Pulping the South

Pulping the South Industrial Tree Plantations in the World Paper Economy Ricardo Carrere and Larry Lohmann Zed Books Ltd London and New Jersey Pulping the South was first published by Zed Books Ltd, 7 Cynthia Street, London N1 9JF, UK and 165 First Avenue, Atlantic Highlands, New Jersey 07716, USA, in association with World Rainforest Movement, 228 Macalister Road, 10400 Penang, Malaysia and 8 Chapel Row, Chadlington, Oxfordshire, OX7 3NA, UK, in 1996. Copyright Ricardo Carrere and Larry Lohmann, 1996. Cover designed by Andrew Corbett. Typeset in Baskerville by Larry Lohmann. Printed and Bound in the United Kingdom by Biddles Ltd, Guildford and King's Lynn. All rights reserved. Sections of this book may be reproduced in magazines and newspapers provided that acknowledgement is made to the authors and World Rainforest Movement. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. US CIP data is available from the Library of Congress. Contents PART ONE: PLANTATIONS, PULP AND PAPER 1. Introduction Plantations and forests The advent of large-scale monocultures The extent of plantations Plantation imperialism About this book Looking beyond this book 2. Introducing Pulp and Paper The evolution of a wood-based industry From wood to pulp From pulp to paper From paper back to pulp Large scale, capital intensity and centralization Boom and bust Concentration and liberalization Economic risk in South and North Consumption and demand creation 3. Emergence of a Global System A globalized market Export destinations Regional trade Causes of globalization Shifting pulp production Dynamics of globalization: the Japanese role 4. Social and Environmental Effects Unfair to tree plantations? The two libraries Impacts on water Impacts on biodiversity Impacts on the soil Industrial pollution Other socioeconomic impacts Conclusons 5. Actors behind the Scenes Pulp and paper firms Consultancy companies Technology suppliers Industry associations and alliances Bilateral agencies State investment and export credit agencies Multilateral agencies State governments Research institutes and NGOs Conclusion 6. Managing Resistance Non-threatening resistance More difficult forms of resistance Public relations, intelligence and 'astroturf' organizations Supporting conditions Dividing experts from plantation opponents Stories for the uninformed public PART TWO: TREE PLANTATIONS IN THE SOUTH 7. Brazil: The Eucalyptus Pulp Giant An apparent success Aracruz Bahia Sul Celulose CENIBRA Jari and Companhia Florestal Monte Dourado Riocell Other planned projects Conclusions 8. Chile: A Model Imposed by a Dictatorship The native forests New agents of destruction Genesis of the present model The dictatorship's model Who benefits? Who pays? The environmental impact: biodiversity, soils and water Conclusion 9. Uruguay: 'Forests' in the Grasslands From tree plantings to industrial plantations Domestic conditions encouraging the industrial moedel External conditions Voluntary blindness A bad investment for the nation Conclusions 10. South Africa: A Fibre Exporter with Few Forests From a country without forests to a wood exporter A lack of firewood in a sea of trees More power to the powerful Jobs, work and migration Changes in lifestyle Water: a scarce and disputed resource Biodiversity in danger Grasslands, wetlands and indigenous forests Conclusion 11. Indonesia: Deforestation, Plantations and Repression Concentration Export focus Foreign involvement Plantations and deforestation Further subsidies Disintegration and resistance 12. Thailand: From 'Reforestation' to Contract Farming Growth Official collaboration Popular resistance and its effects The struggles of the 1990s From planting leased land to contract farming Moving abroad The Jaakko Poyry Forestry Master Plan: a case study of international plantation politics 13. Conclusion: Looking to the Future The priority of politics Working positions Alliances among interest groups International solidarity Bibliography Index List of Tables 1.1 Species used in tropical plantations 1.2 Area covered by tree plantations in the tropics, 1990 1.3 Area covered by industrial plantations 1.4 Area covered by fast-growing plantations, late 1980s 2.1 World's top pulp producers, 1994 2.2 World's top paper producers, 1994 2.3 Use and collection of waste paper, selected countries, 1992 2.4 Paper consumption, selected countries, 1994 2.5 World's top consumers of paper, 1994 3.1 World's top raw fibre producers, 1991 3.2 Top exporters of pulpwood and chips, 1991 3.3 Top exporters of pulp, 1994 3.4 Top exporters of paper, 1994 3.5 Ratio of exports to production of chips, pulp and paper, selected countries 3.6 Imports of fibre, pulp and paper, selected countries, 1993 4.1 Nutrient content of Eucalyptus saligna (per cent for each tree part) 4.2 Nutrient content of Eucalyptus saligna (kilogrammes per hectare) 5.1 The top 65 world paper producers 6.1 Muting opposition through language 6.2 Prominent US public relations companies working on environmental issues 9.1 Area of plantations established per year, Uruguay 9.2 Uruguay pulpwood exports: gains vs. losses 10.1 New plantations in South Africa Acknowledgements This book, commissioned by the World Rainforest Movement at its meeting in Delhi in April 1994, has its origins in increasing concern among non-governmental organizations in the South over the spread of monoculture tree plantations. It is intended as a tool for all movements alarmed at the social, political and environmental effects of these plantations. The authors, both of whom have been long involved in the plantations issue, divided their work on this book equally and were in constant consultation with each other across the Atlantic throughout its writing. Ricardo Carrere, based at the Instituto del Tercer Mundo in Uruguay, was responsible for drafting Chapters 4, 7, 8, 9 and 10; Larry Lohmann, based in the UK, for Chapters 2, 3, 5, 11 and 12. Chapters 1, 6 and 13 were jointly written. The authors have been helped with information, advice, translations and criticism by more people than it is possible to name. Among those to whom thanks are due are Chris Albertyn, Patrick Anderson, Ndinga Assitou, Bill Barclay, Isabel Bermejo, Teresa Brooks, Raymond Bryant, Owen Cameron, Chee Yoke Ling, Marcus Colchester, Saliem Fakir, Anna Fanzeres, Maurizio Farhan, David Fig, Mark Gandar, Ted Gutman, Alastair Graham, Helen Groome, David Hallowes, John Hanson, S. R. Hiramath, Nicholas Hildyard, Tomoya Inyaku, Sonoko Kawakami, Edda Kirleis, Jos Koopmans, Yoichi Kuroda, Sari Kuvaja, Chris Lang, Karin Lindahl, M. Patricia Marchak, Francesco Martone, Sarah Mason, Aubrey Mayer, Francisco Menezes, Moema Miranda, Robert Molteno, Sandra Moniaga, Roger Olsson, Juan-Pablo Orrego, David Orton, Saskia Ozinga, Ian Penna, Prompana Kuaicharoen, Noel Rajesh, Ulf Rasmusson, Sarah Roberts, Grant Rosoman, Sarah Sexton, Vandana Shiva, Pam Simmons, Maureen Smith, David Sonnenfeld, Srisuwan Kuankachorn, Antonio Thomen, Rowan Tilly, Marko Ulvila, Ann Danaiya Usher, Hern n Verscheure, Thomas Wallgren, Jeremy Whitham, Alex Wilks, Witoon Permpongsacharoen, Al Wong, and Roger Wright. None of these people, of course, would necessarily agree with all or any of the conclusions reached in the book. The authors appreciate the financial support of the Heinrich B"ll Foundation, NOVIB, and IDRC, without which this book could not have been written. Introduction To millions of people across the world today, the pulp and paper industry is a growing problem. The chipping of native forests to provide raw material for the industry is being opposed bitterly by local people and environ-mentalists from Australia to Finland, and from Chile to Canada (WALHI and YLBHI 1992, Hamilton 1995, PRS 1994, MacIsaac and Champagne 1994, WCWC 1994, Olsson 1995). No less widespread are protests at pollution from giant pulp mills which has sucked oxygen from rivers, ruined fisheries and drinking water supplies, and increased the burden of highly-toxic chlorinated organic compounds in animal and human bodies (BP 12.7.95, EBY 13.3, Greenpeace International 1994). This book is concerned with a third activity of the pulp and paper industry _ one which is often less well-publicized and which, at first glance, might seem more benign: planting trees. To help feed pulp and paper mills, vast monocultures of conifers, eucalyptus, acacia, and other species are being established both in the North and, increasingly, in the South, where fast tree growth, inexpensive land and labour, and lavish subsidies combine to make wood especially cheap. As swatches of exotic trees invade native woodlands, grasslands, farmlands and pastures, the results, in country after country, have been impoverishment, environmental degradation, and rural strife. In documenting the often-hidden record of industrial pulpwood plantations in the South and what lies behind them, this book hopes to contribute to new ways of thinking about one of the world's most important industries as it undergoes rapid globalization. Commercial plantations and forests Plantations, like forests, are full of trees. But the two are usually radically different. A forest is a complex, self-regenerating system, encompassing soil, water, microclimate, energy, and a wide variety of plants and animals in mutual relation. A commercial plantation, on the other hand, is a cultivated area whose species and structure have been simplified dramatically to produce only a few goods, whether lumber, fuel, resin, oil, or fruit. A plantation's trees, unlike those of a forest,

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