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The ancestral roots of environmentalism – With Gonzalo Abella

On unsettling the basic social and economic features of the country’s productive activities, the conversion of Uruguay into a timber enclave has also started to alter the traditions that are part of the rural cultural universe. (*) By Victor L. Bacchetta As a rural teacher and as a writer, Gonzalo Abella has investigated the cultural […]

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Uruguay: The sad situation of tree plantation workers

In Uruguay we have entered the 21st century as witnesses to the transformation of the landscape throughout the length and breadth of the country. Plantations of eucalyptus and pine trees seem to have invaded every type of terrain. This geographical transformation has also had a direct social impact, affecting numerous aspects of life. The influx […]

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With the National Commission for Rural Development – Small farmers under target

Small and medium-sized family farmers are one of the sectors most affected by the changes introduced with the forestry model. They are a social asset demanding reconsideration of the dilemmas that involve making a distinction between growth and economic development. By Victor L. Bacchetta The National Commission for Rural Development (Comisión Nacional de Fomento Rural-CNFR) […]

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The forestry model under discussion – With Panario, Altesor and Cayssials

The discussion of environmental issues necessarily includes political and technical arguments. For the past year and from this perspective, a group of Uruguayan scientists has been trying to contribute with inputs to the debate on this productive model. by Victor L. Bacchetta Professor Daniel Panario (Master in Environmental Science and director of the Epigenesis Science […]

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Alternatives to forestation – With María Selva Ortiz, from Friends of the Earth Network

The conflict with Argentina over the pulp mills has diverged the main hubs of a debate linking political issues with environmental issues. Today very little is said about the problems the forestry model has brought to local development, something that various Uruguayan environmental groups have been denouncing since the nineties. By Victor L. Bacchetta The […]

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Botnia’s fortresses

by Ricardo Carrere The Finnish company Botnia has a peculiarity that distinguishes it from all other enterprises –national and foreign – existing in the country: its confinement in enclaves closely monitored by private security guards and police officers. During a brief visit to Paysandú and Fray Bentos on 28 and 29 July, we were able […]

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The Swedish pulp and plantation industry’s plan for moving South

On April 26, the Swedish Royal Academy of Agriculture and Forestry organized in Stockholm the seminar “Tilting forest industries from North to South”, aimed at discussing the growing tendency of the Swedish tree plantations and pulp industry to invest in Southern Countries such as Brazil, Uruguay and Indonesia. Unfortunately, the organizers declined to open up […]

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Subsidies and the Botnia Pulp Mill

Presentation at “Sustainable pulp production in Latin America or just pulp fiction?” – European Parliament, Brussels, 16 May 2007. By Chris Lang, World Rainforest Movement. Read the full presentation here

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Uruguay: Botnia pulp mill – “Why is EU public money being used?”

Botnia is currently building the world’s most controversial pulp mill at Fray Bentos in Uruguay. It is doing so with hundreds of millions of tax payers’ dollars funnelled through the World Bank, the Finnish export credit agency and the Nordic Investment Bank. The profits produced, along with the pulp, will be exported. On 16 May […]

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Uruguay: Though not yet in operation, Metsa Botnia’s pulp mill already smells rotten

It is almost certain that the Finnish public know little or nothing about Uruguayan history and on how this history relates to the current Metsa Botnia pulp mill project in this country. It is therefore important to explain that a military dictatorship ruled Uruguay from 1973 to 1984. During that period the military violated every […]

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