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Large scale monoculture plantations are increasingly being promoted worldwide, especially but not only in the global South. These plantations are established with the objective to generate timber, pulpwood, oil or carbon sinks. Furthermore, the recent boom in agrofuels is creating greater demand for oil palm, soy, sugarcane and jathropha plantations.
The problem
Plantations often replace native grasslands, agricultural lands and old growth forests with devastating consequences to the environment and ecosystems. In addition, converting primary and secondary forests as well as other ecosystems, reduces their capacity to maintain their carbon storage capacity, contributing to current climate instability.
Industrial plantations also create social problems. A major issue is the expulsion of indigenous people, rural community folk and peasants to make way for large plantations, and this often leads to violence and human rights abuses, as well as local livelihood destruction.
The solution
Communities must be enabled to sustainably maintain their local resources including their forests and territories. The practice of industrial-scale monoculture cultivation systems must be ended, especially if these practices have negative consequences for local communities and ecosystems.
We need drastic reductions in energy consumption and paper use and the export of grains for cattle feed in order to conserve the forests that remain. We believe community-based forest governance is a key solution to the current forest crisis.
What we do
Friends of the Earth International calls for a halt to the conversion of forests to large monoculture agriculture and plantations. We are calling for reduced timber, paper and oil consumption in Northen countries. We expose the negative consequences of plantations. We support local communities in defending their land and territories.
We also oppose "carbon sink" schemes that replace diverse forests with tree plantations. We don’t support schemes to reduce emissions from deforestation and degradation that actually promote tree plantations and undermine the rights of indigenous people and other local communities. We work very closely with indigenous peoples, peasants, landless and women movements around the world to defend the forests from plantation expansion and to manage their forest resources sustainably.
