Vancouver - Greenpeace is challenging International Forest Products (Interfor) to defend its current "war of words" and justify claims that the logging company is committed to peace in the woods.

The Spirit Bear is found only in the Great Bear Rainforest and nowhere else on earth. © O'Neil/Greenpeace 2001

"Interfor says it is working towards sustainable harvesting in the Great Bear Rainforest," said Tamara Stark, Greenpeace forest campaign co-ordinator in Canada. "The company is spending a considerable amount of money on public relations, trying to convince customers that its logging practices are second-to-none. We've got the pictures to prove its shoddy logging is a long way from qualifying as even second rate."

Interfor is busy blasting roads into Spirit Bear habitat on Princess Royal Island in order to access more clearcuts that are planned in the area. © Greenpeace 2001

Greenpeace has acquired new images of current Interfor logging on Princess Royal Island in the Great Bear Rainforest. The island is home to the rare white Kermode or "Spirit" Bear. The photographs show that the company is still clearcut logging in old growth rainforests, and that they are logging in a key rainforest area of some of the most endangered forest on earth.

Western Forest Products also has timber tenures on the island, but has deferred logging in the region for a year in order to help facilitate an enduring peace in the woods. Meanwhile Interfor talks and logs, refusing to lay down its chainsaws and continuing with business as usual.

"Interfor can produce as many glossy brochures as it wants, but the company would be better off investing in real change. Any Interfor customer who sees these images will know that the company's logging is still threatening the ecosystem of Canada's ancient rainforest," said Stark. "Customers of BC wood products need this information to ensure they're not unwittingly contributing to rainforest destruction."

Kumealon Lake, the Great Bear Rainforest. © Greenpeace 2001

Interfor are currently blasting roads into the old growth forest on the island and are in the process of clearcutting 24 separate areas. The total amount of timber they are taking is equivalent to about 250,000 telephone poles, which amounts to about 625 NFL football fields in area. The timber will be shipped to Vancouver for processing, then make its way into the marketplace in Europe, Japan, Canada & the US as a wide range of products including cedar garden decks, roofing shingles, moldings & trim, newsprint and telephone directory paper.

Recent clearcut from Surf Inlet, into a pristine area on the northeast of Princess Royal Island in the Great Bear Rainforest. The island is home to the rare spirit bear, a white bear found nowhere else on earth. © Greenpeace 2001 For more recent clearcut images, visit the BC photo library.

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

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