Brazil Campaign 2023 Delegation
International Meeting (May – June 2023)
Found on this page:
International Meeting (2023)
Overview
Goals
What Was Accomplished
Raw Footage (Videos)
Reports
Press Coverage
Background Information
Opposition Against Suzano’s Expansion Plans
Genetically Engineered (GE) Tree Approvals in Brazil
Recently Circulated Protest Letters
Overview
Goals
2. Expose and help stop corporations such as Brazil’s Suzano from releasing GE trees in Brazil by supporting organizations and local and Indigenous communities on the ground, building the international campaign, and helping to hold Suzano accountable for their actions.
3. Amplify the resistance of impacted communities on the ground through crafting media content such as, interviews, photographs, and videos.
4. Identify and form strategic relationships with individuals and organizations on the ground in Brazil who are interested in joining the campaign, and provide support through raising awareness about their resistance and pooling together resources to support the development of the campaign in Brazil.
Accomplishments
We shared our information about GE trees with communities.
We then took these concerns to Brazil’s capital city, Brasilia, and presented them to several ministries. Josenea, a member of one of the Quilombola communities, accompanied us to testify directly about the impacts on her community. We met with the Environmental Caucus of Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies, and had meetings with representatives from the Ministry of the Environment, the Ministry of Indigenous Peoples, and the Ministry of Agrarian Development. We submitted a list of demands to these ministries, in both Portuguese and English.
There were many pledges of support for the communities from the Ministries and we will be following the progress of these pledges along with our partners in Brazil.
The MST has been continuing their efforts to take back lands from Suzano’s eucalyptus plantations to give landless families a place to farm, including education about use of agroecological practices that do not use agrotoxins. These visits were a lens into what is possible here in Brazil as the MST settlements collectively are one of Brazil’s largest food producers, demonstrating that large-scale agribusiness with its social and ecological devastation, is not necessary.
Raw Footage (Videos)
Angelim II: Resident tells how eucalyptus plantations poison her traditional Quilombola community in Brazil.
Interview given to an international delegation of the Campaign to STOP GE Trees in May 2023 with Kleber Karipuna, head of the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon.
Note: There is also a great interview with Karipuna in Americas Quarterly
Interview given to an international delegation of the Campaign to STOP GE Trees in May 2023. PL 490 threatens to further erode land rights of the Indigenous people of Brazil.
Excerpt of an interview given to an international delegation of the Campaign to STOP GE Trees in May 2023.
The Quilombola are descendants of escaped slaves. Quilombola communities are fighting for land sovereignty and against eucalyptus plantations. Eucalyptus plantations have been called “green deserts” as they rob the environment of biodiversity and poison the environment with agrotoxins. Genetically engineered eucalyptus threaten to worsen the destruction.
Excerpt of a talk given to an international delegation of the Campaign to Stop GE Trees in May 2023. The Camp was named after Galdino Jesus dos Santos who was brutally assassinated in 1997.
Excerpt of an interview given to an international delegation of the Campaign to STOP GE Trees in May 2023.
The MST create farms and communities on eucalyptus plantations. Eucalyptus plantations have been called “green deserts” as they rob the environment of biodiversity and poison the environment with agrotoxins. Genetically engineered eucalyptus threaten to worsen the destruction.
Excerpt of a talk given to an international delegation of the Campaign to STOP GE Trees in May 2023 by instructors of an Ofaié school on land which the Ofaié People were forcibly relocated.
Interview given to an international delegation of the Campaign to STOP GE Trees in May 2023. PL 490 threatens to further erode land rights and autonomy of Indigenous people of Brazil.
Excerpt from interview with Anne Petermann of the Campaign to STOP GE Trees, July 2023.
Excerpt of a talk given to an international delegation of the Campaign to STOP GE Trees in May 2023 by instructors of an Ofaié school on land which the Ofaié People were forcibly relocated
Reports
Watershed Sentinel Article (October 2023): Brazil’s “Green Deserts”
Kaitlyn Duthie-Kannikkatt, a campaigner at the Canadian Biotechnology Action Network (CBAN) who was part of the delegation that went to Brazil, wrote about the experience in an October 12, 2023 article that can be read on the Watershed Sentinel’s website.
Breaking Green Podcast (July 2023): Green Deserts of Brazil with Anne Petermann
Deforestation of Brazil’s Amazon rainforest is a well-known threat to the world’s environment, but the loss of natural biodiversity to so-called “green deserts” resulting from expanding non-native eucalyptus plantations for pulp and paper production, is a lesser known ecological and social disaster that is likely to worsen if genetically engineered trees are used. This episode of Breaking Green features Anne Petermann, co-founder and international coordinator of the Campaign to STOP GE Trees and the co-founder of the Global Justice Ecology Project. Breaking Green is produced by the Global Justice Ecology Project and is made possible by tax deductible donations. Click here to listen to the episode.
GE-Free New Zealand in food & environment (Rage Inc.) Report (June 2023)
In June of 2023 GE-Free New Zealand in food and environment (RAGE Inc.), who were part of the delegation, wrote a report on their experience in Brazil. Click here to read the report.
OLCA Article (May 2023): International campaign “Let’s stop GM trees” met in Brazil
In May of 2023 OLCA reported on the meetings that were held in Brazil. Click here to read the article on OLCA’s website (available in Portguese and English through Google Translate). OLCA is an organization that accompanies communities in socio-environmental conflict, which in conditions of deep asymmetry, face a predatory economic model imposed on the territories.
Press Coverage
MS Notícias (June 2023): Cultivation of transgenic eucalyptus in MS threatens health and the environment
A June 27, 2023 article, originally published in Portuguese on msnoticias.com.br, focused on the delegation’s meeting with representatives of the Public Ministry of Labor, indigenous leaders, directors, professors, and university researchers. The meeting took place at the Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul (UFMS) in Brazil.
During the meeting the expansion of transgenic eucalyptus plantations for pulp production in the Bolsão region was discussed, as well as concerns about the risks and negative impacts of genetically modified trees on small farmers, indigenous communities, and the environment. An objective of the meeting was to identify spaces for resistance against the cultiivation of transgenic trees.
The article contains multiple quotes from participants at the meeting. Some participants, citing similarities with the situation in Argentina, shared research experiences that highlight the detrimental effects of transgenic crops on agriculture. The article can be read on the msnoticias.com.br website.
ITAPORA News (June 2023): Foreign and indigenous environmentalists discuss cultivation of transgenic eucalyptus in MS
A June 27, 2023 article, originally published in Portuguese on ITAPORANEWS.COM focused on the delegation’s meeting with the Public Ministry of Labor, indigenous leaders, directors, professors and students, at UFMS (Federal University of Mato Grosso do Sul ) from Três Lagoas.
During the meeting concerns were raised about the cultivation of transgenic eucalyptus (the fastest growing crop in the state) and the use of pesticides. The municipality is home to several pulp industries, and the industry is expected to expand.
Researchers pointed out that transgenic trees can impact small farmers, indigenous and traditional communities due to the use of pesticides in plantations, such as eucalyptus. Participants reported experiences with the negative impacts of genetically modified crops. The article can be read on the ITAPORANEWS.COM website.
Resumen (June 2023): Danger due to the expansion of transgenic trees: Brazil hosted an international meeting to stop their spread
A June 14, 2023 article by Nicolás Salazar Maleras about the delegation to Brazil appeared June 14, 2023 on the Resumen website. Nicolás was part of the Campaign to STOP GE Trees delegation. Click here to read the article on Resumen’s website.
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((o))eco (June 2023): Movement criticizes mega pulp factory and cultivation of transgenic trees in Brazil
((o))eco, a non-profit journalism vehicle founded in 2004 dedicated to documenting the challenges, setbacks and advances of issues related to nature conservation, biodiversity and environmental policy in Brazil wrote about the work the Campiagn to STOP GE Trees is doing in Brazil. Click here to read the article on the ((o))eco website.