Is the FSC fit for purpose? The Mapuche's land struggles in Chile

This is an online panel discussion, engaging with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), land struggles & violence in the Mapuche territory in Chile

Tue, March 7, 2023, 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM GMT

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/is-the-fsc-fit-for-purpose-the-mapuches-land-struggles-in-chile-tickets-533804743357

On its website, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) claims that it is “committed to working with Indigenous Peoples by upholding their ownership, use and management rights across all forests”.

The reality often looks different on the ground where Indigenous people are faced with a range of injustices caused by large-scale, FSC-certified monocultural tree plantations including: loss of access to their ancestral territory, loss of livelihoods and loss of water sources.

The non-native tree plantations suck up so much water from the ground that communities are literally running out of it in many areas. In many Mapuche territories in Chile, the situation is so extreme that municipalities have to send in water trucks to supply drinking water to communities...

...and just over the last few days, the region has been engulfed in some of the worst wildfires Chile has seen, costing devastating losses to human lives, wildlife and ecosystems. Experts say that the monocultural plantations of non-native tree species are much more prone to fires, particularly in a changing climate.

The Mapuche are engaged in a struggle for their territory, self-determination, rights and livelihoods. As a result, regular acts of violence (against forestry related capital and machinery and Mapuche activists) have been commonplace since the 1990s. The Chilean state is actively supporting the FSC-certified forestry companies that have systematically ignored and excluded Mapuche demands from their certification processes.

This webinar will discuss these issues with Mapuche leaders and academic experts. The panel members are:

Max Reuca Curin, Werkén from the lof Purén nagche territory. Political scientist, Mapuche leader, members of the Mapuche Self-Determination Movement. Max’s work has supported land recovery and promoted environmental protection against forestry. Max is an active participant in the protection of Mapuche ancestral rights, whose objective has been to promote and exercise the right of Mapuche self-determination, and the formation of a Mapuche government under international law.

Onesima Lienqueo, graduate in Education, Educational Psychologist, Intercultural Educator is currently in the process of writing her Master’s thesis in Political Science. She is the founder of the Network for the Defence of Mapuche Children, an organization that works to make visible and denounce the process of violations of children's rights as a result of the militarization of their territories. Onesima was the spokesperson for the Agua and Tierra (Water and Land) Movement for three years. Onesima is a human and children’s rights defender in the Mapuche communities of Wallmapu and in other territories of South America.

Jose Alwyn is a lawyer, Master of Laws from the University of British Columbia, Canada. He has worked for decades in the development of action research in defence of the rights of Indigenous peoples, environment and business and human rights in Chile and Latin America. He was Counselor of the National Institute of Human Rights between 2013 and 2019. He has taught as professor of Law and Indigenous Peoples at the Austral University of Chile. He currently serves as President of the Observatory Ciudadano, NGO for the promotion and defence of human rights based on Chile’s affiliation to FIDH. He coordinates their programme on Globalization and Human Rights.

Maria Ehrnström-Fuentes, Assistant Professor in Management and Organisation at Hanken School of Economics, Finland. Maria’s research has focused on the debilitating effects that the participatory deliberations of FSC and the forestry corporations’ CSR programs have on the local communities affected by forestry operations in Chile. In particular, she has examined how Mapuche Indigenous voices and grievances were (not) heard in the public hearings of the FSC certification process, and how the FSC certificate, instead of assuring responsible conduct to distant stakeholders in the Global North, makes invisible the grievances felt on the ground.

Rajiv Maher, Assistant Professor at Egade Business School, Mexico. Rajiv has undertaken extensive fieldwork in communities faced with extractives projects, conflicts and CSR investments across Latin America (with a focus in Chile). Relevant to this event he has undertaken regular fieldwork in Mapuche communities impacted by FSC certified plantations since 2015. Rajiv has co-authored with collaborated with Latin American and Mapuche activists for the respect of human rights in different fora including workshops, seminars and joint publications.

Steffen Böhm, Professor of Organisation and Sustainability at the University of Exeter, UK, will chair this session. He has published widely on enviornmental and climate justice issues. See steffenboehm.net for details.

Steffen Boehm PhD FRSA
Professor in Organisation & Sustainability

Director of Research, Sustainable Futures, Department of Management

Projects: Tevi | Circular Food | Making Sense of Adaptation

Editor of the Environment & Business Ethics section @ Journal of Business Ethics

Centre for Circular Economy http://business-school.exeter.ac.uk/research/centres/circular/

Centre for Rural Policy Research http://socialsciences.exeter.ac.uk/research/centres/crpr/

Environment and Sustainability Institute http://www.exeter.ac.uk/esi/

Institute of Cornish Studies https://humanities.exeter.ac.uk/history/research/centres/ics/

Open access book 2021 - Negotiating Climate Change in Crisis - https://www.openbookpublishers.com/product/1488

NEW BOOK 2022 - Climate Activism: How Communities Take Renewable Energy Actions Across Business and Society https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108697194