Forestry unions warn of critical scenario and urgency to replant – La Discusión 2024-04-23 18:51:38

The unions grouped in the Futuro Madera network, composed of the Chilean Biomass Association; Forestry Contractors Association; Association of Native Forest Owners; College of Forestry Engineers (Cifag); Chilean Wood Corporation (Corma) and Small and Medium-sized Wood Industries (PymeMad), warned of a very negative balance for the forestry sector, especially for small owners, logging SMEs and forestry contractors.

They stated that, in addition to the forest fires, the sector faces a complex economic scenario, with high interest rates, collapse in demand, slowdown in construction and the consequent fall in the price of materials, causing the closure or bankruptcy of 200 small businesses. sawmills, three industrial plants, 20 contracting companies, in addition to the loss of 35 thousand hectares of plantations per year. “This has caused a 14% reduction in plantations and a 20% drop in forestry GDP,” explained the president of Corma Biobío y Ñuble, Alejandro Casagrande, who added that “the solution is for the country to plant again.” . Added to this is the violence and attacks that occur in forestry operations in the southern macrozone.

“This setback has become an economic, social and environmental tragedy, and in the face of this there is little empathy and sense of urgency on the part of the Government,” declared the executive secretary of Cifag, Julio Torres, arguing that the legislative agenda “does not “It seeks to give a boost, but rather to change a model that they judge to be unsustainable based on an ideological bias that disbelieves in the contribution of productive plantations.”

An example of this, they indicated, is the fire bill, which does not address intentional occurrence, as well as the recovery of affected areas in the hands of small and medium-sized owners.

For his part, the president of Pymemad, Michel Esquerré, pointed out that one of the great emergencies is the promotion of forestry “it is not being recovered or planted, so neither the law that creates a new forest service nor the fire law correctly addresses the challenges of small and medium-sized owners nor the challenge of decarbonizing the national economy (…) SMEs will surely disappear,” he pointed out.

From the Futuro Madera Network they urged the authorities, especially the Minister of Agriculture, to consider the work and proposals that the unions have carried out these months.