17 February 2001
Canada must act to protect endangered rainforests

Hong Kong - For the second day in a row, Greenpeace activists protested to highlight their demand that Canada's Prime Minister take immediate action to protect his nation's endangered rainforests.

Prime Minister Jean Chretien is currently in Hong Kong promoting increasing trade between the two nations in fields such as forest products. This time, protestors brought along one of the victims of large-scale, industrial clearcut logging in Canada's rainforests - a Grizzly bear.

The massive inflatable Grizzly measuring 5 metres wide and 6 metres tall, was erected outside the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre shortly before a media briefing given by the Canadian Prime Minister on his China-Hong Kong trade tour.

On Friday, Greenpeace activists piled four tonnes of lumber, clearcut by Canadian logging giant International Forest Products (Interfor), outside Hong Kong's Government House to draw public attention to the horrendous devastation of the world's remaining ancient forests. On that occasion, Mr Chretien was meeting with Hong Kong chief executive Tung Chee Hwa inside the official venue.

"Canada must act to protect biodiversity - nationally and in the Great Bear Rainforest - the largest, intact, unprotected temperate rainforests on earth,"said Catherine Stewart of Greenpeace Canada." Despite ratifying the Convention on Biological Diversity nearly 10 years ago, Canada still does not have an Endangered Species Act - a fundamental requirement of all signatory nations."

"Mr. Chretien's current proposed legislation is woefully inadequate and will do almost nothing to assist species in crisis," said Stewart. More than 140 genetically-unique stocks of salmon in British Columbia and the Yukon have already been driven into extinction. A further 624 stocks are known to be at high risk. Habitat loss is a major factor in salmon decline.

The government of Canada continuously fails to enforce the federal Fisheries Act to prevent the destruction of salmon habitat in the Great Bear Rainforest and protect salmon stocks at risk from industrial clearcut logging. Grizzly bears in BC are also at risk. Their populations in coastal BC forests have declined by 40-80 per cent in the past few decades. The rare white "Spirit" or Kermode bear also lives in Canada's rainforest and is found nowhere else on earth. The existence of these bears is seriously under threat as their habitat is being clearcut.

"Canada must act to address the critical situation of these vulnerable and endangered species, act to protect wildlife and their habitat and act to halt the devastation of the most endangered forests on earth," stressed Stewart. "As Canada's third largest trading partner, the governments, businesses and consumers of China and Hong Kong have a responsibility to demand only wood products derived from ecologically-responsible logging practices and denounce destructive logging practices in Canada and everywhere in the world," said Leon Ko of Greenpeace China.

"Alternatives do exist. Chinese purchasers of Canadian forest products should check where the wood originates. If it comes from the Great Bear Rainforest they should demand harmful logging practices be stopped immediately. They should exercise their consumer power to influence suppliers to provide eco-friendly timber," added Ko. "Don't let China and Hong Kong's dollars fuel the chainsaws destroying this irreplaceable forest ecosystem."

The combined volume of Hong Kong and China's bilateral trade with Canada exceeded HK$65 billion in 1998. Hong Kong and China's demand for Canadian wood products ranked third in 1999, totalling HK$3.5 billion. 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 official trade figures.

Additional news from Hong Kong:
Greenpeace demands Hong Kong and China to stop buying rainforest destruction

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

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