Faced with greenhouse gas emissions at every stage of the production chain, the timber industry has a choice. It could look at reducing emissions. Or it could attempt to greenwash its operations, in effect attempting to evade responsibility. Perhaps not surprisingly, given its record, the industry is opting for the latter.
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Norway is a major donor of the Amazon Fund, the Brazilian Development Bank’s fund that receives donations from governments, multilateral institutions, big NGOs and companies to fund forest conservation projects with the alleged aim of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases resulting from deforestation. The contribution of donors is recognised with diplomas that are nominal, non-transferable and do not imply equity rights or carbon credits to offset.
Reaching the 32 Quilombola communities in the Sapê do Norte region of the state of Espírito Santo, located in the municipalities of São Mateus and Conceição da Barra, can be extremely challenging. On the vast plain that comprises this northern edge of the state, where the monotonous and homogenous landscape is comprised almost entirely of eucalyptus trees, there are very few landmarks to point the way.
The oil palm is native to this and other countries of the region, where its sap is collected to make palm wine, its dates used in cooking oil produced in cottage industries. The product was traditionally exported before the establishment of plantations, that by 1968 covered some 7,000 hectares. The seedlings planted originated from more productive varieties developed in Asia. Although those plantations were abandoned, they continue to produce some bunches, similar to those of the native palms, for family consumption.
The FAO insists on the increasingly difficult mission of defining tree plantations as “planted forests.” Its latest contribution to this aim is a publication titled “Planted forests in sustainable forest management — A statement of principles”.
The document states that “FAO further adopts an important role in facilitating an informed public debate about the controversy of planted forests and in supporting major stakeholder groups, including the public, to better understand the role of planted forests in integrated ecosystem management and sustainable development.”
The Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation -a large world professional society on tropical forests- has recently made public a resolution “urging the United Nations to alter its potentially misleading forest definitions”. The resolution states:
“WHEREAS, the current definition of ‘forest’ used by the United Nations fails to distinguish between natural forests, modified natural forests, and tree plantations; and
IControlled by the Indonesian Widjaja family, the Sinar Mas group is one of the largest conglomerates in Indonesia engaged in clearing rainforests and destroying peatlands for their several bussinesses, including the pulp and paper industry through the Sinar Mas’ pulp and paper division, Asia Pulp and Paper (APP).
By José Heder Benatti.
This paper is a preliminary legal reflection on the role of common property in the Brazilian Amazon. It suggests the integration of two distinct normative scopes of the society, the legal right and consuetudinary law, with the objective to argue that the legal instruments of the Brazilian society can be used to protect the cultural and natural patrimony.
After French industrialist Vincent Bolloré filed two lawsuits against Radio France Inter, both for alleged defamation regarding plantations operated by SOCAPALM (Société Camerounaise de Palmeraies), photographer Isabelle Alexandra Ricq and researcher Julien-François Gerber addressed ten lies typically used to defend Bolloré, one by one.
Over the last few years, Uruguay has gained international attention as a result of the drawn-out conflict with Argentina over plans for the installation of two “mega” pulp mills in Uruguay, one by the Finnish company Botnia and the other by ENCE of Spain.
Tree plantations owned and operated by Forestal Valdivia S.A., a subsidiary of the Arauco group, have not only been granted certification by the Chilean sustainable forest management system CERTFOR (backed by the international Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification or PEFC label), but also chain of custody certification from the FSC (SGS-COC-005376).