Letter of Concern from GFC and FOEI to Green Climate Fund on Monoculture Tree Plantations

A Letter of Concern was just submitted by the Global Forest Coalition, a coalition of 86 NGOs and Indigenous Peoples’ Organisations from 56 different countries and Friends of the Earth International, the worlds largest environmental grassroots organisation, about potential Green Climate Fund (GCF) support to Monoculture Tree Plantations. With this letter, we want to express our profound concern about the potential inclusion of financial support for the establishment or expansion of monoculture tree plantations in GCF supported projects and programs.

The issues raised about the negative impacts of monoculture tree plantations on climate resilience, the environment and local communities addressed in the letter are more relevant than ever since according to the Provisional Agenda Item 19, the GCF will continue to discuss matters related to REDD-plus in the upcoming BM17, including the Request for Proposal, which might include support for the potential funding of this type of plantations. Moreover, although no longer on the agenda for the BM17, a project proposal that included support for the establishment of monoculture tree plantations has already been submitted by the World Bank, FAO and the Paraguayan Government under the name PROEZA. See also the attached commentary on the PROEZA project by GFC and some of its Paraguayan member groups, which we disseminated last month.

We hope our concerns can be considered and reflected in the outcomes of the discussions on Agenda Item 19 during BM17 and in future upcoming meetings. Please do not hesitate to contact us at the email addresses below for further information and we are looking forward to know your views

Download the Letter of Concern to GCF here

Donwload the PROEZA Commentary here

Contact Persons:

Simone Lovera, simone@globalforestcoalition.org

Coraina de la Plaza, coraina.delaplaza@globalforestcoalition.org

Also on behalf of Isaac Rojas and Nele Marien, co-coordinators, Friends of the Earth International Forest and Biodiversity Campaign

30 Jun, 2017
Posted in Forests and Climate Change