Figure 12: Recent deforestation around the current Bricapar charcoal facility at Teniente Ochoa, Oct 2015 — Jan 2017 (Image Source: Sentinel Hub)

The Bricapar charcoal facility at Teniente Ochoa has 80 ovens, investing it with a production capacity of more than 7,000 tonnes per year.[56] Earthsight has estimated that this single facility may be producing as much as ten percent of the total charcoal officially exported by Paraguay.[57]

In November 2016, undercover Earthsight investigators visited the Bricapar charcoal facility, and witnessed large Quebracho trees being fed into the ovens. The manager of the site confirmed to investigators that it is owned by Bricapar and supplies charcoal for export to Europe and the US. He said that it processes only Quebracho blanco, because the species is preferred by European buyers.[58] He stated that after cutting and extracting the Quebracho trees, Bricapar is also responsible for the clearance of the remaining forest on each tract of land, and then hands it over to the landowner who seeds it for pasture (see video below).

He explained that there were plans to expand the facility, increasing its capacity to consume the surrounding forests. Around 40 people work at the site, engaged in the hard labour of cutting and hauling trees, and packing the brick ovens ready for each ‘burn’. No protective equipment was seen, and workers complained of persistent coughs.

Figure 13: Some of Bricapar’s charcoal ovens at Teniente Ochoa ©Earthsight

In the company’s formal response to Earthsight, Bricapar claims it is “the owners of the establishments that carry out the activities of forestry and NOT BRICAPAR”, contradicting what the manager of the charcoal facility told Earthsight investigators. But even if some other legal entity were involved in cutting the trees or clearing the land at the site, it remains the case that Bricapar’s raw materials are trees sourced from forest land being converted to cattle pasture.

Controversial cutting

Earthsight’s research has raised further questions regarding the propriety of Bricapar’s access to the forests from which it is producing charcoal, and the role of its major shareholder as a government minister.

In 2014, an investigation by the national newspaper ABC Color discovered that the IPS was renting out this land for what it described as “giveaway prices”: an average of less than 15 pence (19 cents) per hectare per month. [59] This is one-eighth of the price-per-hectare that experts told the paper would be expected in the area, described by the paper as a privileged location with high productivity and good access to cities and markets. IPS denied the allegations, claiming that the leases were issued by public tender at market values. One of the key case studies highlighted by the paper in its series of articles on the IPS land was that involving IRASA, which now sub-leases the land to Bricapar. IRASA’s owner has denied wrongdoing.[60]

Earthsight presented this information to Bricapar prior to publication. In response to this the company wrote, via a law firm, that it “does not know the fixed price” between IRASA and IPS.

The potential for conflicts of interests stemming from the role of Bricapar’s major shareholder as Minister for Public Works is demonstrated by at least one project. As part of his ministerial portfolio, Gaona is in charge of Paraguay’s state infrastructure projects. One such project, tendered in February 2015, involved the reconstruction of a stretch of the Transchaco Highway. The road connects Teniente Ochoa, the site of Bricapar’s production facility, to Asuncion. In all the project covered 173km of road, at a cost of US$54 million. The section Gaona prioritised was 58km running past the IRASA land at Teniente Ochoa where Bricapar’s products are being produced to the nearest major settlement to the south.[61]

When asked about this by Earthsight, Bricapar stated that since it relates to government activities, we should address our questions to the authorities. Bricapar also claimed that since Gaona stepped down from the board of Bricapar when he became a Minister in 2013, there can be no potential conflict of interest.[62] However, records show that the Minister has retained his 25 percent shareholding in the company, which remains under the majority control of his family, including his brother Manuel, who took over as Chairman.[63]

While the leased area is outside territory commonly regarded as the ancestral lands of the Ayoreo, it remains possible that Bricapar’s activities may be impacting on the ‘uncontacted’ tribe. No one knows for certain precisely where these people are. Communication between the Ayoreo in voluntary isolation and those in a state of “initial contact” indicates that the former take great effort to avoid any contact with outsiders. They are also known to range across very large areas.

Signs of the presence of isolated Ayoreo (such as temporary dwellings and trees felled with stone axes) have been found during the early 2000s across most of the Ayoreo’s historic territory, which encompasses almost 95,000 square kilometres. The IRASA land lies just two kilometres from the approximately mapped boundaries of the Ayoreo’s historic lands, and there are relatively recent finds suggesting their presence as little as 45 kilometres away.[64]

In its response to Earthsight’s allegation that Bricapar’s charcoal was being sourced from land close to the traditional nomadic territories of the Ayoreo, the company stated that “the Ayoreo people are not within the defined area as direct or indirect influence area of the project”. The company also stated that the raw material does not come from protected areas, national parks or reserves for indigenous communities, and that its facility is 81 kilometres from the southern limit of the nearest protected area.[65] Earthsight wrote to the company to clarify that the ‘traditional nomadic territories’ of the Ayoreo it was referring to are those in the map below (Figure 14), which differ from the indigenous reserves identified to-date by the Paraguayan government.

Bricapar declined to provide further comment on the substantive issues and instead argued that Earthsight has “demonstrate[d] that your manifest interest is to damage the credibility of Bricapar”.

Figure 14: Map of Ayoreo territory and signs of the presence of isolated Ayoreo, overlaid with the boundaries of the IRASA lease area (red) within which Bricapar’s charcoal facility is sited, and the approximate boundary of the broader area of land owned by IPS (yellow) (Base map source: ‘The Case of the Ayoreo’, UNAP/IA, 2010)

While Bricapar is certainly sourcing wood from within the IRASA lease, satellite pictures suggest it may also have been sourcing from neighbouring farms within the broader IPS land. Around the time that clearance within the IRASA land came to an abrupt halt in September 2016, a road was constructed directly linking the Bricapar charcoal facility with areas of recent conversion in a separate ranch to the north. Between October 2016 and March 2017, there was no fresh conversion in IRASA or its northerly neighbour, and it is therefore unclear where Bricapar’s raw materials were coming from. Though we have no evidence it was supplying Bricapar, the nearest deforestation during that time was a huge new area on the other side of the Trans-Chaco highway, within historic Ayoreo land. This is one of the largest tracts of recent deforestation anywhere in Paraguay.

The middleman and the markets

From the Teniente Ochoa facility, Bricapar’s charcoal is transferred by truck to a factory near the capital of Asuncion. The factory turns some of the raw material into charcoal briquettes, and packs them and the raw ‘lumpwood’ charcoal into customer-branded packaging ready for export. Compared with its competitors, Bricapar’s sales are particularly geared towards Europe.

During the first four months of 2017, 85 percent of its exports were destined for the EU, while a further five percent were shipped to the USA. More than 40 percent of all EU imports from Paraguay during early 2017 came from Bricapar, double the share of its nearest competitor.[66] Bricapar was also the largest supplier of Paraguayan charcoal to both the UK and Germany.[67]

Figure 15: Bags of US and EU customer charcoal shown on Bricapar’s website (Source: http://www.bricapar.com/index.php/distribution-en, accessed 4th July 2017)

The marketing of Bricapar’s charcoal in Europe is handled by a company called Ibecosol. Ibecosol is more than just Bricapar’s distribution arm in the EU. It began sourcing from Bricapar in 1997 and the two firms grew increasingly close, until they were integrated via an exchange of shareholdings.[69] Ibecosol now holds a 26 percent stake in the Paraguayan firm.[70]

In a 2013 interview, Ibecosol’s chief executive Guillermo Vega de Seoane said that the two firms had become practically the same company. “They make, we sell,” he said.[71]

An Earthsight investigator posing as a trade magazine journalist met with Vega de Seoane in early 2017 at his office in Madrid. He confirmed that the company’s Paraguayan charcoal is produced by Bricapar at the Teniente Ochoa facility (along with three other facilities elsewhere in the country), and boasted of how this charcoal is being sold by some of Europe’s leading supermarket chains, including branches of Lidl and Aldi in both Spain and Germany, and branches of Carrefour and Repsol in Spain. Seoane claimed that his company supplies more than half of the charcoal being sold in Spanish shops.[72]

He also claimed that further shipments are being sent to a company supplying the restaurant and hotel sector in the UK, and to unnamed buyers in Denmark. Trade records obtained by Earthsight also show large volumes being exported by Bricapar to Poland, and smaller quantities to the Netherlands, Greece and Italy.[73] Shipments to these countries and the UK travel direct, while Ibecosol charcoal sold in Germany and Denmark first passes through Spain. According to Seoane, the sales in Germany occur via a middleman called Boomex.[74] Ibecosol also sells its own-brand charcoal direct to consumers across Europe via Amazon.[75]

Earthsight has been able to independently verify some of these claims, with bags of Ibecosol-supplied charcoal found in branches of Lidl and Carrefour in Spain (see Figures 16 and 17).

Figure 16: Ibecosol charcoal briquettes on sale in Carrefour, Spain, 2017 (L) and Figure 17: Paraguayan charcoal supplied by Ibecosol on sale at Lidl, Spain, 2017 (R)

Trade records obtained by Earthsight show that Bricapar shipped more than 2,000 tonnes of charcoal to the USA in 2016.[76] Around two-thirds of this was purchased by US company Duraflame, which is by far the largest US importer of charcoal from Paraguay.[77] Shipment records confirm that this is being supplied under the company’s Charcoal Cowboy brand.[78] Duraflame sourced more than 250,000 bags of this charcoal from Bricapar during 2016.[79]

Charcoal Cowboy is sold through numerous outlets across the USA, including branches of K-Mart nationwide and some branches of Walmart. However, the products sold in these two supermarkets are labelled as made in Mexico. Earthsight contacted Duraflame in advance of publication. The company’s Vice President Chris Caron confirmed that the company sourced from Bricapar, but that it represented a minority of the company’s charcoal supply. He stated that the Paraguayan products were not being sold at K-Mart and Walmart but are being sold in stores and supermarkets in the North-East of the United States. He declined to name any particular outlets. Mr Caron stressed that his company had sought copies of official permits from Bricapar to confirm the legality of its supplies, but was unaware that the charcoal was being made from clearance of natural forest.[80]

Bricapar’s sales in the Americas are not handled by Ibecosol, but in his interview with Earthsight investigators Seaone nevertheless was able to provide some additional insights. He claimed that Bricapar has recently finalised a deal to directly supply Walmart’s stores in Mexico, Dominican Republic and Costa Rica. Earthsight were unable to independently verify this claim.

Earthsight wrote to all the supermarkets which our evidence indicated were selling Bricapar charcoal from deforestation in the Chaco to provide them the opportunity to comment on our findings. Lidl Spain said that it demands “strict sustainability standards in all areas of our business activity” and that it was “certain that our supplier Ibecosol obtains all the necessary accreditations to certify sustainable practices”. It made these claims on the basis of Ibecosol’s PEFC certification.[81] Lidl in Germany failed to respond to repeated requests for comment.

Aldi Sud in Germany wrote that Ibecosol “claims to abide [by] its commitments to ensure ecological and social sustainability”, on the basis of its PEFC certification and BFCI accreditation. It added: “Furthermore, the wood is not obtained from tropical forests and the clearance is done only partially.” The company referenced Paraguayan regulations that require 25 percent of all farms to be retained as forest cover, plus buffer strips of forest to be retained around each cleared block.[82] Aldi Nord in Germany confirmed that it had sourced Paraguayan charcoal from Boomex which had originated from Bricapar but stated that its last purchase was in early 2016, and that it would not be purchasing from the company in 2017. It stated that Boomex had obtained official government permits from Bricapar confirming the legality of the production.[83]

Carrefour said that it had launched an investigation, and temporarily suspended further purchases of one of Ibecosol’s product lines. It stated that its initial results contradicted the information provided by Earthsight, but did not provide details.[84]

Table: Bricapar charcoal market connections

Sources: Quantities of sales to Spain, Germany, UK and Denmark claimed by Ibecosol CEO in interview with undercover Earthsight investigator. Figure for USA from Paraguay export records. Sales in Lidl Spain and Aldi Nord in Germany confirmed by those companies in correspondence with Earthsight. Sales in Carrefour in Spain confirmed by Earthsight observations. Sales in Lidl Germany and Aldi Nord in Spain claimed by Ibecosol CEO, and not denied by the companies when given an opportunity. Planned sales to Walmart stores in Mexico claimed by Ibecosol CEO.

False sustainability claims

In its public statements and in private interviews with Earthsight investigators, Ibecosol makes numerous and conflicting claims regarding the sustainability of its charcoal production. That the products are not made from trees; they are from “reforestation”; they are made from pruning; they are “recycled”; and that they are independently certified as “sustainable”. These claims are mostly false and at best misleading.

The website for the CARCOA brand, Ibecosol’s charcoal product in Spain and Portugal, claims that all of its products “are produced using wood from reforestation, pruning or selecting non-forest (shrub) species”.[85] In his meeting with Earthsight’s undercover investigator, Ibecosol’s CEO further stated that “we are not using trees, we are not cutting down trees to make briquettes or other products.”[86] These claims are clearly contradicted by Earthsight’s observations at Bricapar’s Teniente Ochoa production facility, where large trunks of quebracho blanco trees were observed stacked around the kilns (see Figure 18), by the testimony of the manager of that site, by government permits governing the deforestation and charcoal production on that land, and by Bricapar’s own statements to Earthsight.

Figure 18: Quebracho tree trunks and branches waiting to be converted into charcoal at Bricapar’s facility at Teniente Ochoa, November 2016 ©Earthsight

Ibecosol’s more serious sustainability claims relate to the sustainability certificates the company holds.

The company has obtained ‘chain of custody’ certificates from the two leading independent international organisations for certifying the sustainability of wood products, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). On its website, Ibecosol claims that the FSC certificate “guarantees the wood used to manufacture many [sic] of our lump charcoal comes from sustainable forests”.[87] However, the truth is that this certificate does nothing of the sort. FSC “Chain of Custody” (CoC) certification only means that a company has the right to handle wood products separately certified as sustainably produced under an FSC ‘Forest Management’ certificate. In fact, none of Bricapar’s production in Paraguay comes from FSC certified sources. The claims regarding its FSC certificate made on its website by Ibecosol are false, and would appear to be in clear breach of FSC’s trademark rules.[88]

It is notable that in the responses Earthsight received from supermarkets in Europe stocking Ibecosol’s Paraguayan charcoal — responses which had clearly been informed by information supplied by Ibecosol — no mention is made of any of the above claims. Instead, they focus on Ibecosol’s PEFC certification. This certification appears to have been important in maintaining these supermarkets’ custom: Seoane told Earthsight’s undercover investigator that these chains are increasingly demanding assurances about the environmental impact of his products.

In Earthsight’s meeting with Ibecosol’s CEO, he claimed that the wood used is “recycled” and that the PEFC certificate was proof that all of the company’s charcoal was from recycled wood and not from cutting down trees. It is true that both Bricapar and Ibecosol hold PEFC CoC certificates issued in October 2016 and January 2017 respectively.[89] However, there are a couple of major issues with these certificates.

Firstly, the certificates only apply to the company’s charcoal briquettes — not to its lumpwood charcoal.[90] Despite this, Bricapar and Ibecosol have been falsely using their PEFC status to reassure European retailers of their lumpwood charcoal. Lidl Spain, which sells Ibecosol’s lumpwood charcoal, told Earthsight that Ibecosol’s PEFC certification “confirmed” the sustainable origin of the raw materials. Yet as far as the lumpwood product is concerned, the PEFC certificate is meaningless.

Secondly, while PEFC has certified the briquette products as ‘recycled’, their flawed definitions do not prevent products made from trees felled during conversion of valuable chaco forest into cattle pasture from entering supply chains. Bricapar (and its third party suppliers of charcoal fines) are burning such trees to make charcoal, which comes in various sizes. The smallest sizes — charcoal dust — are then used to make briquettes. If they understood the production process fully, it seems unlikely that the supermarkets buying these products or their customers would be persuaded by PEFC and Bricapar’s argument that these products qualify as ‘recycled’. The fine charcoal dust is one of the products produced, and the fact that the company is able to profitably turn it into a briquette means it cannot be considered to be ‘waste’. By these definitions, sausages would count as ‘recycled’.

Applying PEFC standards, sausages would count as ‘recycled’

Because it classifies the raw material as ‘recycled’, PEFC admits that it does not know or care where it actually originates.[91] Yet PEFC itself classifies “conversion of forest to other vegetation type” as a ‘controversial source’[92]: exactly the kind of thing which certification is supposed to preclude.

The extent to which PEFC certification can be relied on to guarantee sustainability has also been questioned more broadly. In January 2017, TV station France2 broadcast a documentary on the global timber sector. As part of the investigation, journalists mailed in official requests for a series of absurd locations to be certified by PEFC. Most of their submissions were apparently approved by mail with no questions asked — sites including a pig farm, nuclear power plant, an airport and a supermarket parking lot.[93]

Prior to publication Earthsight provided both Bricapar, its owner, and Ibecosol with a summary of our findings and asked for their response. A law firm responding on behalf of Ibecosol said that the allegations were “completely false”[94] but declined to provide any evidence to substantiate the response or provide any specific response regarding the sustainability claims.

In response to the allegation that it produces charcoal from natural forests, Bricapar responded that it “optimizes wood rolls and its residues that come from the legal use of forests”. The company also stated that during its harvesting activities at the IRASA land at Teniente Ochoa, it complies with local regulations which require 25 percent of the total leased area to be reserved as forest, plus 100 metre-wide strips around each authorised plot, within which 30 per cent of standing trees are also retained.[95]

Conclusion

The problems highlighted in this report go beyond the specific case study on which it focuses. Bricapar is not the only company producing charcoal in the Chaco for export, and there are no doubt many other European and US companies selling Chaco charcoal which Earthsight has yet to identify. There are also serious concerns relating to many of the other countries from which Europe imports charcoal.

More than two-thirds of the EU’s charcoal consumption is imported[96], and WWF has estimated that around 20 per cent of that comes from illegal logging.[97] Other major exporters of charcoal to the EU include Nigeria, Namibia and Ukraine, all of which are high-risk source countries where illegality and corruption are widespread in the forest sector.

Europe’s complicity in the destruction of the Chaco also goes beyond charcoal. While charcoal production is an important contributor, the primary driver behind that destruction is industrial-scale beef production. In 2016, EU countries imported €32 million of beef and €56 million of leather from Paraguay. EU imports of beef from Paraguay trebled in 2016[98], and now represent 10 percent of Paraguay’s total exports.[99] Given its importance to cattle ranching in the country, it is almost certain that a large percentage of these exports will be of cows reared on Chaco forest land cleared for pasture.

If European consumers are to be sure they are not unwittingly contributing to the loss of the precious Chaco, it will require action by both the major supermarkets and the European Union.

The supermarkets must investigate more thoroughly the source of relevant products such as charcoal and beef, and be more sceptical of sustainability claims made by suppliers. They must join the long list of other major consumer goods firms which have committed to eliminate sales of products which are connected to deforestation.[100]

Though action by the larger supermarkets is essential, that alone cannot prevent such products being sold elsewhere. Only governments can do that. The European Union has already committed to taking action to prevent its imports contributing to deforestation overseas, but is still considering its options.[101] The European Parliament recently passed a resolution on the issue, supporting strong measures.[102] The EU already has some relevant legislation relating to wood products, but it does not include charcoal.[103] It is essential that the EU acts swiftly to close that loophole and to implement the broader actions covering beef and other commodities.

The Chaco doesn’t have much time left.

References:

[1] From Zoo Quest in Paraguay, a BBC programme aired in 1959 http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00dgmg9

[2] http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/footprint/agriculture/soy/soyreport/soy_and_deforestation/the_gran_chaco/

[3] IWGIA report: The Case of the Ayoreo, 2010 http://www.iwgia.org/iwgia_files_publications_files/The_case_of_the_ayoreo.pdf

[4] The Soy Mirage, Oxfam, 2013 http://policy-practice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/the-soy-mirage-the-limits-of-corporate-social-responsibility-the-case-of-the-co-299687

[5] ibid

[6] WWF, Atlantic Forests http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/ecoregions/atlantic_forests.cfm

[7] WWF, Paraguay extends zero deforestation law to 2018 http://wwf.panda.org/?210224/Paraguay-extends-Zero-Deforestation-Law-to-2018

[8] Going green: the tragic dofersation of the Chaco, Rolling Stone, 2014 http://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/green-going-gone-the-tragic-deforestation-of-the-chaco-20140728

[9] Global Forest Watch, Paraguay http://www.globalforestwatch.org/country/PRY

[10] ibid

[11] Hansen, M. et al., 2013. High-Resolution Global Maps of 21st Century Forest Cover Change, Science Vol 342 pp850–853. Analysis of supplementary data shows that the majority of the Chaco forest loss occurred in Paraguay.

[12] Calculated by Earthsight from supplementary data in Hansen (2013), using data for forest extent and loss of canopy cover greater than 25%

[13] Guyra monthly Gran Chaco deforestation monitoring reports http://guyra.org.py/informe-deforestacion/

[14] Guyra monthly reports 2017 http://guyra.org.py/informe-deforestacion-2017/

[15] Disappearing World: Paraguay’s Ayoreo people fight devastating land sales, The Guardian, 2016 https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2016/jan/25/paraguay-ayoreo-people-chaco-fighting-back-land-sales

[16] UN COMTRADE data, 2016, ranked by weight

[17] Racing against time to save the tagua and its vanishing Chaco home, MongaBay, 2017 https://news.mongabay.com/2017/01/racing-against-time-to-save-the-tagua-and-its-vanishing-chaco-home/

[18] Sustainable forest management in the transboundary Gran Chaco Americano Ecosystem, OAS Department of Sustainable Development http://www.oas.org/dsd/waterresources/projects/Chaco_eng.asp

[19] Gran Chaco, Encyclopaedia Britannica https://www.britannica.com/place/Gran-Chaco

[20] Calculated by Earthsight using map from The Case of the Ayoreo’, Union de Nativos Ayoreo de Paraguay / Iniciativa Amotocodie, 2010 — http://www.iwgia.org/iwgia_files_publications_files/The_case_of_the_ayoreo.pdf

[21] UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, The situation of indigenous peoples in Paraguay, http://unsr.vtaulicorpuz.org/site/index.php/documents/country-reports/84-report-paraguay

[22] Interamerican Court of Human Rights, Prelimenary Resolution PM 54/13 — Matter of communities in voluntary isolation of the Ayoreo Totobiegosode People, Paraguay — http://www.oas.org/es/cidh/decisiones/pdf/2016/MC54-13-Es.pdf

[23] UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, The situation of indigenous peoples in Paraguay, http://unsr.vtaulicorpuz.org/site/index.php/documents/country-reports/84-report-paraguay

[24] This refers in particular to the case of the Ayoreo Totobiegosode, which has been repeatedly denounced by the Special Rapporteur

[25] Resolucion de la corte interamericana de derechos humanos, Casos de las comunidades indígenas Yakye Axa, Sawhoyamaxa y Xakmok Kasek vs. Paraguay, 2015 http://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/supervisiones/yakie_24_06_15.pdf

[26] UN COMTRADE data for Paraguay exports, by weight

[27] Paraguay export records, Jan-Apr 2017

[28] Eurostat EU import records, Jan-Mar 2017. Based on typical 5kg consumer charcoal bag. The UK reported 2100 tonnes and Germany 10,100 tonnes

[29] Eurostat import data 2016

[30] Estimated from 2016 annual Eurostat import data by weight in tonnes, and a rate of 7.5 tonnes of charcoal production per hectare, the production yield for the IRASA land at Teniente Ochoa, according to the relevant INFONA permit from 2014. Estimate assumes that all Paraguayan charcoal exports are sourced from forest clearance in the Chaco. Available studies suggest that this is true of the majority. Annual total divided by 365 days to obtain daily average, and by 1.6 football pitches per hectare, based on standard international football pitch dimensions.

[31] Dolimex homepage, http://dolimex.com/carbon-vegetal.php?lang=en

[32] http://dolimex.com/carbon-vegetal.php, accessed 4th July 2017

[33] Letter to Earthsight from Miller Sands solicitors on behalf of Big K, 16th June 2017

[34] Email to Earthsight from Miller Sands solicitors on behalf of Big K, 30th June 2017

[35] Jealous Devil homepage, http://jealousdevil.com/

[36] DemocraciaAbierta, ‘Rural Paraguayans fight for land amid corruption, poverty and violence’, 9th May 2016 — https://www.opendemocracy.net/democraciaabierta/toby-hill/rural-paraguayans-fight-for-land-amid-corruption-poverty-and-violence

[37] Mercosur suspends Paraguay over Lugo impeachment, BBC, 2012 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-18636201

[38] Horacio Cartes wins Paraguay Election, The Guardian, 2013 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/apr/22/horacio-cartes-wins-paraguay-election

[39] Fiscalia investiga Jimenez Gaona por lesion y asociacion criminal, ABC Color, 2017 http://www.abc.com.py/edicion-impresa/economia/fiscalia-investiga-a-jimenez-gaona-por-lesion-y-asociacion-criminal-1602187.html

[40] Pujol Junior cobró comisiones del 10% por concursos amanados en Africa, El Mundo, 2017 http://www.elmundo.es/espana/2017/05/20/591f52ede5fdead4708b457c.html

[41] Ibid

[42] Fiscal que investiga a ministro por lesion pidio documentos de viaducto, ABC Color, 2017 http://www.abc.com.py/edicion-impresa/economia/fiscal-que-investiga-a-ministro-por-lesion-pidio-documentos-de-viaducto-1602478.html

[43] Jimenez Gaona niega coima y anuncia demanda contra abc, ABC Color, 2017 http://www.abc.com.py/edicion-impresa/politica/jimenez-gaona-niega-coima-y-anuncia-demanda-contra-abc-1596232.html

[44] Calculated from export figures broken down by supplier sourced from Export and Investment Network of the Paraguayan Ministry of Industry and Commerce

[45] ibid

[46] Paraguay export data, Jan-April 2017

[47] Privelegiada ubicacion de tierras del ips aluiladas a precios irrisorios, ABC Color, 2017 http://www.abc.com.py/edicion-impresa/economia/privilegiada-ubicacion-de-tierras-del-ips-alquiladas-a-precios-irrisorios-1254195.html

[48] Summary of rental contracts of IPS land in Teniente Ochoa seen by Earthsight

[49] Resolucion INFONA No 1266/2009

[50] Letter from Bricapar to Earthsight 15 June 2017

[51] Potapov, P. et al., 2017, ‘The last frontiers of wilderness: Tracking loss of intact forest landscapes from 2000 to 2013’, Science Advances, 2017

[52] USAID, Report on Biodiversity and Tropical Forests in Paraguay, 2010, https://www.usaid.gov/sites/default/files/documents/1862/paraguay_biodiversity_tropical_forest_report.pdf

[53] Landsat 8 satellite images, analysed by Earthsight, show 510 hectares of conversion (not including roads) in 2010, 860 hectares in 2011, 784 hectares in 2012 and 1765 hectares in 2013.

[54] ABC Color, ‘Hay una explotación racional de bosques en tierras del IPS, afirman’, 29th Oct 2014 — http://www.abc.com.py/edicion-impresa/politica/hay-una-explotacion-racional-de-bosques-en-tierras-del-ips-afirman-1300648.html

[55] Clearance of vegetation within such plots is classified as ‘forest loss’ by the University of Maryland/WRI — see www.globalforestwatch.org. Data from the University of Maryland indicate that dry chaco forests in the area have a canopy cover of between 30 and 50 per cent, thus meeting internationally agreed definitions of ‘forest’. The blocks converted to cattle pasture have a canopy cover of less than 10 per cent, and do not classify as forest.

[56] Production capacity as of November 2016 according to information provided to undercover Earthsight investigators by the manager of the facility, November 2016

[57] Comparison with Paraguay export data, taking into account planned expansion of Teniente Ochoa facility to 100 ovens from 80

[58] Earthsight undercover recording 30 November 2016

[59] See ABC Color, ‘Privelegiada ubicacion de tierras del ips aluiladas a precios irrisorios’, 11th June 2014, and other articles in the same series

[60] ABC Color, “Infona y Seam aprobaron los masivos desmontes”, 27th October 2014

[61] Reconstruiran caminos en el Chaco, ABC Color, 2013 http://www.abc.com.py/nacionales/reconstruiran-caminos-en-el-chaco-1434603.html

[62] Letter to Earthsight from Bricapar, 15th June 2017

[63] Solventa investment report on Bricapar, December 2015

[64] Distances calculated by overlaying boundary of IRASA land with map from ‘The Case of the Ayoreo’, Union de Nativos Ayoreo de Paraguay / Iniciativa Amotocodie, 2010 — http://www.iwgia.org/iwgia_files_publications_files/The_case_of_the_ayoreo.pdf

[65] Letter to Earthsight from Bricapar, 15th June 2017

[66] Paraguay export records, Jan-Apr 2017

[67] Paraguay export shipment records Jan-Apr 2017 confirm that Bricapar was the largest Paraguayan charcoal exporter to the UK. There were no direct exports by Bricapar to Germany recorded, but our interview with Bricapar’s sister company Ibecosol in Spain confirmed that 90% of Bricapar’s imports into Spain are destined for onward shipment to Germany; Eurostat customs records support this. Once these shipments are taken into account, Bricapar comes out as the top Paraguayan supplier there too.

[69] Interview with Guillermo Vega de Seaone, 2013 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6802hfQSjdA

[70] Solventa investment report, December 2015 — solventa.com.py/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/Informe-PEG-USD1-BRICAPAR-SET2015-VFinal.pdf

[71] Interview with Guillermo Vega de Seaone, 2013 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6802hfQSjdA

[72] Interview with Guillermo Vega de Seaone by Earthsight undercover investigator, May 2017

[73] Paraguay export records, Jan-Apr 2017

[74] Interview with Guillermo Vega de Seaone by Earthsight undercover investigator, May 2017

[75] https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Carcoa+charcoal

[76] Paraguay export records, Jan-Dec 2016

[77] Paraguay export data record 2115 tonnes of charcoal exported by Bricapar to un-identified buyers in the USA during 2016. Of this total, 1950 tonnes could be identified on US PIERS import records, of which 1324 tonnes was destined for Duraflame.

[78] US PIERS import records

[79] Ibid.

[80] Earthsight telephone call with Chris Caron of Duraflame, 26th June 2017

[81] Email to Earthsight from Matias Bueno of Lidl Supermercados SAU, 15th June 2017

[82] Letter to Earthsight from Dr Julia Adou and Simon Binder of Aldi Sud Dienstleistungs-GmbH & Co. oHG, 19th June 2017

[83] Email to Earthsight from Verena Lissek, Press Department, ALDI Einkauf GmbH & Co. oHG, 19th June 2017

[84] Email to Earthsight from Agathe Grossmith, Carrefour Global, 29th June 2017

[85] Carbon Carcoa, Un Carbon Sostenbile carboncarcoa.com/aire-libre/carcoa-un-carbon-sostenible/

[86] Interview with Guillermo Vega de Seaone by Earthsight undercover investigator, May 2017

[87] Carbon Carcoa, Un Carbon Sostenbile carboncarcoa.com/aire-libre/carcoa-un-carbon-sostenible/

[88] Section 7.1 of the FSC’s trademark rules states that if a company has not sold any FSC certified products since its most recent annual audit it must not use the FSC trademarks for general promotion. Ibecosol’s website carries the FSC logo, and its last audit was in August 2016.

[89] PEFC website. Bricapar certificate (issued by SGS) — https://www.pefc.org/company-detail?id=818113 ; Ibecosol certificate (issued by NEPcon)- https://www.pefc.org/company-detail?id=819302

[90] As per the product scope described in the summary on the PEFC website — https://www.pefc.org/company-detail?id=818113 — and confirmed to Earthsight in direct communication from PEFC, 4th July 2017

[91] PEFC, ‘Statement about the PEFC certification of Bricapar’, email communication to Earthsight, 4th July 2017

[92] See section 3.9(d) of PEFC ST 2002:2013, Chain of Custody of Forest Based Products — Requirements. Second Edition, 7th December 2015 — http://pefc.org/images/documents/standards/PEFC_ST_2002-2013_CoC_Standard_-_Second_Edition.pdf

[93] France2, ‘Cash Investigation — Razzia sur le bois, les promesses en kit des géants du meuble / intégrale’, 25th January 2017 — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJgwaDeSgN4&t=3909s

[94] Letter to Earthsight from Ibecosol, 15th June 2017

[95] Letter to Earthsight from Bricapar, 15th June 2017

[96] TFT, Charcoal Research, February 2015

[97] WWF, ‘Illegal wood for the European market: An analysis of the EU import and export of illegal wood and related products’, July 2008

[98] Eurostat import data 2016

[99] UN COMTRADE data 2016

[100] See for example, the New York Declaration on Forests, http://forestdeclaration.org, and the summary of such commitments maintained by Forest Trends http://supply-change.org

[101] http://www.bad-ag.info/eu-deforestation-conference-considers-action-on-bad-ag-2/

[102] http://www.bad-ag.info/parliament-resolves-to-tackle-eus-role-in-driving-illegal-deforestation-through-imports-of-agro-commodities/

[103] The EU Timber Regulation, which took effect in 2013, prohibits the import of timber and wood products which were illegally sourced in the country of origin, and requires importers to carry out due diligence to minimise the risk of handling such goods. The regulation covers most categories of wood products, from firewood to fibreboard and paper to furniture, but a small number of products were excluded from the scope, including charcoal.