2023 Brazilian government: overturn the approval for GE eucalyptus plantations

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The Physicians and Scientists for Global Responsibility New Zealand Charitable Trust have joined GE Free New Zealand as a co-signatory of a letter to the Brazilian Ambassador, requesting that Brazil overturn the approval for GE eucalyptus plantations.

ORIGINAL LETTER FROM GE FREE NEW ZEALAND

“International Day of Trees” - 21 September 2023

Tēnā koe His Excellency Mr. Marcos de Silva,

The New Zealand community would like to express our concerns to the Brazilian Embassy over the recently approved Genetically engineered (GE) eucalyptus designed to have tolerance to herbicides and insects. These pesticides are highly toxic to aquatic organisms, will kill the food sources for the birds and silence the native forests. The pesticide toxicity application methods by drone or aerial spraying, will affect the soil ecosystems, pollute the water sources and harm the peoples living in the region. The degradation, contamination and pollution will further increase if GE eucalyptus trees tolerant to herbicides are planted.

Large plantation corporations are illegally infringing the rights to the lands of the Brazilian indigenous, Quilombola and landless peoples due to the absence of political demarcation that would guarantee their right for their ancestral lands. This has led to illegal “Green land-grabbing” or “Grilagem Verde’ with a massive increase of industrial plantations on the illegally obtained land and deforestation in the Cerrado, Atlantic and Amazon Forest regions. The land taken by international industrial corporations for commodity gain is home to traditional and indigenous communities who have lived there hundreds of years and cause minimal environmental harm feeding their communities using traditional agroecological systems that enhance natural ecosystems. The illegal encroachment from large corporation’s industrial eucalypt plantations is causing extreme suffering. The industrial plantations are destroying the native forests; toxic pesticides are polluting the rivers and farms; the waterways drying up and the loss of fish and animals due to the corporate colonisation of large plantation businesses.

The 16 million acres of Eucalyptus trees are affecting the peoples leading to displacement and poverty as people are driven off the land. The corporations use armed militias with security guards to police the illegally taken land. This has led to the assassination of leading indigenous people and there is a strong link to their opposition and airing of their concerns over the encroachment of the land grab of the eucalypt plantation corporations. We ask that you relay our concerns to the Brazilian government over the approval of genetically engineered Eucalyptus and the lack of protections these trees will have on people and the environment.

We ask the Brazilian government reconsider the approval of the genetically engineered eucalyptus, in light of the harm that the continued destruction of the rich diverse flora and fauna of Brazil will have on the future generations and overturn the decision to plant GE trees.

In summary –

1. Call on the Brazilian government to overturn the approval for GE eucalyptus plantations.

2. Expediate the land demarcation for indigenous, Quilombola and landless people. We thank you for your time, Ngā mihi nui, Claire Bleakley, President GE FreeNZ on behalf of the following individuals and organisation

The Physicians and Scientists for Global Responsibility New Zealand Charitable Trust have joined GE Free New Zealand as a co-signatory of a letter to the Brazilian Ambassador, requesting that Brazil overturn the approval for GE eucalyptus plantations.

“International Day of Trees” - 21 September 2023

New Zealand letter to Brazilian Ambassador

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