UNFF
and tree monocultures
Declaration by the Latin American Network against Tree Monocultures
Geneva, May 2003
The member organizations
of the Latin American Network against Tree Monocultures consider
it necessary to transmit to UNFF their total discrepancy with the
insistence by this Forum of considering monoculture tree plantations
as “forests.” The confusion between the former and the
latter is not merely an academic issue, but determines actions,
which in fact contradict the mission entrusted to the forum: forest
protection.
Accumulated experience
on large-scale tree monocultures clearly shows its social, environmental
and economic impacts and therefore it is astonishing that UNFF persists
in promoting them. It seems indispensable to mention among the most
relevant impacts that this forum should take into consideration,
the following:
- Deforestation.
There are abundant examples in which this type of monoculture is
the direct cause of deforestation. In our continent, the destruction
of extensive areas of Chilean native forest, in addition to the
Mata Atlântica and the Cerrado in Brazil is well known. However
similar deforestation processes have taken place in nearly all the
countries of the region where large scale monoculture tree plantations
have been installed, be these for the production of timber, cellulose
or palm oil. It is therefore irresponsible to continue insisting
on the falsehood that plantations of this type help to lessen pressure
on forests, when the real situation shows the contrary.
- The destruction
of grassland ecosystems. Monoculture tree plantations not only lead
to deforestation processes but also destroy other types of equally
valuable ecosystems, such as grasslands. The cases of Uruguay, Argentina
and the south of Brazil are paradigmatic in this respect and the
substitution of grasslands by monocultures of eucalyptus and pine
trees is seriously affecting the biodiversity of these ecosystems.
- The impact on
water resources. It is inadmissible to continue insisting that large-scale
monoculture tree plantations do not affect water resources. It is
sufficient to visit areas occupied by large-scale monoculture tree
plantations --ither eucalyptus or pines-- to observe the drying
up of watercourses, wetlands and wells on which the local populations
depend.
- The social impact.
Large-scale plantations have occupied --legally or illegally-- wide
areas of the territory in our continent. These areas were once occupied
by local populations --indigenous peoples, Afro-American communities
and peasants-- who have been displaced. This has meant the loss
of all or of a major part of the resources that they had had at
their disposal, forcing them to migrate or thrusting them towards
poverty. The generation of jobs from plantation-related activities
has shown that it is not an option for the local populations, regarding
either quantity or quality, and that the net balance with respect
to occupation has been negative on a local level.
The economic impact.
Large-scale monoculture tree plantations displace rural populations,
eliminating their productive base and increasing their dependency
on external resources for subsistence. Furthermore, operations of
this type tend to concentrate the financial resources destined to
development (from national or international public funds), depriving
small farmers from access to these funds.
It is clear that
this model of large-scale plantations has its beneficiaries. Large
national and/or transnational companies, installed in Argentina,
Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay and Venezuela,
have benefited from this model and now seek to install themselves
in practically all the countries of the region, from Mexico and
Central America to Guyana and Suriname.
It is also clear
that this model serves the interests of the large international
industry of cellulose and paper, the timber industry and the palm
oil sector, supplying them with great volumes of homogeneous and
cheap raw material to promote the increasing consumption of their
products.
It also benefits
powerful interests participating in the business of timber, paper
and palm oil, such as the makers of forestry machinery, the producers
of industrial plants, consultancy firms and wholesale trades-people.
However, none of
this fits in with the UNFF mandate regarding forest conservation.
For this reason,
we urge UNFF:
- to make a clear
distinction between forests and plantations
- to focus its
efforts on conservation and forest restoration
- to promote only
those plantations whose objective is forest restoration
- to examine the
negative impacts of large-scale monoculture tree plantations.
