Tvind Alert
Spotlight on Jatoba - how Shell sold Jatoba to Tvind
La Societe Verte
Anne Nielsen (board member)
Principal players
Kim Bonde Andersen
Anne Hansen
Kirsten Fuglsbjerg
(Christie Pipps)
Danish. Female. Lawyer, described as one of Tvind's 'international
business leaders'. One of Amdi's most trusted seconds-in-command and
long time Teachers Group member. Trained as a lawyer with an address
in Holland. A student at DRH and DNS in the 1970s, she was a
co-founder of Faelleseje in 1997. She is believed to have been a
manager of CCTT, a French-Moroccan clothing enterprise, in the 1990s.
In 1992 she changed her name from Christie Pipps to Kirsten Fuglsbjerg
and officially moved to Britain (Fuglsbjerg and Pipps mean roughly the
same thing in Danish - 'little bird')
In 1994, as a Tvind lawyer, she was a main signatory when Tvind bought
the Floresta Atlantica ranch in Brazil from Shell for $9 million. The
following year she became one of the founders of
a company
registered in the tax-haven Isle of Man that controls
several
businesses in China.
Believed to have been
in charge of Argyll Smith (Jersey, property) and, with Ruth Sejeroe
Olsen.
Charged with
fraud and breach of
trust by Danish prosecutors.
Tvind 'is cutting downthe rainforest' in Brazil
Tvind leaders accused of financial and environmental fraud
Tvind assets: Floresta Jatoba (Fazenda Floryl) plantation, melon farm; projects.
In Brazil, Tvind claims to be an aid agency, with 'projects' at Parana and Recife. But behind the scenes, Tvind is also the owner of a huge commercial ranch in the Brazilian jungle, where it is accused by local people (as reported in several newspapers) of logging the rainforest and ruthlessly exploiting workers.
The 104,000-hectare plantation at Jatobà (Fazenda Floryl) was bought from Shell for $9m in 1994. This farm produces bananas, sugarcane, eucalyptus, rice and citrus fruit, all for export to the USA and Europe. Local sources say hardwoods are unsustainably logged. Workers are not represented by any union and wages, conditions, accommodation and health care are said to be extremely poor. Workers may well come from other central American countries. Outsiders are not allowed to visit and journalists are warned off.
For years Tvind denied any connection with Fazenda Floryl even though the farm manager is a member of the Teachers Group. Instead, Tvind said it had funded 'environmental projects' in Brazil through its charity, the Humanitarian Fund. In 2001 this was exposed as a lie. Documents emerged in Denmark showing that Tvind used the Humanitarian Fund money to buy Jatobà as a commercial forestry plantation, not as an environmental project. This is a key part of the Danish police prosecution of Tvind and its four top leaders for fraud and tax evasion. Poul Joergensen, one of the four accused, attempted to steal this document from court files, according to Danish newspaper reports.
Under Tvind, the company ownership of Fazenda Floryl has passed through several different names and offshore companies, all Tvind-run. It is believed to be one of at least 24 Tvind plantations in Latin America, ultimately controlled by Channel Island-registered companies Bahia Farming and Lyle Enterprise, with an administrative centre in Ecuador.
Map of Fazenda Floryl
Map of Brazil (under construction)
Newspaper articles
See: News archive
Tvind
shops for new plantations.
Ekstra Bladet, Denmark, September 1996. The reporter, Kurt Simonsen, was once a Tvind solidarity worker, but has written articles exposing Tvind for many years.
What
is UFF hiding on its plantation in Brazil?
Profit seems to have replaced humanity as the aid organisation's driving force. From Dagens Nyheter, Sweden, 10th June 2000, by Bengt Lindström
Madeireira bancada por entidade filantrópica dinamarquesa agride leis brasileiras na Bahia (VEJA, Brazil, 11 de julho de 2001) Flávia Varella (in Portuguese)
Stolen document reveals Tvind-fund
A document indicating Tvind's ownership of the Jatoba plantation and revealing its true purpose - logging - was stolen from court files by one of the defendants in the Danish fraud court case against Tvind. Berlingske Tidende, June 29th, 2001
Companies
See Tvind companies
Bahia
Farming Ltd (Jersey-registered offshore company)
Parent company
Lyle Enterprise
(Jersey-registered offshore company)
Parent company
Floryl Florestadora YPA S/A
(Brazil)
Formerly Floresta Atlantica (Brazil) Ltd and Fazenda Floresta Jatobà SA
Owner, Fazenda Floryl. Subsidiary company. Sells tropical hard wood to Argentina, Chile and Portugal, Denmark, Malaysia and Japan.
Grupo Danés
(Ecuador)
Possible parent company, owns 8 farms
with 2000 employees in central and
south America.
Tropical
Farming (Cayman-registered offshore company)
Former parent company
Plantations:
See: Tvind plantations
Fazenda Floryl, Bahia province
Big River Melons
More information please
'Projects'
See: Tvind projects
IICD and Planet Aid in Brazil
http://gemini.berkshire.net/~iicd1/brazil.html
IICD programme
From IICD web site:
IICD: In Brazil one month is spent in a farming cooperative in Parana in the south. Teams have built pre-schools, and made other improvements for the community. Another month is spent in Recife working on a variety of programs to improve the lives of people who live in the slums and to educate street children. A month is set aside for travel and research in different parts of Brazil. Information collected in this time is used for presentations and educational products.
IICD solidarity workers work
with community development projects with poor farmers in the south of Brazil,
and with organizations for street children in Recife.
During the first month of the international period, IICD volunteers live and work with a rural cooperative in the southern state of Parana. The people in the cooperative have obtained land through agrarian reform, and are now in the process of building new, productive lives.
The team works with the cooperative on a daily basis, and learns about the settlement, its plans, and work. The IICD group brings some money, from their fundraising in the preparation period, to put into a project that they carry out together with the community.
Another month is spent in Recife, the biggest city in the North East, working with various organizations who work to improve the conditions of people who dwell in the slums, and with the education of street children. In this way IICD teams experience life in both rural and urban Brazil.
Stolen document reveals Tvind-fund
A document indicating Tvind's ownership of the Jatoba plantation and revealing its true purpose - logging - was stolen from court files by one of the defendants in the Danish fraud court case against Tvind. Berlingske Tidende, June 29th, 2001
Companies
See Tvind companies
Bahia
Farming Ltd (Jersey-registered offshore company)
Parent company
Lyle Enterprise
(Jersey-registered offshore company)
Parent company
Floryl Florestadora YPA S/A
(Brazil)
Formerly Floresta Atlantica (Brazil) Ltd and Fazenda Floresta Jatobà SA
Owner, Fazenda Floryl. Subsidiary company. Sells tropical hard wood to Argentina, Chile and Portugal, Denmark, Malaysia and Japan.
Grupo Danés
(Ecuador)
Possible parent company, owns 8 farms
with 2000 employees in central and
south America.
Tropical
Farming (Cayman-registered offshore company)
Former parent company
Plantations:
See: Tvind plantations
Fazenda Floryl, Bahia province
Big River Melons
More information please
'Projects'
See: Tvind projects
IICD and Planet Aid in Brazil
http://gemini.berkshire.net/~iicd1/brazil.html
IICD programme
From IICD web site:
IICD: In Brazil one month is spent in a farming cooperative in Parana in the south. Teams have built pre-schools, and made other improvements for the community. Another month is spent in Recife working on a variety of programs to improve the lives of people who live in the slums and to educate street children. A month is set aside for travel and research in different parts of Brazil. Information collected in this time is used for presentations and educational products.
IICD solidarity workers work
with community development projects with poor farmers in the south of Brazil,
and with organizations for street children in Recife.
During the first month of the international period, IICD volunteers live and work with a rural cooperative in the southern state of Parana. The people in the cooperative have obtained land through agrarian reform, and are now in the process of building new, productive lives.
The team works with the cooperative on a daily basis, and learns about the settlement, its plans, and work. The IICD group brings some money, from their fundraising in the preparation period, to put into a project that they carry out together with the community.
Another month is spent in Recife, the biggest city in the North East, working with various organizations who work to improve the conditions of people who dwell in the slums, and with the education of street children. In this way IICD teams experience life in both rural and urban Brazil.
A document indicating Tvind's ownership of the Jatoba plantation and revealing its true purpose - logging - was stolen from court files by one of the defendants in the Danish fraud court case against Tvind. Berlingske Tidende, June 29th, 2001
Companies
See Tvind companies
Bahia
Farming Ltd (Jersey-registered offshore company)
Parent company
Lyle Enterprise
(Jersey-registered offshore company)
Parent company
Floryl Florestadora YPA S/A
(Brazil)
Formerly Floresta Atlantica (Brazil) Ltd and Fazenda Floresta Jatobà SA
Owner, Fazenda Floryl. Subsidiary company. Sells tropical hard wood to Argentina, Chile and Portugal, Denmark, Malaysia and Japan.
Grupo Danés
(Ecuador)
Possible parent company, owns 8 farms
with 2000 employees in central and
south America.
Tropical
Farming (Cayman-registered offshore company)
Former parent company
Plantations:
See: Tvind plantations
Fazenda Floryl, Bahia province
Big River Melons
More information please
'Projects'
See: Tvind projects
IICD and Planet Aid in Brazil
http://gemini.berkshire.net/~iicd1/brazil.html
IICD programme
From IICD web site:
IICD: In Brazil one month is spent in a farming cooperative in Parana in the south. Teams have built pre-schools, and made other improvements for the community. Another month is spent in Recife working on a variety of programs to improve the lives of people who live in the slums and to educate street children. A month is set aside for travel and research in different parts of Brazil. Information collected in this time is used for presentations and educational products.
IICD solidarity workers work
with community development projects with poor farmers in the south of Brazil,
and with organizations for street children in Recife.
During the first month of the international period, IICD volunteers live and work with a rural cooperative in the southern state of Parana. The people in the cooperative have obtained land through agrarian reform, and are now in the process of building new, productive lives.
The team works with the cooperative on a daily basis, and learns about the settlement, its plans, and work. The IICD group brings some money, from their fundraising in the preparation period, to put into a project that they carry out together with the community.
Another month is spent in Recife, the biggest city in the North East, working with various organizations who work to improve the conditions of people who dwell in the slums, and with the education of street children. In this way IICD teams experience life in both rural and urban Brazil.
Companies
See Tvind companies
Bahia
Farming Ltd (Jersey-registered offshore company)
Parent company
Lyle Enterprise
(Jersey-registered offshore company)
Parent company
Floryl Florestadora YPA S/A
(Brazil)
Formerly Floresta Atlantica (Brazil) Ltd and Fazenda Floresta Jatobà SA
Owner, Fazenda Floryl. Subsidiary company. Sells tropical hard wood to Argentina, Chile and Portugal, Denmark, Malaysia and Japan.
Grupo Danés
(Ecuador)
Possible parent company, owns 8 farms
with 2000 employees in central and
south America.
Tropical
Farming (Cayman-registered offshore company)
Former parent company
Plantations:
See: Tvind plantations
Fazenda Floryl, Bahia province
Big River Melons
More information please
'Projects'
See: Tvind projects
IICD and Planet Aid in Brazil
http://gemini.berkshire.net/~iicd1/brazil.html
IICD programme
From IICD web site:
IICD: In Brazil one month is spent in a farming cooperative in Parana in the south. Teams have built pre-schools, and made other improvements for the community. Another month is spent in Recife working on a variety of programs to improve the lives of people who live in the slums and to educate street children. A month is set aside for travel and research in different parts of Brazil. Information collected in this time is used for presentations and educational products.
IICD solidarity workers work
with community development projects with poor farmers in the south of Brazil,
and with organizations for street children in Recife.
During the first month of the international period, IICD volunteers live and work with a rural cooperative in the southern state of Parana. The people in the cooperative have obtained land through agrarian reform, and are now in the process of building new, productive lives.
The team works with the cooperative on a daily basis, and learns about the settlement, its plans, and work. The IICD group brings some money, from their fundraising in the preparation period, to put into a project that they carry out together with the community.
Another month is spent in Recife, the biggest city in the North East, working with various organizations who work to improve the conditions of people who dwell in the slums, and with the education of street children. In this way IICD teams experience life in both rural and urban Brazil.
Parent company
Lyle Enterprise
(Jersey-registered offshore company)
Parent company
Floryl Florestadora YPA S/A
(Brazil)
Formerly Floresta Atlantica (Brazil) Ltd and Fazenda Floresta Jatobà SA
Owner, Fazenda Floryl. Subsidiary company. Sells tropical hard wood to Argentina, Chile and Portugal, Denmark, Malaysia and Japan.
Grupo Danés
(Ecuador)
Possible parent company, owns 8 farms
with 2000 employees in central and
south America.
Tropical
Farming (Cayman-registered offshore company)
Former parent company
Plantations:
See: Tvind plantations
Fazenda Floryl, Bahia province
Big River Melons
More information please
'Projects'
See: Tvind projects
IICD and Planet Aid in Brazil
http://gemini.berkshire.net/~iicd1/brazil.html
IICD programme
From IICD web site:
IICD: In Brazil one month is spent in a farming cooperative in Parana in the south. Teams have built pre-schools, and made other improvements for the community. Another month is spent in Recife working on a variety of programs to improve the lives of people who live in the slums and to educate street children. A month is set aside for travel and research in different parts of Brazil. Information collected in this time is used for presentations and educational products.
IICD solidarity workers work
with community development projects with poor farmers in the south of Brazil,
and with organizations for street children in Recife.
During the first month of the international period, IICD volunteers live and work with a rural cooperative in the southern state of Parana. The people in the cooperative have obtained land through agrarian reform, and are now in the process of building new, productive lives.
The team works with the cooperative on a daily basis, and learns about the settlement, its plans, and work. The IICD group brings some money, from their fundraising in the preparation period, to put into a project that they carry out together with the community.
Another month is spent in Recife, the biggest city in the North East, working with various organizations who work to improve the conditions of people who dwell in the slums, and with the education of street children. In this way IICD teams experience life in both rural and urban Brazil.
Lyle Enterprise
(Jersey-registered offshore company)
Parent company
Floryl Florestadora YPA S/A
(Brazil)
Formerly Floresta Atlantica (Brazil) Ltd and Fazenda Floresta Jatobà SA
Owner, Fazenda Floryl. Subsidiary company. Sells tropical hard wood to Argentina, Chile and Portugal, Denmark, Malaysia and Japan.
Grupo Danés
(Ecuador)
Possible parent company, owns 8 farms
with 2000 employees in central and
south America.
Tropical
Farming (Cayman-registered offshore company)
Former parent company
Plantations:
See: Tvind plantations
Fazenda Floryl, Bahia province
Big River Melons
More information please
'Projects'
See: Tvind projects
IICD and Planet Aid in Brazil
http://gemini.berkshire.net/~iicd1/brazil.html
IICD programme
From IICD web site:
IICD: In Brazil one month is spent in a farming cooperative in Parana in the south. Teams have built pre-schools, and made other improvements for the community. Another month is spent in Recife working on a variety of programs to improve the lives of people who live in the slums and to educate street children. A month is set aside for travel and research in different parts of Brazil. Information collected in this time is used for presentations and educational products.
IICD solidarity workers work
with community development projects with poor farmers in the south of Brazil,
and with organizations for street children in Recife.
During the first month of the international period, IICD volunteers live and work with a rural cooperative in the southern state of Parana. The people in the cooperative have obtained land through agrarian reform, and are now in the process of building new, productive lives.
The team works with the cooperative on a daily basis, and learns about the settlement, its plans, and work. The IICD group brings some money, from their fundraising in the preparation period, to put into a project that they carry out together with the community.
Another month is spent in Recife, the biggest city in the North East, working with various organizations who work to improve the conditions of people who dwell in the slums, and with the education of street children. In this way IICD teams experience life in both rural and urban Brazil.
During the first month of the international period, IICD volunteers live and work with a rural cooperative in the southern state of Parana. The people in the cooperative have obtained land through agrarian reform, and are now in the process of building new, productive lives.
The team works with the cooperative on a daily basis, and learns about the settlement, its plans, and work. The IICD group brings some money, from their fundraising in the preparation period, to put into a project that they carry out together with the community.
Another month is spent in Recife, the biggest city in the North East, working with various organizations who work to improve the conditions of people who dwell in the slums, and with the education of street children. In this way IICD teams experience life in both rural and urban Brazil.