Dogwood Alliance

September 21st is the International Day of Action against Monoculture Tree Plantations.  Plainly spoken, communities are protesting the continued global expansion of pine, eucalyptus, oil palm and jatropha tree plantations which major paper companies, fast food companies and energy companies are planting to replace forests, indigenous lands and arable agricultural lands.  Take a moment to watch a wonderful animation developed by our friends at the World Rainforest Movement in Uruguay that illustrates this problem worldwide.

In our region, we are all too familiar with tree plantations as the Southern US has 42 million acres of plantations, more than anywhere else around the world.  In the South, plantations which replace natural forests, have resulted in more large-scale clearcutting, reliance on toxic chemicals in their management, pollution of drinking water, the loss of wildlife habitat, the replacement of vital carbon sinks, and the list goes on and on.

Recently it has come to our attention that International Paper, the largest paper producer in the South and around the globe, is petitioning the US Department of Agriculture to permit plantations of non-native, genetically engineered eucalyptus trees in the South.  Not only could genetically engineered trees wreak havoc on the ecosystems of our region, but if approved will signal a massive increase in the amount of tree plantations in the region.

Enough is enough!  We invite you to take action and tell International Paper to say NO to genetically engineered tree plantations.

International Paper backed ArborGen, a joint venture with MeadWestvaco and New Zealand's Rubicon has developed and plans to plant genetically engineered eucalyptus on a large scale.  Now they have genetically engineered eucalyptus trees designed to survive in the temperate U.S. South.  Eucalyptus trees are non-native, water intensive, highly flammable and should not be introduced into our already fragile environment. 

A recent story in Bloomberg News confirmed that International Paper’s main motivation is to remake forests in the same way that Monsanto dramatically changed farming and food production in the US and around the globe.  Not unsurprisingly, the current CEO of ArborGen spent 18 years at Monsanto.

So today, Dogwood Alliance joins international civil society in protesting tree plantations.  We hope you will take a moment to take action and will enjoy this sweet little animation created by the World Rainforest Movement in support of today’s activities.

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (0)

Show/Hide comments

Show/Hide comment form

Name

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (Registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Add Comment