FSC-Watch

Veracel: "Sustainable on Paper" thanks to FSCTags: Brazil, Complaints procedures, Plantations, SGS Qualifor, Rainforest Alliance SmartWood

On 13 March 2008, SGS Qualifor awarded an FSC certificate for Veracel's monoculture eucalyptus plantations in Bahia, Brazil. WRM announced that this was FSC's "Death Certificate".

In 2010, two Belgian journalists, Leopold Broers and An-Katrien Lecluyse, spent three months investigating the impact of Veracel's monoculture eucalyptus plantations on local communities. They made a documentary, titled, "Sustainable on Paper", based on interviews carried out in Bahia and Belgium:

Broers and Lecluyse listened not only to the company's point of view, but spent time finding out what local communities think about the project...[Continue]

The timber may be certified: but is it sustainable?Tags: Cameroon, Brazil, Absence of national standards, All certifiers

The headline comes from a recent post on CIFOR's Forest Blog. CIFOR is the Centre for International Forestry Research. The blog post is based on research by one of CIFOR's scientists, Paolo Omar Cerutti, who was lead author of a recent paper published in Forest Policy and Economics: Legal vs...[Continue]

A new film exposing FSC: 'Sustainable on Paper'Tags: Brazil, Pesticides, Plantations, Indigenous Peoples, Certifier conflict of interest, SGS Qualifor

A new film documents the problems with FSC. FSC-Watch will be posting several articles about this over the next few days. Meanwhile, here is FERN's description of the film in EU Forest Watch, January 2011. Below that is a trailer for the film.

'Sustainable on Paper'

Despite some plantations in Brazil being Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified, they are nevertheless beset by problems. This is well-described in the film 'Sustainable on Paper' by freelance journalists Leo Broers and An-Katrien Lecluyse opening in Ghent, Belgium, 24 January 2011.[1]

Using the example of Brazilian-Scandinavian transnational Veracel, the film documents why many FSC-certified tree plantations are controversial...[Continue]

Armed security force of FSC-certified company kills villager in BrazilTags: Brazil, Plantations, Partial certification, SCS

Two years ago, a peasant was murdered by guards of the company Vallourec and Mannesman in Brazil. At the time, V&M's plantations were certified for FSC by SGS-Qualifor.

Another tragic death in another FSC-certified plantation has now taken place. Below is a statement from the Sócio-Environmental Fórum of the Extreme South of Bahia and the Alert against the Green Desert Network, dated 23 March 2010, about the latest killing...[Continue]

FSC is greenwashing Brazil's monoculture tree plantations: Part 2Tags: Brazil, Plantations, Rainforest Alliance SmartWood

Last week, journalist Fred Pearce investigated Ryman's claims of "carbon neutral" office paper in his "Greenwash" column in The Guardian. It turns out that the raw material for Ryman's paper comes from Suzano's monoculture eucalyptus plantations in Brazil. Suzano's FSC-Certified monoculture eucalyptus plantations, that is.

Of course, as FSC's Alison Kriscenski pointed out to Pearce, "FSC certification is not a guarantee that a forest is carbon neutral, and people should not use it to claim that." But that apparently doesn't stop Suzano from making precisely that claim...[Continue]

FSC is greenwashing Brazil's monoculture tree plantations: Part 1Tags: Brazil, Plantations

World Rainforest Movement currently has a great image of FSC's greenwashing of industrial tree plantations on the front page of its website (click on the image below to go to WRM's website):

FSC greenwashing monoculture tree plantations Evidence provided by the Brazilian Pulp and Paper Industry itself

For over a decade, the World Rainforest Movement has been denouncing that -by certifying large scale tree plantations- the FSC is greenwashing the destructive activities of plantation companies in Southern countries...[Continue]

Local organisations criticise FSC certification of eucalyptus monocultures in BrazilTags: Brazil, Plantations

This article from this month's World Rainforest Movement bulletin illustrates that the problems with FSC-certification of industrial tree plantations are far from resolved.

The most common response to criticisms of FSC is that a review is currently under way, with a promise that the critique will be taken into account. This is the case with FSC certification of industrial tree plantations. In fact, FSC's review of its plantations policy started in 2004 (after a motion was passed at FSC's 2002 General Assembly)...[Continue]

FSC's Brazil disgrace continues as landless re-occupy certified illegal plantation landsTags: Brazil, Plantations, Certifier conflict of interest, SGS Qualifor

We have received the following from 'Alert against the Green Desert Network' in Brazil, reporting on the Landless Rural Workers' Movement (MST) continuing occupation of part of the illegal (but FSC certified) plantations owened by Veracel. As we previously reported, the Veracel certification has been highly controversial; despite FSC itself finding that the certificate showed "a number of nonconformities with FSC accreditation requirements", the certificate still remains in place and SGS Qualifor, which was responsible for issuing it, remains accredited by FSC...[Continue]

More than 3,600 people tell FSC to stop certifying industrial tree plantationsTags: South Africa, Ecuador, Brazil, Swaziland, Plantations

More than 3,600 organisations and individuals have signed on to World Rainforest Movement's letter to FSC members demanding that FSC should stop certifying industrial tree plantations. FSC-Watch looks forward to seeing FSC's response to the letter - preferably a decision to stop certifying environmentally and socially destructive monocultures. Today, WRM released the following press release:

WRM Press release, 3 November 2008

Forest Stewardship Council meeting in South Africa NGOs call on FSC to stop certifying tree plantations

The General Assembly of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is meeting in Cape Town, South Africa, from 3-7 November...[Continue]

FSC: Stop certifying monoculture tree plantationsTags: Brazil, Ireland, South Africa, Spain, Uruguay, Plantations

This month's World Rainforest Movement Bulletin focusses on the International Day Against Monoculture Tree Plantations on 21 September. The Bulletin explains why a campaign against industrial tree plantations is important, includes materials for campaigns as well as news and analysis from around the world about struggles against plantations.

One article looks at FSC's record in certifying of plantations. If FSC is to take its own standards seriously, it must stop certifying monoculture tree plantations (a fully referenced version of this article is available here):

FSC: Stop certifying monoculture tree plantations!

By Chris Lang...[Continue]