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Eucalyptus: Myth and Truth
by Rubens Garlipp (*)
Six Myths promoting your environmental analphabetism about Eucalyptus
by Xusto de Andrade (**)
We bring you today a commented visual summary of six key ideas often arising within environmental activist speeches and literature related to Eucalyptus. All of these are just a small sample of obsolete dialectic tools unsuccessfully used by environmentalist authors during the last 35 years against Eucalyptus forestry.
The general process for the intentional creation of these myths that promote your analphabetism about Eucalyptus normally involves choosing a tiny and non representative fragment of truth or opinion generated somewhere, no matter its degree of credibility, then exaggerating it, then overgeneralizing it, and finally oversimplifying it before delivering it to you and me through a variety of media.
The last step is in many cases convincing some innocent journalist to publish it somewhere. Or paying with the money raised by your and my donations "for a better environment" to get it published somewhere. Many times it ends up printed on high quality papers produced from virgin or recycled cellulosic fibres sourced from sustainably managed Eucalyptus plantations in five continents. Ironic, isn't it?
If you are well inclined to read authors relying on science, be it forestry, biology, ecology or environmental science, you start moving towards a safer position preventing you from falling into induced environmental analphabetism. If you read environmentalist activism propaganda without trying to balance such information with others, you are at risk.
So, we give you now, aided by Rubens Garlipp, a first set of visual information pieces based on science so you can choose to compare them to each of these six myths about Eucalyptus often used by environmentalist authors to promote environmental analphabetism. This way you might be able to work out more easily in future which environmental activists are trying to pollute your mind with half truths, demagoguery and plain lies, and which are not.
The Analphabet Environmentalist: Eucalyptus Myth nº 1
"Eucalyptus plantations are evil because they are not native tree species"
Environmentalist pollution: Promoting ignorance on +3,000 years of human driven introduction and use of exotic biologic species in five continents for horticultural production, agricultural production, animal production and industrial raw material sourcing. You eat, drink, wear and use exotic species every day. And environmentalists too.The Analphabet Environmentalist: Eucalyptus Myth nº 2
"Eucalyptus plantations are evil because they dry up soils"
Environmentalist pollution: Promoting ignorance on water cycles, water use and water use efficiency within and outside of Eucalyptus cultivated forests. You eat, drink, wear and use organic materials produced by less efficient organisms every day. And environmentalists too.
The Analphabet Environmentalist: Eucalyptus Myth nº 3
"Eucalyptus plantations are evil because they cannot co-exist with agriculture"
Environmentalist pollution: Promoting ignorance on agroforestry, mixed productions and compatibility of land uses involving Eucalyptus cultivated forests. You eat, drink, wear and use products from co-existant agricultural and forestry land uses every day. And environmentalists too.
The Analphabet Environmentalist: Eucalyptus Myth nº 4
"Eucalyptus plantations are evil because they deplete soils"
Environmentalist pollution: Promoting ignorance on soil nutrient cycles, nutrient recycling and nutrient use efficiency, especially for Eucalyptus planted forests. You eat, drink, wear and use materials produced from less efficient nutrient user organisms every day. And environmentalists too.
The Analphabet Environmentalist: Eucalyptus Myth nº 5
"Eucalyptus plantations are evil because they are only useful for pulp production"
Environmentalist pollution: Promoting ignorance on +50 different products, services and positive externalities generated directly or indirectly by Eucalyptus plantations in five continents. You breathe, eat, drink, wear and use them every day without even noticing. And environmentalists too.
The Analphabet Environmentalist: Eucalyptus Myth nº 6
"Eucalyptus plantations are evil because they create green deserts"
Environmentalist pollution: Promoting ignorance on environmental impacts, landscape architecture, biodiversity and ecology of forest ecosystems for which Eucalyptus are one piece of the puzzle. You cannot properly assess the interactions if not being a competent scientific ecologist able to see the other key pieces of the puzzle. And environmentalists neither.
So, now you are provided with information from both opposite angles (thesis and antithesis), you are free to use your own common sense to ponder, and decide freely what your personal conclusions are. It is called synthesis.
Recommended information resource
by Rubens Garlipp
Seminario Florestas Plantadas do Mato Grosso do Sul.
PowerPoint presentation: 52 slides (Portuguese)
Remember
El que contamina, paga
nº Environmentalist authors identified: 218
nº Environmentalist pollutant emissions identified: 4,163
% Environmentalist pollutant emissions assigned to author or NGO: 81%
(**) Xusto de Andrade es silvicultor, economistólogo, sabe mover leña, y poner el dedo en la llaga... verde.
Also in Eucalyptologics ...
EUCALYPTOLOGICS has just unexpectedly received the impressive document on Sustainable Forestry Management topics displayed above. As neutral observers we are not too keen to put into the air every piece of information we get from varied sources, especially if falling into polemics. But as firm believers in freedom of speech, we are not going to apply censorship to these opinions even if we do not fully endorse them. Not when they are loaded of this fine sense of humour!
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