The rapid rise of e-commerce and food delivery services has transformed consumption patterns worldwide. In an effort to reduce plastic waste, the European Union introduced policies such as the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation, aimed at a shift from single-use plastics to single-use paper products. While these initiatives aim to address the environmental crisis, they have fueled a surge in demand for cellulose, intensifying pressures on global forests and rural communities.
For years, Portugal was a primary source of cellulose in Europe, producing it from vast plantations of eucalyptus trees. But due to concerns over the fire risk and ecological impact of eucalyptus plantations, the Portuguese government put a halt to their expansion. This decision prompted several European companies to seek alternative locations for large-scale plantations. Mozambique, a former Portuguese colony with vast rural landscapes and economically deprived communities, emerged as a new frontier for the industry.
Promises of employment and development initially enticed local communities to support these projects. Yet, more than a decade later, many residents feel betrayed. They are now demanding the return of their lands, arguing that the economic benefits have been minimal while the environmental consequences have been severe.
Through on-the-ground reporting and interviews, this documentary sheds light on the impact of these plantations on vulnerable communities. To piece together the full picture, our investigative team examined official records, academic studies, reports from government bodies and corporations, as well as employment contracts and land concession agreements.
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Banner image: Mugabe Augusto, Mozambican farmer. Image ©Davide Mancini.
Transcript
Notice: Transcripts are machine and human generated and lightly edited for accuracy. They may contain errors.
This is a clear and perfect recipe for social and environmental disaster.
This production model does everything to eliminate the plants that compete with the crop.
What are we going to feed our children? We just suffer; we do not have a good life.
From this road to the road that goes downhill, all of this used to be my farmland, 2 hectares. Now, I have no place to farm.
They gave away their land because they wanted work, but now they are suffering.
We thought our lives were going to change, but nothing has changed. Since we work only one month per year, it doesn’t help the family.
This is the environmental report from 2015, which they produced, claiming they had fulfilled all their promises to the communities. The company promised infrastructure, schools, hospitals, water sources, and access roads. But they didn’t build any of these things.
The people ceded their land, but was that cession voluntary or not? For us, it was not. The people were coerced into ceding their land.
They promised a lot that they could not deliver. Everyone was promised jobs, money, and mainly seeds or agricultural inputs. But there was nothing in writing that actually obligated the company to do that.
Mozambique is being seen by Portuguese companies, particularly Portucel, as the solution.
Portugal does not want eucalyptus.
This population lives from agriculture.
What are we going to do? Eat eucalyptus?
The fight continues, remove eucalyptus.
The people don’t want eucalyptus in Portugal, so they bring it to the former colonies.
Portucel Mozambique is a Portuguese company with 80% shares owned by the Navigator company in Portugal, and 20% owned by the IFC, the International Finance Corporation of the World Bank.
When the company arrived in Mozambique, we were informed through newspaper reports and the media that there was going to be a major forestry investment in Mozambique, which would occupy an area of around 365,000 hectares.
There is intensified, localized poverty happening as a result of Portucel, there are environmental implications happening.
This is our well, where we used to get water, but after the eucalyptus plantations arrived, all the wells dried up. There was always water here from December to December. It never dried out, it never dried out; the water level was always this high. This well is 6 meters deep. During the rainy season, the water would even overflow.
Before the planting of eucalyptus, we had no problem. Once they were planted, water no longer came out.
We should not think that Portucel came to Mozambique to take care of the soil and water. No, Portucel came to Mozambique to produce on a large scale and supply the international market.
Most of the production in the pulp and paper industry is for packaging. Every year, just for packaging, 3 billion trees are cut down.
The reason we have more packaging now is that digitalization boosted e-commerce, which massively increased the use of packaging.
All this packaging is single-use, meaning it’s used once and then thrown away. Even with recycling, it is not enough to cope with the huge amount of consumption.
When the European Commission proposed legislation to reduce waste by reducing single-use packaging, the pulp and paper industry started to lobby massively.
And as a result, instead of having a reduction of single-use, we will have just a shift of the materials from plastic to paper.
Presenting paper as green, renewable and perfect for the environment. We just moved the problem to somewhere else.
It is obvious that plantations are not forests. Plantations are a collection of plants, crops of the same species. This creates the conditions for the lack of diversity that exists in forests.
This production model does everything to eliminate the plants that compete with the crop.
Our water sources were contaminated by chemicals used to treat eucalyptus from Portucel. The chemicals affected a large area, and the water is not safe to drink.
During the rainy season, we suffer from diarrhea because these crops are treated with chemicals.
We are aware, through the local population, that they use chemicals for what they call weed control, the control of harmful weed and also termites. This also goes against some standards of soil and biodiversity conservation, which are important to guarantee the livelihood of the local population who depend on these resources for their survival.
We are in an eucalyptus plantation in a central area of Portugal. This area has already burned three times in the last 20 years.
There is a relationship between fire and eucalyptus. This is very evident in this central region of the country, because instead of progressing slowly as it would in an oak forest, the fire spreads very rapidly due to the mass of flammable material.
In 2003, 21 people died and 425,000 hectares burned. And then in 2005, more than 300,000 hectares burned. But then in 2017, more than 500,000 hectares burned, and more than 100 people died.
We have approximately 3.2 million hectares of forest in Portugal. About 26% of this is eucalyptus.
We have the largest relative area of eucalyptus in the world as a proportion of the country. It was basically introduced from Australia and Tasmania. A few years later, plantations began to be developed with the aim of producing cellulose for paper pulp and, later, paper.
From 2017, with the significant impact of forest fires, plantation authorizations were blocked.
You can’t plant them in agricultural areas or brushland to avoid expanding the eucalyptus area in the country.
The Mozambique government also changed its forest legislation, adding incentives to expand timber plantations.
Trying to address international market interest and needs, because all of the plantations in Mozambique were aimed at external interests and needs, ever since colonial times.
We want these trees to be removed. We want to live our normal lives and farm.