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Venezuela: A Chilean company’s plantations
certified by SmartWood are challenged
Here
below are the conclusions submitted in a travel report (available
in Spanish, at:http://www.wrm.org.uy/paises/Venezuela/Gira2006.pdf)
on the investigation carried out recently by 4 representatives
of the Latin American Network against Monoculture Tree Plantations
in the area where the so called "Uverito
plantations"
are located. These are some 600,000 hectares of pine plantations
in the States of Monagas and Anzoategui. In 2003, SmartWood certified
12 plots covering a total of 139,650 hectares, owned by Terranova
de Venezuela (TDV) and which form part of those plantations. TDV
belongs to the Forestal Terranova Group, with headquarters in
Chile and is linked to other Chilean companies and North American
capital.
“Throughout
the whole of our trip around the pine plantation area we observed
very poor villages with practically no services. Incredibly this
is also pointed out in the SmartWood certification report which
states that “most of these villages have an insecure situation
regarding housing and the related water, sewage and garbage collection
services, added to low levels of health care and education.”
Apparently these plantations have not brought significant improvements
to the villages in the area or anything like what had been announced
by the companies and those related with them when promoting monoculture
tree plantations. Not even in villages such as Chaguaramas, where
we were informed that there was practically no one left in the
village because most people were working in the forestation company’s
nursery, could we see that the people had benefited from these
jobs. In general terms it may be stated that from the social standpoint,
these plantations have not been socially beneficial to the neighbouring
communities.
Cracked
land and continuous fires in the plantation areas are a clear
sign of a dramatic change in the ecosystem that shows totally
different features where it has managed to survive. The degree
up to which the ecosystem and water resources of the zone have
been affected, although in many cases visible to the naked eye,
warrants a more intensive study. The few existing studies published
in this respect mention important structural changes in the soil
and affectation of water resources, although what has generally
been analyzed is the degree to which these factors have had an
impact on the pine trees and not on the natural ecosystem. From
simple observations during the trip, it is clear that the plantations
have generated a favourable environment for fires, causing serious
environmental, social and economic prejudice, that the water courses
largely depending on natural systems have been affected and that
many of the water courses such as the Morichal River are contaminated
and very probably as a consequence of the great quantity of agrochemicals
used in plantation areas. From the environmental standpoint
the situation warrants at least a serious study of existing impacts
before continuing with large scale plantations. .
Finally,
from the economic standpoint, the Uverito plantation project has
been possible not only because of the 275 million dollars needed
to establish it, as affirmed by the representatives of the responsible
government body, CVG Proforca, but because it has also received
other types of economic support from the government in facilities.
Among these, as confirmed by the government, 800 million dollars
already allocated for the construction of a bridge and a similar
amount promised for this work and to complete the new highways.
These were seen during the trip to benefit almost exclusively
the multinational companies related to the plantations. We were
unable to ascertain exactly how much the Venezuelan State has
received from the multinational company TDV, although we do know
that the negotiations have been denounced as fraudulent and that
TDV, certified by SmartWood, has replaced its trade name by the
multinational company Masisa. In short, the plantations and the
industrial concerns related to them would not have been possible
without the Venezuelan State contributing much more than it has
apparently received or will receive, in exchange.”
In spite
of the fact that, as pointed out in the report, for many years
we have heard say, by Government and company representatives,
academics and even Venezuelan NGO representatives that “Uverito
plantations” have never caused any problems and that they were
established in places where there was “nothing,” this report considers
such affirmations to be debatable and questions the analysis carried
out by SmartWood on the ecological, economic and social sustainability
of these plantations.
