The FSC certification of SAPPI’s monoculture plantations in Swaziland was only possible because Woodmark ignored the impacts.
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Swaziland: Woodmark and SAPPI ignore the lessons from a neighbouring farmer
20 DecTaking the wood out of the trees – the pulp industry’s dangerous plans for GM trees
13 NovThe pulp industry wants genetically modified trees with less lignin. The industry’s “solution” will make things worse.
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ArborGen – the world’s biggest GM tree research company plans to get bigger
30 OctArborGen’s GM tree research in New Zealand, Brazil and the US poses a serious threat to people and forests. Yet the regulatory authorities in all three countries are ignoring the risks.
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European Forest Institute chooses to ignore the “overwhelmingly negative” social effects of GM trees
30 OctThe European Forest Institute is in favour of research into GM trees – despite an EFI discussion paper which points out the risks and dangers.
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Kenya: Pan Paper plans to expand its polluting operations
29 OctKenya’s biggest and most polluting pulp and paper mill, which is partly owned by the IFC, is set to expand.
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Laos: Damming the Sekong - Norconsult wipes Cambodia off the map
29 OctRecent studies of dams in Laos ignore the impacts downstream in Cambodia.
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Clear as mud: FSC’s position on GM trees
25 SepWhat, exactly, is FSC’s position on GM trees?
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Pulp friction
9 SepAn interview I did on New Internationalist Radio. Chris Richards of New Internationalist asked the questions.
The programme also featured Cam Walker of Friends of the Earth talking about oil palm and climate change, followed by Tom Athanasiou of EcoEquity talking about climate change. The full version can be heard here.
Sweden: Research into GE trees risks irreversible damage to forests
27 AugA Swedish scientist is leading the way in GE tree research into flowering. The risks to the world’s forests are enormous.
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Australia: Pulping democracy
25 AugGunns proposed pulp mill would not only be damaging to Tasmania’s environment. It is also trashing the democratic process.
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Banks, Pulp & People
6 AugPress Release: Urgewald targets the pulp industry in new report and website (6 August 2007).
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Banks, Pulp & People
30 JunA Primer on Upcoming International Pulp Projects
A report by Chris Lang. Published by urgewald, June 2007.
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Thailand: Advance Agro’s greenwash
26 JunAdvance Agro is planning to expand its pulp and paper operations. In an attempt to improve its image in Australia the company has hired a PR firm. The result, not surprisingly, is greenwash.
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A meeting in Europe with bankers about pulp mills and finance
26 JunThe pulp industry is planning a dramatic expansion of capacity in the South. The result will be increased poverty, loss of livelihoods and environmental destruction. Banks funding the pulp industry must be held accountable.
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Laos: Norwegian and Chinese “aid” helps dam the Xeset River
31 MayA Norwegian consulting firm and Chinese construction firm are benefiting from dam-building in Laos. Even if villagers receive compensation, their livelihoods, fisheries and rivers will be irrevocably damaged.
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Uruguay: Botnia pulp mill – “Why is EU public money being used?”
31 MayEuropean “aid” benefits European industry – and impacts the people that it is supposed to help.
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Subsidies and the Botnia Pulp Mill
24 MayPresentation at “Sustainable pulp production in Latin America or just pulp fiction?”
Organised by The Greens/EFA and the Heinrich Böll Foundation
European Parliament, Brussels, 16 May 2007
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Subsidies, secrecy and lies. The case of the ADB’s missing forest policy
30 AprSince 2000, the ADB has been working on a new forest policy. It was supposed to be finished in 2002. Five years later, where is it?
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Cambodia: Indigenous Jarai take out legal case to reclaim their land
28 MarKeat Kolney, a Cambodian businesswoman with very close links to the government, has tricked villagers in Ratanakiri province out of their land. Villagers are fighting back through the courts.
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Swaziland: FSC credibility hits all time low with certification of Sappi
28 MarWhat, exactly, does the Soil Association stand for these days? With its FSC-certification of Sappi monocultures in Swaziland the Soil Association’s Woodmark appears to have abandoned the reason for which the organisation was established: to promote organic agriculture.
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Uganda: Notes from a visit to Mount Elgon
28 FebAn extract from “A funny place to store carbon”, a report by Chris Lang and Timothy Byakola about a Dutch carbon sink project in Uganda.
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Vietnam: What’s happening in the pulp and paper sector?
28 FebAbout 750,000 tonnes of new pulp and paper capacity is planned or under construction in Vietnam. The development of new industrial tree plantations to feed this industry is being supported by the Vietnamese government and by international aid agencies, despite the lack of research into whether such plantations alleviate poverty.
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Reports
chrislang.org 