The use of trees for fuel means massive monoculture tree plantations. Such industrial forestry monocultures already exist in South America, especially in Chile, Uruguay and Brasil, for lumber as well as paper pulp. This forestry model has been for years been fiercely opposed by civil society groups and indigenous peoples.

In the Social Forum of the Americas, celebrated in Ecuador in 2004, the Latin American Network against Tree Monocultures (RECOMA) issued the Quito Declaration. According to the declaration, tree monoculture plantations “take our lands away from us and make of our territory a desert where birds no longer sing; they plant trees for an abusive consumption that ends up filling landfills with paper; occupy our lands that are no longer destined to fight hunger; they dry our rivers and springs; they deceive when they promise jobs that never come; they expel our communities, and displace the native flora leaving the fauna with no food. These tree plantations, these deserts of monochromatic green, destroy the rainbow of biodiversity and homogenize and erode our cultures.”

“This sacrifice is imposed on us the peoples of the Americas for the production of the cellulose with which they make napkins, newspapers devoid of information, (and) the packaging of products that make no sense.” The Network's members include organizations from 16 countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Brasil, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, México and Nicaragua.