“It is not enough to just do things the right way if our work does not create a positive impact on the environment and if we are unable to become true pillars of development in the areas in which we operate”.

The words of the President of Empresas CMPC, Luis Felipe Gazitúa, during the company’s milestone 100-year anniversary celebration in March 2020, are a good reflection of the purpose that we strive for through our community relations policy. 

We know that we are from and have grown up in a continent that is still developing, with geographical regions that suffer from low socioeconomic levels and significant inequalities in important matters such as access to education and other basic services.

In this sense, the forestry industry and its related products do not just represent a sustainable and renewable response to the growing demands for naturally sourced products, but they are also a powerful tool for the development of our local communities. 

In Chile, the forestry industry provides over 120,000 direct jobs and almost 200,000 indirect jobs.  We can add a diverse range of productive activities to this, such as transport, accommodation, and services which all operate around the forestry activity, as was seen at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, when a significant proportion of the services in the areas in which we operate managed to stay afloat thanks to this industry, which was considered strategic by the authorities.   

However, we still have a long way to go because, as CMPC´s President said, “although poverty is the result of a range of factors, it is simply not sustainable for a company to project for 100 more years while its surrounding areas still require basic services like access to water or education for their children”.  

In light of the foregoing, the CMPC community relationship plan has focused on attempting to implement certain solutions as quickly as possible to those issues which arise both from an analysis of each area and from dialogue with the affected communities. Specific examples of this are, the so called Desafío Agua para Chile [Water for Chile Challenge], which has so far provided drinking water solutions for around 500 families from Mapuche communities in the south of Chile, with the goal of providing 600 more during 2021. It should be noted that over 70% of the rural population in the La Araucanía region do not have regular access to drinking water. Another example is the Hippy early childhood educational support and stimulation programme, implemented by the CMPC Foundation in various districts around the country.  

A fundamental pillar of the CMPC relations plan is the cultural factor because we understand that  the challenge of establishing ourselves and operating in the areas in which we work is not complete if we do not take into account the cultural and identifying factors of the neighbouring communities.   As the director of the CMPC previously stated, it is all about trying to make the company more Mapuche, referring to the need to learn and incorporate the culture, traditions, and knowledge of the local Mapuche populations; the most important indigenous nation in terms of size and population within the Chilean territory.  

In this sense, CMPC has over 390 Mapuche communities neighbouring its forestry operations, constantly strengthening dialogue with them, as well as developing collective projects which range from productive start-ups to the preservation of their cultural sites. 

Within its certification processes, CMPC duly identifies each of these neighbouring communities, carrying our prior consultations before undertaking any forestry activities and identifying those places which are religiously or spiritually important to these communities. 

We also understand that there are still demands from the Mapuche communities that need to be addressed by State organisations. In this regard, CMPC has repeatedly stated its willingness to collaborate and speak with any spokesperson about any issues, on the understanding that in each case there is a condemnation and renouncing of any acts of violence, the sentiments of which do not represent the majority of those peaceful communities who want to create and develop a harmonious place to live.