Pulping the South

Demand for paper is soaring. In its search for cheap wood to supply raw material, today’s pulp and paper industry is throwing its net ever wider across the world. One of the more disturbing results is the spread of fast-growing pulpwood plantations in the forests, pastures and farmlands of the South. Contesting the industry propagated notion that all tree-planting must be benign, this path-breaking book shows how the new plantations are contributing to impoverishment of people; degradation of soil, water and biodiversity; and rural strife in countries as diverse as Chile, South Africa and Indonesia. This book’s insights into the history, causes and workings of globalization in one of the world’s leading industries, and alternative papermaking will be of interest to activists, environmentalists, economists, geographers and development specialists alike.