The Black River stretches 80km through North Carolina and contains biodiverse wetland forests of dogwoods, oaks, and cypress trees. However, these forests are threatened by increased harvesting of hardwoods due to the European Union's growing energy demands. Richly diverse forests in North Carolina and Virginia are being clearcut and replaced with pine plantations to supply wood pellets to Enviva plants, with over 85% of the pellets exported to the UK to burn for energy. This widespread deforestation and biodiversity loss is causing irreparable damage to ecosystems and wildlife in the region.

1. The Black River stretches for around 80kms through North Carolina and lies in an area of
spectacular natural beauty.

2. These wetland forests are a haven of biodiversity and a variety of trees, including dogwoods,
oak and cypress trees.

3. But they – and their surrounding forests and the ecosystems they support - are under threat by
the European Union’s energy demands, with the harvesting of hardwoods to feed EU bioenergy
demand forecast to increase, according to a recent study published by the European
Commission.

4. This wetland forest by the Roanoke River has been clearcut, revealing that there is little control
over how highly biodiverse forests are being managed.

5. The southern forests of the Unites States are being logged at four times the rate of South
America’s rainforests. Most of these forests are on private land and the destruction is happening
with few rules and little oversight.

6. These hardwoods have been clearcut for Enviva, the world’s largest wood pellet manufacturer,
which has production plants in nearby towns Ahoskie, North Carolina and Southampton,
Virginia.

7. Richly diverse forests are being razed and converted into monoculture pine plantations. Among
the wreckage of tree stumps new pine shoots can be seen. This can cause significant biodiversity
loss as well as changes to the carbon stored belowground, as the EC study showed.

8. The damage to ecosystems and the once flourishing wildlife here is irreparable.

9. Wood is piled high before being pulverized into dried pellets mostly for shipment to Europe.

10. Each year the Enviva plant in Southampton Virginia has a production capacity of 510,000 metric
tons of pellets. Around 85 per cent of the US wood pellet exports go to the UK and most are
burned at Drax, the country’s biggest power station.

11. Up in Flames - How biomass burning
wrecks Europe’s forests, reveals how
forests across Europe and in the US are
being pillaged and their wood used for
energy because of EU policies for
promoting renewable electricity and
heating with the aim to reduce
greenhouse-gas emissions.
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