Today, 28^th of September, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil will inaugurate the Veracel pulp mill, a joint venture of Aracruz Celulose and Stora Enso, located in Eunápolis, a city in the south of Bahia (northeast Brazil).

 

Since yesterday 40 families of the Pataxó-indians have retaken a part of the Veracel-area, about 4 hectares. They cut down some of the eucalyptus trees, the raw material for the production of pulp. In total Veracel produces daily about 2.200 tons, earmarked for the international market.

 

The Pataxó-indians are protesting against Veracel because the monoculture of eucalyptus is destroying their culture and their environment. Besides this the plantations of Veracel are partly on their indigenous area. Funai, the governmental organization on indigenous issues, has not concluded the anthropological studies on this area yet. The process is already taken more than 6 years (since 1999).