A greenhouse full of eucalyptus clones in a Veracel “clonal garden” in Brazil (Picture by Anne Petermann)
ArborGen hopes to plant over half a billion genetically engineered eucalyptus trees in plantations across the US South, according to the CEO of ArborGen parent company Rubicon. ArborGen also plans to distribute their cold-tolerant GE eucalyptus trees for planting across the globe.–The GJEP Team
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In the year 2005, “A common vision for transforming the European paper industry” was presented publicly, a document signed by a broad representation of European environmentalist and social organisations pooling demands to the European paper industry. One of the demands made by the ecologist movement called for a “Europe that consumes dramatically less paper than at present”, and that “Europe’s paper be made from responsibly and sustainably sourced fibres, provide employment and have social impacts that are beneficial, conflict-free and fair”.
But for these demands to come true, we must put an end to the conflicts generated by eucalyptus plantations in the Iberian Peninsula.
In the International Year of Forests, the Iberian ecology movement wishes to propose to the public administrations and the eucalyptus sector a solution to shelve these conflicts and join forces with the industry and owners using social-based and environmentally-responsible forestry products.
The proposals are not new, since it is not the first time that the ecologist movement or the scientific community have advocated a rational planning of the sector and the improvement of forestry practices in these plantations.
As we already proposed in a manifesto from 2004, the ecologist movement wishes to avoid irreconcilable positions for or against the eucalyptus. Our demands point to a road map for the sector and for the future of surfaces occupied by eucalyptus.