Letter to the Participants at the Conference “Paper for the World - Problems for the Region!

Sustainable pulp production in Latin America or just pulp fiction”
Brussels, May 16th, 2007

From: Latin American Network against Monoculture Tree Plantations

Brussels, May 17 2007

Through this letter and on behalf of the Latin American Network against Monoculture Tree Plantations we would like to make our opinion known. We would be grateful if you would disseminate it during your important Conference

We are deeply concerned by the possible installation of a still undetermined number of pulp mills of Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian and other origins in the Southern region of our Latin America, specifically in the South of Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay. There is also an expansion of European companies in other countries like in the case of Smurfit Kappa in Colombia, a joint Dutch and Irish invesment. We consider it to be of great importance that the reasons for our concern be taken into account during this event.

In the first place, it is important to highlight the scale of these pulp mills and their possible accumulated impacts in the event that they are effectively put into operation. Most of them are projects to produce some 1,000,000 tons of pulp, a figure more than twice the production capacity of most factories installed in Europe.

From experience acquired in our countries, we may affirm that there are serious shortfalls in the environmental impact assessments and plans submitted by these companies. Among others:

- the assessments do not comply with the regulations imposed by a scientific method, they are vague in their affirmations, contain contradictions and do not submit bibliographic sources to enable the truth of the affirmations to be verified.
- they do not include clear information on possible physical, biological, and social effects or on effects on health.
- they lack risk assessment and risk management or whether the risks can be prevented or avoided and who would potentially be affected.
- studies are not being made on the possible negative social impacts of these projects, either in terms of foreseeable loss of employment linked to liquid effluents and gas emissions (with a strong disagreeable smell) released by the pulp mills, or on the possible negative impacts on the health of the local population.
- the loss of legitimate jobs in tourist and farm activities taking place in areas where they intend to install monoculture tree plantations or pulp mills is not taken into account.
- the number of jobs generated by these projects are exaggerated for propagandistic reasons (some companies talk of 8,000, 15,000 and up to 20,000 jobs) with no real basis.
- almost without exception, the companies talk of investments exceeding one thousand million dollars, when the same companies affirm that 80 percent of this investment will be made in Europe.

It is also important to note the impacts of the pulp mills on the use of the highway infrastructure in our countries caused by the transportation of hundreds of trucks with loads of 40 or more tons. Serious impacts have already been identified, both on the rural roads and on national highways that need constant repair at the expense of public finance. Such negative impacts will become more serious in the event that the area under tree plantations is increased to supply the projected pulp mills. At the same time these impacts will become even more serious in the accesses to the pulp mills, causing bottlenecks and increasing the possibility of serious accidents.
In many of our countries, the serious environmental and social impacts produced by the existing monoculture tree plantations have already been noted and there is much documentation available on the issue. They would become even more serious in the event that the planted area is increased to supply the series of factories expected to be installed in the region. Among many others, the eviction of the local population; scant job opportunities or jobs under unsuitable working conditions; land concentration in the hands of national and foreign companies; transfer of considerable economic resources from the whole population towards the forestry and pulp sector through direct and indirect subsidies; depletion and contamination of water resources; soil degradation; water and soil pollution due to intensive use of agro-chemicals and serious impacts on fauna, together with the emergence of pests affecting other farm crops.

Other, unsolved problems already exist involving the installation of the factory being built by the Finnish company, Botnia, on the Uruguay River:

1) An international dispute between Uruguay and Argentina with negative impacts on both countries;
2) A formal complaint made by the riverine population on the Argentine side, because they were not consulted;
3) Questioning of the lawfulness of having granted industrial processing zones;
4) Questioning of the lawfulness of using enormous volumes of water and possibly contaminating it, following the adoption of constitutional reform regarding water during the last elections held in Uruguay.

The existence of growing social opposition to these projects should be noted, both regarding the large scale plantations and the pulp mills, which is manifest in Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Uruguay caused by the serious environmental and social impacts involved, making the problems of those who live in our countries even more serious.

In consideration of the above, we appeal to you not only to listen to our voices but also to pronounce yourselves strongly against the increased extension of monoculture tree plantations and the installation of pulp mills in our countries. We need strong determination on your behalf in support of the Latin American people in order to maintain sovereignty over our land, our forests, our culture and thus improve the living conditions of our people.