Society & Economy

Fair Planet : Wood

Fair trade is in fashion. While the worldwide wealth gap between the North and South has never been so marked, a new momentum of solidarity is overtaking Western countries. But what is fair trade? Is it a means of fair distribution of wealth or a new ´marketing´ rip-off? What are the alternatives when faced with no-holds-barred productivity to avoid producer countries getting poorer and a deterioration in the environment? Through three practical case studies, we shall see how some producers can still make the most of what they have.

In the state of Rondonia, in the Amazonian forest of Brazil, large-scale forest usage and extensive breeding have been part of daily life since the beginning of the 1970s. Over 50% of the forest´s surface area has already been destroyed: it is a true ecological catastrophe. However, small-scale producers continue to sink into poverty. A group of local farmers decided to take steps: they created APA, or the alternative producers´ association, in order to create a farming model that respects the environment and in which food takes pride of place. Thanks to Alter-eco and fair trade, they sell their production for a fair price. Soon, they will start to produce FSC-certified wood, an internationally recognized standard for sustainable forest usage.