In August 2009, Greenpeace announced that it had stopped its “Kleercut” campaign against Kimberly-Clark. “Today, ancient forests like the Boreal Forest have won,” announced Richard Brooks, Greenpeace Canada Forest Campaign Coordinator. “This new relationship between Kimberly-Clark and Greenpeace will promote forest conservation, responsible forest management, and recycled fiber as far and wide as possible.”
Author: Chris Lang
Uganda: Villagers petition lands minister to stop FSC-certified company from evicting them
On 25 May 2009, SGS Qualifor issued an FSC certificate to New Forest Company for its plantations in Uganda. Less than two months later, more than 10,000 villagers petitioned the lands minister to stop New Forest Company from evicting them from their homes. They accused armed groups of beating people, abducting them and destroying their crops and houses. Below are two articles about New Forest Company, one from the Ugandan newspaper,New Vision and one from World Rainforest Movement.
FSC is greenwashing Brazil’s monoculture tree plantations: Part 2
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.
FSC is greenwashing Brazil’s monoculture tree plantations: Part 1
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):
Local organisations criticise FSC certification of eucalyptus monocultures in Brazil
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.
More media coverage of the Massachusetts Chainsaw Massacre
Last month, FSC-Watch posted information about the FSC-certified destructive logging taking place in Massachusetts. Massachusetts Forest Watch has documented the destruction in detail. The story has received more media coverage, listed below, with links.
Why does FSC allow the Massachusetts Chainsaw Massacre to remain certified?
FSC is coming in for some serious criticism in Massachusetts. Earlier this month, Massachusetts Forest Watch produced a 50-page report detailing the damage that logging is doing to State forests.
FSC Certification of plantations in South Africa criticised
In November 2008, just before the FSC General Assembly, Global Forest Coalition released a report criticising plantation certification in South Africa. The report’s authors, Wally Menne and Blessing Karumbidza of The Timberwatch Coalition, asked the question “Can the FSC forest certification model be used to demonstrate sustainability in large-scale agrofuel crop production?” Their answer is a resounding “no”.
FSC is misleading consumers about paper products
An FSC label on paper products should ensure that the paper is produced from “environmentally responsible, socially beneficial and economically viable management of the world’s forests”. At least that’s what it says in the introduction to FSC’s Principles and Criteria. The unfortunate reality is that FSC has certified some of the most egregious industrial tree plantations in the world.
More than 3,600 people tell FSC to stop certifying industrial tree 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:
FSC-Watch 