Pulp and Paper
Large-scale tree monocultures to produce pulp and paper, along with the infrastructure and pulp mills that come with these plantations, have been expanding onto communities’ fertile lands. They have destroyed forests and grasslands, especially in Latin America, Asia and Southern Africa. The species used are fast-growing and not native to these countries. They include varieties of eucalyptus, acacia and pine trees.
Publications
21 September 2022
This publication exposes the most common misleading statements currently used by plantation companies. It’s is based on the briefing "Ten Replies to Ten Lies" written by Ricardo Carrere in 1999.
Bulletin articles
24 October 2024
Besides the direct impacts on communities’ lives, eucalyptus monoculture plantations represent absurd and obscene inequality. A group of 45 community people with whom we spoke was shocked to learn that it would take them 2,300 years of non-stop work to collectively earn the same amount that a single Portuguese family, one of the owners of the plantation company they work for, earned in one single year from the profits of their shares in the company.
Other information
22 August 2024
On July 5, 2024, three peasant families were violently evicted in Paraje San Lorenzo 2, in the municipality of Wanda, in the Argentine province of Misiones. The provincial police carried out the eviction, in collaboration with the multinational company, Arauco. During the operation, the police destroyed the ten-hectare farm which had been the families' livelihood for a decade.
Bulletin articles
28 June 2024
How many tree plantations are there, and how big are they? In what regions and countries are they located? What are the differences among the various "players" who are directly involved in implementing tree plantations for the carbon market? This article presents figures and information seeking to answer these and other questions.
Bulletin articles
27 June 2024
Behind every tree plantation developed for carbon offsets, there are external agents seeking to profit from increased control over the land. And while they all have the same colonial approach, these plantations can vary widely: they can be large-scale monocultures or schemes with smallholder farmers; they can include exotic species or native species; and some of them may even exist on paper only.
Bulletin articles
19 December 2023
For decades, Mapuche communities have been resisting the impacts of a forestry model based on large-scale monoculture plantations. In this interveiw, Pablo Reyes Huenchumán, spokesperson for the Paillakawe community, explains how they organize, and what the main challenges are in the struggle to recover their territory and maintain their culture.
Bulletin articles
25 October 2023
More than seven percent of Uruguay's territory is covered with monoculture tree plantations. A handful of companies have been behind this massive expansion—which has occurred mostly over watersheds and prairies—,with devastating consequences. This year, almost half of the urban population had no access to drinking water—an imminent warning of the drastic change that is needed for Uruguay to maintain its water.
Bulletin articles
25 October 2023
Exchanges between activists put the voices of those who fight to defend their territories at the center of the conversation. In September, members of communities from Brazil and Mozambique united their struggles and connected their histories once again, helping to strengthen solidarity in the fight against industrial tree plantations.
Other information
25 October 2023
The network released an open letter in which it denounces the impacts of the plantations and the crimes committed by the companies. At the same time, they demand reparation and reaffirm resistance against tree monocultures.
Other information
25 October 2023
One of the pulp plants of the Finnish company UPM spilled one million liters of caustic soda into the Sauce stream, a tributary of the Negro River, in Uruguay.
Publications
15 September 2023
In this booklet we share basic information about GE trees, in particular about seven varieties of eucalyptus trees that have already been approved in Brazil. This is the first country besides China to approve the large-scale use of GE trees.
Publications
21 August 2023
Suzano is a Brazilian multinational company that produces cellulose and paper products from eucalyptus plantations. Read this booklet produced by the ‘Alert Against the Green Desert’ Network and find out important facts that are often hidden by this mega-company’s propaganda machine.