Deal #766

In 2008, 2,500 families camped in Rio Grande do Sul and INCRA claimed to have no land to settle.

Environmental organizations in Rio Grande do Sul accused the company of causing environmental impacts. They indicate that these projects affect local biodiversity. Between 800 and 900 women from the Via Campesina organization occupied one of the company's farms, Fazenda Tarumã. It´s located in Rosario do Sul, approximately 400 km from Porto Alegre. They uprooted eucalyptus trees and planted native trees in their place in protest against the vertiginous advance of these "green deserts" in the country. The state governor, Yeda Crusius, sent in the Military squad, which violently fired rubber bullets at the occupants, wounding more than 50 people and arresting most of them, who were locked up in a sports stadium.

There is a conflict regarding land acquisition. Stora Enso used a Brazilian company to purchase land in a border area. According to Brazilian law, foreign companies cannot buy land in border areas without the approval of the national defense council and the National Institute of Colonization and Agrarian Reform (INCRA). The State Prosecutor's Office opened a civil investigation, in order to know the environmental licensing process of the company's projects. In addition, there is an open process in the Federal Police to investigate the crime. The ownership of the land was regularized in 2010 when the National Defense Council accepted that the company Stora Enso bought the land from Azenglaver, the Brazilian company.

generating employment and development

Stora Enso generates only two permanent jobs and a few temporary jobs on the 2,100-hectare Taruma farm.

Acción Campesina: is a social actor that promotes sustainable agriculture in partnership with other actors. Most of the women involved in this association come from camps and settlements of the Landless Movement -MST in Rio Grande do Sul.