Finland’s national public service broadcasting company YLE broadcast two television programs about the landless movements in Brazil, featuring Veracel, Stora Enso’s 50/50 joint operation with the Brazilian company Suzano. Veracel manages a pulp mill and eucalyptus plantations in southern Bahía state. Stora Enso fought back… Source: Timberbiz
According to Stora Enso the YLE programs presented critical individuals, some of whom are members of the local landless movements in Bahía and have illegally occupied Veracel’s land.
These individuals claim Veracel is evicting people violently from its lands, making people buy back their own land, and using corruption in relations with the local media and authorities. The programs also featured an academic who criticizes Veracel and its land use.
Stora Enso said that Veracel creates value in the Bahía region by offering employment, paying taxes, supporting education and livelihoods, and by protecting and restoring rainforest. Veracel has a long history of constructive dialogue and cooperation with the local communities.
The landless movements in Brazil are broad political movements aiming for land reform, as land property is unevenly distributed in Brazil. Illegal land invasions of private property are a long-running challenge. Stora Enso says that Veracel is not the root cause of the problems that landless people face, it aims to be part of the local solution, without taking the role of the state.
Veracel has a long history of dialogue and cooperation with the local communities. Over the years, Veracel has reached agreements with 12 landless movements, decreasing land conflicts in the area significantly.
Over the years Veracel has given up over 20,000 hectares of land by selling it to the landless movements or by returning land to the government to benefit landless people.
Veracel recently negotiated a new agreement with the landless movements, facilitated by authorities. With the agreement, Veracel seeks to promote social development in the area, support local farmers, and mitigate land conflicts. There are still some landless groups outside of this agreement, and the dialogue with them continues
To support the livelihoods of neighbouring communities, Veracel makes some of its land available to family farmers and provides them with training and technical support. Veracel also enables local beekeepers to keep their hives on the company’s land, and provides training in beekeeping.
All Veracel’s land has been acquired legally and the documentation on it exists, and its tree plantations were established on degraded pasture lands, no rainforest has been converted into plantations.
When Veracel’s plantations were established in 1991, less than 7% of the original Atlantic rainforest was left in the region following extensive logging and clearing for cattle between the 1960s and 1980s.
Approximately half of Veracel’s 213,500 hectares of land is dedicated to rainforest preservation and restoration, and Veracel aims to restore approximately 400 hectares of rainforest habitat every year.
A total of 6,495 hectares of forest, corresponding to over 9,000 soccer fields, has been restored between 1994 and the end of 2017. This significant contribution to the conservation of natural Atlantic rainforest and its rich biodiversity has been recognised by both the Brazilian authorities and international stakeholders.
Stora Enso said that contrary to the claims presented in the programs, Veracel does not threaten or bribe anyone, or use violence. Veracel’s security guards do not carry any weapons and they are trained in human rights and conflict management.
The company has a clear non-violence policy that it also expects its business partners to abide by.
