Burned eucalyptus plantation in the community Manquo in Florida, in the zone of the wildfires near Concepción, Chile

Monday, 21 September marks the International Day of Struggle Against Monoculture Tree Plantations. Global Justice Ecology Project has compiled a list of resources to help stop the advance of tree plantations internationally and nationally. Massive tree plantations are falsely promoted as a solution to both climate change and our dependence on quickly depleting fossil fuels. However, tree plantations coupled with accelerating climate change and poor forest management practices are creating apocalyptic fire conditions. As we watch with horror the historic fires engulfing California and the Pacific Northwest, we are reminded of the devastation experienced by rural communities globally due to vast monoculture timber plantations.

GJEP was part of an expedition in Chile in 2017 that witnessed and documented the aftermath of the worst fires in the country’s history.  These fires were fueled by eucalyptus and pine plantations, combined with drought and heat waves. As in the US, these fires wiped out entire communities and burned huge areas of native forest. That same year, in Spain and Portugal, similar conditions led to historic wildfires and firestorms in explosively flammable eucalyptus plantations, killing dozens.

Today peasants in Brazil are being attacked and their villages burned to make room for future timber plantations by companies like Suzano, a company in Brazil actively pursing GE trees for plantations (see sign on letter below).

Webinars on the Impacts of Industrial tree plantations on women, forests, water and communities

MST Women in Brazil Take Action Against Tree Plantations on International Women’s Day (2016)

CTNBio Meeting to Approve GE Trees Cancelled – FuturaGene Taken Over (2015)

10th Anniversary of the International Day of Action Against Monoculture Tree Plantations (2014)