Peru

“Pulp friction” in northern Ontario and Uruguay

In the wake of globalization and the recent economic downturn, resource-based economies in northern Ontario face reduced business investment, high unemployment and environmental problems from the impact of clear-cutting of forests. The town of Fray Bentos in Uruguay, conversely, is enjoying an economic boom for its forest industry with multinational investment in several large pulp mills. All this development, however, has led to the conversion of massive amounts of grassland to plantations and one of the longest running environmental protests in the world.

Building on an earlier collaboration, researchers sought to enhance knowledge about how global economic shifts in the pulp industry are affecting communities. In addition to launching a new debate on the issues among academics and within affected communities, the project planned to provide civil society with information that could help them take part in policy debates on globalization and development.

The project organized seminars in Thunder Bay and Montevideo. Supplementing the grant with funding from other sources enabled the team to hire and support students in both countries. In addition, researchers made links with counterparts in Finland, who invited them to take part in a workshop and conference that explored Finnish investment in Uruguay’s pulp industry. Other Canadian researchers have also joined them to form a new network relating to forest communities in a changing world whose first collection of research essays, “Pulp Friction,” is expected in 2012.