16 February 2001
Greenpeace demands Hong Kong and China to stop buying rainforest destruction

Hong Kong - Greenpeace activists constructed a wall of four tonnes of ancient rainforest lumber clearcut by Canadian logging giant International Forest Products (Interfor) outside Hong Kong's Government House.

Inside, Chief Executive of the Special Administrative Region Tung Chee Hwa was meeting with Canadian Prime Minister, Jean Chretien to discuss trade issues. The action served as a reminder of the horrendous devastation of the world's last remaining ancient forests. Greenpeace is urging the Hong Kong government and businesses not to buy rainforest destruction from Canada.

In recent years, Hong Kong and China have become significant trading partners with Canada with a growing demand for pulp, paper, newsprint and lumber. Hong Kong and China combined now represent Canada's third largest trading partner with bilateral trade exceeding HK$65 billion in 1998. Hong Kong and China's demand for Canadian wood products also ranked third in 1999, totalling HK$3.5 billion. While Hong Kong's demand for newsprint from Canada increased by nearly 70 per cent from 1999 to 2000, amounting to some HK$540 million according to Hong Kong Trade Development Council figures.

"At present, when companies buy forest products from Canadian logging companies such as Interfor, they are buying rainforest destruction. Their purchases support the devastation of some of the world's most endangered forests. Their purchasing dollars are fueling the chainsaws, " warned Catherine Stewart of Greenpeace Canada.

Ancient forests around the world are rapidly being destroyed. One-half of the earth's original forests are gone, much of which were destroyed in the last 30 years. Only one-fifth of the planet's original forest cover remains in large tracts of relatively undisturbed forest - tracts that are large enough to still support wide-ranging species such as grizzly bears and wolves.

"The Forest Practices Code in British Columbia is woefully inadequate as it fails to ensure logging is done in a responsible and ecologically sound manner. The government of Canada is failing to enforce its own Fisheries Act and failing to protect endangered species. And both levels of government have made false claims over the years about their commitment to protect forests and biodiversity. The ongoing destruction must be stopped before it's too late," Stewart added.

Much of British Columbia's rainforest has already been destroyed. There are fragments remaining on Vancouver Island, but the largest, intact, unprotected area of temperate rainforest in the world is the Great Bear Rainforest. Standing at 3.2 million hectares, it is about 32 times Hong Kong's total area. Much of this area is slated for clearcut logging in the next 5 to 10 years.

"We want Hong Kong and China to realise the true environmental cost of their forest product purchases. Canada should live up to its international commitments and protect significant, representative tracts of these globally endangered forests. Any responsible government or customer should demand wood products that are derived only from truly sustainable, ecologically responsible forest practices," said Leon Ko of Greenpeace China.

"The Chinese government, who have become a staunch defender of ancient forest preservation, should take the lead and phase out the import of forest products derived from non-sustainable logging practices anywhere in the world," Ko stressed. "And Canada should outlaw destructive logging practices and take immediate actions to protect rare and endangered forests."

Canadian logging giant, Interfor cuts approximately 3.4 million cubic metres of temperate rainforest each year, largely through clearcuts of up to 40 hectares - the size of around 60 soccer pitches. Despite concerns over its environmental impact, clearcutting remains the dominant harvesting method in Canada.

Additional news today:
Greenpeace boards shipin Italy with pulp from Canadian ancient forests

Notes:
1. The Japanese government recently made a historic announcement by stating that they are going to eliminate illegal logging by setting rules at the importing side. The Vice Minister of the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Mr Matsuoka, said at a press conference held February 13 that, "as a consumer country", we should not "help" environmental destruction.

In July 2000, following an extended Greenpeace campaign with 26 protest actions around the world, the heads of government at the G-8 Summit in Okinawa, Japan, agreed to "… examine how best we can combat illegal logging, including export and procurement practices."

In 1996, the countries which now make up the G8, along with all the rest of the EU countries, were responsible for 74 per cent of the world's imports of wood and wood products, accounting for almost 280 million of the 376 million cubic metres of wood products imported globally that year. Clearly, these powerful importing countries are of profound significance in terms of driving demand for wood production throughout the world. Japan plays a big role in world wood products trade. It imported 73 million cubic metres of wood products in 1998, a substantial part of this from British Columbia's last coastal rainforests. The Japanese government's decision can have a significant impact in stopping illegal and destructive logging in the world's last remaining ancient forests.

2. Greenpeace has launched an international cyber-campaign, calling on volunteers to help track down forest products that have been logged in the Great Bear Rainforest on Canada's West Coast. People all over the world are being asked to track down wood products that have been clearcut logged from Canada's rainforest by International Forest Products (Interfor) and West Fraser Timber, visit the CyberSleuth site to downloading the form and information that will aide in tracking these rainforest destroyers.

READ MORE: Greenpeace Briefing - International Forest Products [An ADOBE document.]

For more information about Greenpeace's ancient forests campaign, email: guestforest@ams.greenpeace.org