Rejection of the new transgenic tree and the forestry multinational Suzano

Brazil approved Suzano’s second transgenic tree. Dozens of social organizations denounce the irregular form of authorization and the social, environmental and health impacts of the new genetically modified organism. The advance of transgenic eucalyptus implies monoculture, the use of agrochemicals and a deepening of the extractive model.

Social organizations from twenty countries denounced the advance in Brazil of transgenic trees by the multinational Suzano. “Authorization for the planting of transgenic eucalyptus trees in Brazilian territory is hasty and wrong. This glyphosate resistant crop is a serious threat to life, society and nature. Its release requires greater caution“, questioned a hundred organizations.

The most developed (and cultivated) genetically modified crops (GMOs) in Latin America and the United States are soybeans, corn and cotton. Genetic modification of trees is another step in the agribusiness model and, in turn, in forest extraction, monocultures and the export of raw materials, with broad social, environmental and health consequences.

Public letter of complaint about the transgenic eucalyptus of Suzano Papel y Celulosa” is the title of the document signed by a hundred organizations from Brazil, Latin America and Europe, among other places. It points to the responsibility of the National Technical Commission on Biosafety (CTNBio) and the Federal Public Ministry of Brazil.

CTNBio, the body that regulates transgenics in Brazil, approved —in November 2021— the commercial use and release into the environment of transgenic eucalyptus, developed by the company FuturaGene, of the multinational Suzano Papel y Celulosa.

Eucalyptus, a new transgenic tree

Transgenic eucalyptus is promoted by the interests of large pulp and paper companies to increase the productivity of their eucalyptus trees and, therefore, their profits.“, say the Rede Contra o Deserto Verde, the Permanent Campaign against Agrochemicals, Amigos da Terra Brasil and the Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), among other entities. They ask for “immediate revocation” of the authorization to use Suzano’s transgenic eucalyptus, as well as the intervention of the Federal Public Ministry to annul CTNBio’s decision.

Among the rejection arguments specified in the public letter, they detail that the approval was carried out in record time (five months), ignoring the free, prior and informed consultation of communities that already suffer the impact of tree monocultures (in the states of Maranhão, Bahia and Sao Paulo).

The complaints made

eucalyptus, monocultures, forestry, transgenics, agrochemicals, biodiversity

They denounce that the decision to authorize the transgenic was made by making environmental safety measures more flexible. They claim that CTNBio exempted Suzano from having an environmental monitoring plan and considered only the company’s commercial interests.

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We denounce the lack of studies on the behavior and long-term consequences for the environment and life of this transgenic tree, as well as other trees that may be contaminated. The precautionary principle highlighted in international conferences on biodiversity, in which Brazil participates, is not respected. CTNBio was based exclusively on studies presented by the company itself“, they ask in the public letter.

The authorization, dated November 2021, is the second process for planting transgenic eucalyptus for the benefit of Suzano. In 2015, the genetically modified tree called “H421” was approved. Corporate advertising promised it would increase”competitiveness and environmental and socio-economic benefits through greater productivity, using less land and, therefore, less chemical inputs in general, with less carbon release, in addition to allowing the availability of land for food production or preservation”.

However, since 2015, when Suzano had 524 thousand hectares of eucalyptus monoculture in Brazil to supply its pulp mills, its monoculture area has almost tripled (1,346 thousand hectares in 2020), making Suzano the largest company in the sector in Brazil and one of the largest in the world.

The consequences of transgenic trees

With transgenic eucalyptus trees, the trend is towards an increase in land concentration by the company, as reported in 2015 by hundreds of national and international organizations.“, they recall in the public letter.

This second, glyphosate-resistant, transgenic eucalyptus will prevent any other species from surviving, creating a green wasteland even larger than today’s monocultures, with far more harmful environmental and health impacts. Transgenic species threaten biomes and their biodiversity through pollen and seed contamination and exacerbate existing impacts, such as soil impoverishment and groundwater contamination, which directly affect the lives of those who live in the territories involved.“, say the international organizations World Movement for Tropical Forests (WRM), the Biodiversity Alliance, the ETC Group, the Latin American Observatory on Environmental Conflicts (OLCA) and the Latin American Network against Tree Monocultures (Recoma), among others.

Terra Viva Agency

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