OPEN LETTER TO FSC, ARACRUZ CELULOSE AND IMAFLORA/SMARTWOOD
8TH
JUNE 2006
The harshness of capital against
life but Aracruz Celulose lost the FSC-certificate!
On June 1st 2006, the Seminar
on “The Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Advance of Agribusiness:
issues and challenges” took place in the town of Vitória,
Espírito Santo, Brazil. The Seminar gathered the Tupinikim
and Guarani communities and also other communities affected by large-scale
monoculture tree plantations, in addition to various sectors of civil
society in the State of Espirito Santo, for a thorough reflection
on the subject. Speakers from several parts of the country and from
the State of Espirito Santo were also present at the Seminar.
The first debate, which focused
on the issue of the demarcation of the Tupinikim and Guarani lands
in Espirito Santo, noted that the indigenous communities have been
waiting for almost 40 years for a final decision on the land conflict
with the company Aracruz Celulose. This company continues to invade
11,009 hectares of lands that belong to the Union (Brazilian Federal
State) allocated to the exclusive and permanent use of indigenous
peoples, according to technical criteria established in Brazilian
legislation. But as stated by the speaker Bishop Tomas Balduino, the
‘harshness of capital against life,’ has enabled this
conflict to continue until today.
However, the Brazilian government,
which has always been an associate in the capital of Aracruz Celulose,
has a unique chance to solve the conflict and pay a social debt towards
the indigenous peoples of Espirito Santo. The federal government has
until September 2006 to declare the lands indigenous, thus obeying
the Brazilian Constitution and ILO Convention 169. Once again, we
heard from FUNAI (National Indigenist Foundation – state authority
responsible for indigenous issues), through Dr. Fernando Luis Villares
e Silva, about the willingness of the Federal Government to demarcate
Tupinikim/Guarani lands. The debate ended with the issuing of the
Vitória Declaration which demands that:
- FUNAI should issue a well-substantiated position on the arguments
against demarcation presented by Aracruz Celulose and within a period
of 30 days;
- The Minister of Justice must sign the Demarcation Decree within
the established period of 30 days, without demanding new studies.
A second debate during the Seminars
discussed the complete lack of suitability of the present development
model which follows the advances in Brazilian rural areas of large-scale
monoculture tree plantations, such as eucalyptus, pine, soya and sugarcane.
The reform of this model is urgent, beginning with the financing of
productive activities on totally different bases, giving priority
to life, to diversity and to the people and communities affected by
large-scale monoculture tree plantations, especially women who are
those who most suffer from these impacts.
Aracruz Celulose was invited to
the first debate of the Seminar, but preferred to remain outside the
public debate. In a letter the company communicated to the organizers
that it had “decided to safeguard its right (…) in the
field of the judiciary, which is an impediment to expose itself in
a public debate’. A chair was kept empty during the debate,
making the arrogance and cowardice of the company even more explicit.
Furthermore once again we denounce Aracruz Celulose´s aim of
attempting to disqualify the current administrative procedure for
land demarcation by stating its intention to go to court against a
governmental decision in favor of indigenous rights. This would be
frontal disrespect for the Brazilian Constitution and for ILO Convention
169. This disrespect will not go by without denunciation!
We also would like to say that,
by evading the debate, Aracruz does not assume the attitude of a certified
company and, in fact we learnt that day during the Seminar that Aracruz
Celulose is no longer a FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified
company. The FSC is presently the most respected certifier in the
world regarding certification of ‘forest’ management units,
including monoculture tree plantations. It is important to make clear
that Aracruz had ‘purchased’ this certificate when, in
2003, it acquired about 40,000 hectares from the Riocell company in
the State of Rio Grande do Sul. This company had succeeded in having
its plantations certified by the FSC in 2001.
It should be remembered that it
was Aracruz itself that tried to get the FSC certificate in 1999 for
its eucalyptus plantations in the state of Bahia. However, at that
time a strong and massive mobilization of organizations, communities,
movements and citizens prevented Aracruz from succeeding in obtaining
the certificate. At that time and with this orchestration and others,
the Alert against the Green Desert Network started its existence.
To compensate for the loss of
the FSC-certificate, the company started to invest in a certificate
known as CERFLOR (Brazilian Programme of Forest Certification), a
public/private certificate that does not even deserve a minimum of
credibility, because its principles and criteria are not made public
but need to be bought at Internet and its procedures do not have significant
civil society participation.
Nevertheless, by buying Riocell,
Aracruz Celulose succeeded in what it so much wanted: the FSC certificate.
However, the constant denunciations of the violation indigenous, Afro-Brazilian
quilombolas and peasant community rights, in addition to environmental
crimes, ended up by costing the company a high price. At the beginning
of May, the personal visit by two Tupinikim and Guarani representatives
to the International Secretariat of the FSC finally motivated the
FSC to commit itself to carry out an investigation of the case and
to take a stand.
The positive result of the commitment
taken on by the FSC was, in fact, Aracruz Celulose loosing the certificate,
although the company announced that they had ‘demanded the canceling
of the FSC-certificate’ themselves.
In this respect, the negative
result is that FSC and the certifying company Imaflora/Smartwood made
a pact, with this honorable way-out for Aracruz, instead of applying
a delayed punishment to the company that, for three years, succeeded
in maintaining in the region where it operates a certificate that
demands respect for the rights of indigenous peoples and their lands,
while in another region where it is active it violates these same
rights.
Therefore, we want to end with
a strong complaint and a necessary explanation about what happened
on the part of the involved parties:
1. FSC – Why did FSC allow
Aracruz to bear the FSC-certificate since 2003 while it was occupying
indigenous lands? Why was it that FSC did not act after the indigenous
communities self-demarcated their lands in May 2005, and after they
were violently evicted from two villages in January 2006, when the
Guest House of Aracruz was used as Federal Police Headquarters and
as a police station where two Indians were kept prisoners for several
hours? Does FSC believe that such a company deserves this certificate
for even one day?
2. Aracruz Celulose – if
the company is publishing the news that there had never been Indians
on their lands, if it affirms, with such conviction that it legally
bought its lands in Espirito Santo, including those which are indigenous,
why did the company decided to desist from the FSC-certificate?
3. Imaflora/Smartwood –
Why is it that Imaflora/Smartwood did not study the Aracruz Celulose
Company when it bought up the Riocell company? Why did it allow Aracruz
to hold the certificate for about three years while occupying indigenous
lands in Espirito Santo, even though there was much public information
about the issue on the Internet?
We expect public explanations
from the three actors involved in this issue. And we hope that in
future FSC will no longer give permission for the certification of
forest management units of companies which violate human rights and/or
jeopardize local communities, be these indigenous, quilombolas, fishermen
or peasant communities. The time has come for FSC to promote good
diversified forest management with benefits for all. For this purpose
FSC has an excellent opportunity at its disposal with the current
international revision process of the organization of practices for
the certification of tree plantations.
ALERT AGAINST
THE GREEN DESERT MOVEMENT/BRAZIL
8TH JUNE 2006
