I+A-Wood Supply.d5

Arauco’s Wood Supply:
Abundant, Sustainably Managed, Free from Genetic Modification
ment, which ensures high quality
and abundant yields without the
use of genetic modification.
Arauco’s Forest Holdings
Arauco is currently the largest forest landowner in Latin America,
with some 1.5 million hectares
(3.7 million acres) of forest land
under sustainable management in
Chile, Argentina, Brazil and
Uruguay.
“Where does your wood come
from?”
That is a question that customers
are asking their wood and pulp
purveyors with increasing frequency. And with good reason.
Although the overall rate of deforestation may be decreasing
(according to the most recent
report from the United Nations
Food and Agriculture Organization),
natural forests the world over continue to be under heavy pressure
from commercial logging – both
legal and illegal – and from conversion to agriculture and ranching.
Wood and pulp customers are,
rightly, concerned that their purchases may be contributing to the
loss of natural forest cover.
Arauco customers needn’t worry.
All of Arauco’s wood products and
market pulp come from long-established, sustainably managed forest
plantations. Arauco does not harvest, nor does it purchase, wood
from natural forests in any country.
The majority of the wood used in
Arauco’s pulp, lumber, engineered
wood, and panel products comes
from company-owned plantations
in Chile, Argentina, and Brazil.
These forests are sustainably managed in conformity with internationally recognized standards.
A small portion of Arauco’s pulpwood originates in sustainably
managed, third-party plantation
forests in Chile and Argentina.
Similarly, a small percentage of
wood used in Arauco’s panel and
lumber products originates in sustainably managed, third-party plantations in Chile, Argentina and
Brazil.
Arauco’s responsible forest management practices are complemented by its ongoing investment
in forestry research and develop-
Roughly 80 percent of Arauco's
forest holdings consists of sustainably managed forest plantations,
including some 200,000 hectares
(494,000 acres) of protected
areas within its plantations. All of
the company's plantation forests
in Chile have been certified to the
stringent standards of CERTFOR,
Chile's PEFC-endorsed national
standard for plantation- forest
management. Arauco's forest
holdings in Brazil are certified to
Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)
standards, and the company is in
the preliminary stages of securing
certification of its plantation
forests in Argentina.
The balance of Arauco’s forest
estate, some 309,000 hectares
(763,000 acres) located primarily
in Chile, consists of native forests
that have been permanently setaside from harvest.
Arauco’s commitment to the conservation of natural forests is a
matter of public record, as evidenced by the company’s 2005
signing of the “Joint Solutions
Project,” an agreement between
the company and a cadre of international, non-governmental envi-
Arauco
does not use
genetically
modified stock in
any of its forest
plantations.
ronmental organizations to protect
native forests in Southern Chile.
GM-Free
A survey conducted in early 2009
revealed that customers held the
misperception that Arauco uses
genetically modified (GM) trees in
its forest plantations.
used genetically modified stock in
any of its plantation forests. Arauco’s planting stock is derived
through conventional hybridization,
selection and cloning techniques,
resulting in a range of seedling
types that will thrive in the various
micro-climates and terrain conditions that exist across Arauco's
forest plantations.
Genetic modification involves the
activation of a dormant gene in a
given species or the transfer of a
gene from one specimen to another to imbue the recipient with a
characteristic it would not otherwise have, such as superior pest
resistance or an appearance quality. The planting of GM trees by
forestry companies is a matter of
concern for certain sectors of civil
society, including the environmental community.
Still, understanding the genetic
workings of various tree species is
essential to the success of any
company that manages plantation
forests. Arauco’s Research and
Development division, Bioforest,
conducts ongoing, scientific investigation into tree genetics. Bioforest’s research is limited to the
laboratory, and no field testing or
commercial planting of genetic
research specimens is performed.
The fact is that Arauco has never
As a responsible producer of sus-
tainable wood products and pulp,
Arauco adheres to the precautionary principle in its research and
development operations. This,
combined with the company’s
strict adherence to sustainable
management practices and its
commitment to the conservation
of natural forest cover is a threepronged strategy that ensures
the biodiversity of the company’s
forest holdings and a consistent,
long-term supply of competitively
priced products for Arauco’s pulp
and forest products customers.
For additional information, or to
obtain printed copies of this edition of Issues & Answers, contact
your Arauco sales representative
or email [email protected].