MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Uruguay freezes activities of Spanish corp. for deforesting

Uruguay ordered this week the temporary freezing of all activities of the Spanish pulp company ENCE, following the discovery of the uprooting of an 80 hectares patch of native forest which is strictly protected under Uruguayan law.

"ENCE at one time requested 'to intervene' a native forest, but during a routine inspection we discovered they had uprooted 80 hectares before we even answered yes or no to the original request", said Daniel Sanromán head of the Uruguayan Forestry Department. However he cautioned that a full inspection and inquiry must first be completed before any sanctions are imposed on the Spanish company which is clearing the ground for the building of a pulp mill that is expected to produce a million tons annually, with an overall investment of 1.2 billion US dollars. Apparently the native wood was cleared to plant 80 hectares of eucalyptus which has become the main input for the Uruguayan growing pulp industry. "What really matters is not the area uprooted, but the fact Ence ignored precise regulations on the issue", said a reliable source from Uruguay's Agriculture Department. Ence public relations office said early Tuesday that they had received no official information from the Uruguayan authorities and would not comment any further. Sanromán admitted the company hadn't been officially notified but "they are well aware of the incident which was communicated to them by the team of forestry inspectors". This is not the first incident with Uruguay's native forest that takes dozens of years to build up mainly along the country's water system. The booming forestry to provide for the pulp industry, the advancing plantations of soy have also committed similar "crimes" and have been severely sanctioned warned Uruguayan authorities. Furthermore areas with native woods have an additional bonus: they are fiscally deductible from taxes on land. The Ence incident occurs two months after the Ministry of Housing and Environment approved the environmental impact and assessment studies which opened the way for the Spanish company to begin clearing land and coast for the future complex which will be located in Colonia, along the River Plate, and closer to Buenos Aires, Argentina than to Uruguay's capital Montevideo. The Ence plant once finished is expected generate 1.000 direct jobs and 5.700 indirect plus contribute 450 million US dollars annually to Uruguay's GDP (18 billion US dollars).