December 19, 2000
Jail sentence for protecting ancient forests
The "Raging Grannies" from Canada protest with Greenpeace

Berlin - Greenpeace and Canada's Raging Grannies are protesting against the ongoing destruction of ancient forests in Canada on the Unter den Linden avenue in Berlin today.

One of the Raging Grannies, Betty Krawczyk, a great-grandmother of 72, is currently serving a one year jail sentence for peacefully protesting against clearcutting by Canadian logging company International Forest Products (Interfor).

Denouncing this exceptionally tough jail sentence for a nonviolent environmentalist is another reason why these grannies have come to Germany.

Today these committed women are being received by the Canadian ambassador in Berlin. "Companies like Interfor are the real criminals," says one of the Raging Grannies and former mayor of Belleville, Canada, Shirley Langer. "While the peaceful environmentalist Betty Krawczyk is spending this Christmas in jail, unscrupulous corporations like Interfor are allowed to continue destroying our ancient forests with impunity. And German firms are stubbornly refusing to opt out of their contracts with companies supplied by Interfor."

The Raging Grannies are Ria Bos (65), Freda Knott (64), Shirley Langer (65) and Fran Thoburn (68). These woman make their organisation worthy of its name. They are fighting passionately and nonviolently for the last ancient forests in their homeland of British Columbia on the west coast of Canada. Europe-wide, German companies consume the greatest amount of Canadian ancient forest for making pulp and paper. They thus share responsibility for whether there will still be any ancient forest twenty years from now. We will bring you profiles and updates from these Raging Grannies during their tour.

British Columbia's ancient forests on the west coast of Canada are one of the world's most acutely endangered habitats. They are home to some of the earth's oldest and biggest trees and a refuge for animals which have become rare, such as grizzly bears, black bears, eagles, orcas and salmon. Timber companies like Interfor boast of forest management "according to ecological principles" and in their concession areas leave behind mountain sides 92 per cent of which are clearcut and bare. The sad result is that every tenth species of animal is threatened with extinction. The rights and cultural traditions of the original inhabitants are ignored, and their life-support basis destroyed. More about British Columbia's Great Bear Rainforest.

Betty Krawczyk has been in the jail at Burnaby British Columbia since September, 2000 because she refused to stop blockading an Interfor truck used to transport timber. Greenpeace is therefore calling for Betty Krawczyk to be released from jail in Burnaby in Canada and for all Canadian pulp and timber obtained by destroying ancient forest to be rejected.