuarembó
- Regional Latinoamericana de la Unión Internacional de Trabajadores de la Alimentación
- Asamblea del Callejón de la Universidad "Chico Mendes"
- Movimiento de chacreros de Mercedes
- Coordinadora de Mercedes contra los monocultivos forestales y fábricas de celulosa
- Movimiento por la Vida, el Trabajo y el Desarrrollo Sustentable
- Comisión Nacional en Defensa del Agua y de la Vida
- Intersocial Salinas
- Comisión Multisectorial
- Obras de Desarrollo y Acción Social
- Centro de Estudios Uruguayo sobre Tecnologías Apropiadas
- Centro Interdisciplinario de Estudios sobre el Desarrollo, Uruguay
- Colectivo Bioptimistas
- Fundación 3 Soles
- Primer Centro de la Ecología
- Comunidad Charrúa Basquabé Inchalá
- Comisión Barrial Zona Oeste
- Centro Social "El Galpón de Corrales"
- Centro Uruguay Independiente
- Asociación Soriano por la Defensa de los Recursos Naturales
- Centro Latinoamericano de Ecología Social
- Defensa del Medio Ambiente Valdense

(1) Carrere, R (2006).- Maquillaje verde. Análisis crítico de la certificación de monocultivos de árboles en Uruguay por el FSC. Montevideo, WRM
http://www.wrm.org.uy/paises/Uruguay/libro.html