Where the Trees are a Desert

Stories from the Ground

20 March 2007

Industrial tree plantations have had devastating effects on people and the planet. The Brazilian story is deeply rooted in a military ictatorship, oppression, and a long history of destruction.
The people of Brazil continue to struggle against the ever-expanding eucalyptus monoculture. Today Brazilians face huge debt, a dwindling economy, and a greenwashed globalised world.
This reader opens space for discussion rarely acknowledged by the decision-making elite and takes the issues of survival back to where they came from: the ground.

Eucalyptus plantations have been used for decades for paper pulp or charcoal production, devastating the environment and lives of the local population of Brazil. Since the advent of "carbon trading" under the Climate Convention, such damaging monocultural plantations are being encouraged. This report by Carbon Trade Watch gives voice to Brazilians' struggles against the ever-expanding eucalyptus monoculture. It was recently launched at a multimedia exhibition in Amsterdam opened by representatives of struggling communities in Brazil. The delegation is currently in Milan at the 9th Conference of the Parties to the Climate Convention where they will be contesting the criteria for "clean development mechanisms" and mobilising solidarity with the impoverished Brazilian communities being adversely affected.

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Neo-Colonialism. A Map
The Monoculture of Fear
The Embezzlement of Cellulose and Charcoal and the Impacts of Private Property
Forcing a Rural Economy
Carbon Trading and Certification.
The Greenwashing of Plantations
The Monoculture of Consumption and the Direction of "Civilization"

March 2007

Recent publications from Environmental Justice

A Landmark Victory for Justice: Biowatch’s Battle with the South African State and Monsanto Published by Biowatch South Africa, this is a book about access to information, the right to know, and action in the public’s interest – a must-read for anyone campaigning for environmental or social justice.	Protecting carbon to destroy forests This paper provides historical background and reports of experiences on the ground to show how land and nature enclosures are central to REDD+, and why it therefore cannot be fixed.
Myth Busting: EU's Emissions Trading System Since the adoption of the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), emissions have risen and the price of consumer energy went up along with the profits of many industrial actors.	Accounting for carbon, depoliticising plunder The EU aspires to global leadership in developing ‘sustainable biofuels’, arguing they can substitute for fossil fuels, but the result has been dispossession of rural communities throughout the South.