Chile

In order to revamp its deteriorated image, the Chilean forestry sector launched in August the multimillion-dollar campaign “Forests for Chile”, consisting of propaganda in mass media aimed at convincing public opinion about the benefits of what it calls "forests" and which are in fact monoculture tree plantations (see WRM Bulletin 39).

The Heinrich Böll Foundation awarded the Petra Kelly Prize 2000 to two Mapuche women --Berta and Nicolasa Quintremán Calpán-- as a recognition of their struggle to protect the Mapuche Pehuenche's rights against the Spanish ENDESA Company and the Chilean Government over the construction of the RALCO dam.

For decades small and medium scale peasants of the Itata Valley have developed economic activities based on wine production. Wines produced in the area have recently obtained a high quality export product certification. As a result of their hard work during years, the population of the region has been able to generate an activity having enornous economic and social potential.

Since late August, Chilean forestry companies are carrying out an aggressive publicity campaign under the slogan of "Forests for Chile." Many of us Chilean people feel that we are being attacked by this campaign, which is being very strongly promoted through the mass media.

 

Easter Island (Rapa Nui in Polinesian language) is famous worldwide for its anthropomorphic stone monuments and the enigmas surrounding them. But most people haven't heard about the island's environmental degradation and the consequences it had on the survival of its people.

 

In Southern Chile, near Osorno, lies the Huitrapulli estate -a 20,000 hectare forest, inhabited since time immemorial by Mapuche-Huilliche indigenous peoples. The area is part of the extensive forests of Valdivia, which constitute one of the world's last non-fragmented reserves of temperate rainforests. The area is characterized by its biological diversity and by high levels of endemism.

Last February deputy Eugenio Tuma denounced that several terrorist attacks against tree plantations in the southern 9th Region, which took place during the last months, could have been carried out by employees of security firms hired by the forestry companies to guard their properties, with the aim of blaming the Mapuche indigenous peoples and thus justifying the need for their presence in the region.

The "success" of the Chilean forestry model -based on pine and eucalyptus monocultures- was based on a combination of the appropriation of the Mapuche indigenous people's lands and ruthless repression. Now, when the old dictator is under arrest in England, his shadow is still present in the democratically-elected government, which seems unable -or unwilling- to repair the injustices committed during the dictatorship years.

The Mapuche people, who inhabit the southern region of Chile, have been historically victims of social and cultural exclusion. The invasion of their territories by huge plantation companies -with the support of the state- has resulted in the destruction of large areas of forests and their substitution by pine and eucalyptus monocultures. The Mapuche have recently increased their struggle, demanding effective solutions to the Chilean state, which after decades of complete indiference with regard to this conflict has now reacted through a combination of repression and charitable aid.

Nowadays pulp plantations in Chile cover more than 2.1 million hectares, 75% of a single species - radiata pine- and the rest mainly composed of eucalyptus.