In Tree Plantations In Paraguay, Public Money Is Driving Private Profit
When researchers from a Paraguayan NGO called Heñoi went to find out what life was like around the industrial tree plantations that have been cropping up all over the countryside, one of the first signs that there was something off came when they pulled over, turned off their car, and were met with total silence. Instead of the hum of insects, birds, and other creatures, there was only quiet in the areas that had been consumed by eucalyptus plantations, with their straight rows of exotic species and daily applications of weed- and pest-killing chemicals. Instead of the raucous buzz of biodiversity, the researchers were surrounded by a sepulchral uniformity. As one local explained, “There is nothing, not even birds come down … not even a little bug. In other places where our native trees are, birds fly around happily; but not here: total silence.”