By Catalino Hoyos | 2024-12-13

QUITO -- China's demand for balsa wood to produce wind turbine blades remains a significant threat to protected forests and Indigenous communities in Peru and Ecuador.

The US nonprofit Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) released a report titled "Ill Wind: From Amazon Forest Crimes in Ecuador to Wind Turbines in the US and China," which uncovers how international manufacturers are sourcing balsa wood from protected Amazonian forests, engaging in illegal logging activities.

Published in late October, the study highlights how this exploitation is driven by China's insatiable demand for the tropical wood, primarily used in wind turbine production.

After years of investigation, the report reveals additional concerns, including violations of Indigenous rights, corruption and significant environmental damage, both immediate and long-term, to this vital global ecosystem.

Balsa (Ochroma pyramidale), a tropical species native to the Amazon, is renowned for its "rapid growth and lightweight properties," explained Belén Páez, president of the Pachamama Foundation, in an article published on October 29 by the environmental site Mongabay.

Balsa wood has emerged as a critical resource for the renewable energy sector, particularly in the production of wind turbine blades.

Its lightweight properties, combined with exceptional strength, make it ideal for withstanding the rigorous demands of wind turbines.

Ecuador supplies 90% of the world's balsa wood, with 79% of its exports between 2019 and August 2024 destined for China, according to estimates from the Central Bank of Ecuador (BCE) cited by the EIA.

'Balsa wood fever'

In 2021, a Mongabay special report, created in partnership with local organizations in Ecuador, Colombia and Bolivia, exposed what came to be known as "the balsa wood fever in Ecuador."

Between March 2020 and June 2021, authorities recorded 8,139 deforestation alerts in areas linked to large-scale balsa extraction, the study found.

Global demand for balsa wood quadrupled between 2018 and 2020, the EIA said in "Ill Wind."

During this period, China accelerated efforts to meet its 2016–2020 renewable energy targets, outlined by its National Development and Reform Commission, with an emphasis on expanding wind power capacity.

To satisfy the unexpected surge in demand from China, the EIA report confirmed that loggers intruded into national parks and into protected Indigenous territory within the Ecuadorian Amazon, including the UNESCO-listed Yasuní Biosphere Reserve, which spans 2.7 million hectares.

The investigation also uncovered incursions by illegal loggers into neighboring Peruvian forests, where they smuggled balsa logs into Ecuador and falsely marketed them as Ecuadorian exports.

The EIA requested comment from top companies in the industry, including Plantabal S.A., Ecuabal, Mamba Wood and Fadelma, which acknowledged illegal logging.

They openly admitted to using illegal methods to extract the wood in order to meet the overwhelming demand for balsa.

Given these findings, fluctuations in China's turbine demand could have catastrophic consequences for the fragile ecosystems of the Ecuadorian Amazon, the EIA said.

Impacted communities

Another report, "Renewable Energy, Emptied Forests," published in September 2023 by the NGO Acción Ecológica, highlights the devastating impact of balsa wood exploitation on Indigenous communities across the Ecuadorian Amazon.

From the Siekopai and A'i Cofán in the north to the Shuar and Achuar in the south, these groups have faced significant disruptions to their way of life.

In April 2021, the Pachamama Foundation revealed that 80 Indigenous communities were subjected to exploitative negotiations. While exporters profited from balsa at $722 per cubic meter, the communities received a meager $0.22 per tree.

"Many of China's main importers are also Ecuador's top exporters," the report states. Companies like 3A Composites Core Materials, Gurit and Diab, which have subsidiaries in China, are central to this supply chain.

The EIA discovered that major Chinese wind turbine manufacturers -- including Goldwind, Mingyang and CSSC -- have utilized balsa sourced from Ecuadorian traders involved in exploitative practices.

"This necessary energy transition cannot be achieved at the cost of forests and the people who depend upon them," said Lisa Handy, EIA US director of Forest Campaigns, according to an October statement.

She emphasized the urgent need for "robust due diligence, enhanced transparency and the implementation of national traceability system" to improve forest governance and resolve this "energy-forest conflict" effectively.