La Pallice, France - More than 36 hours after Greenpeace activists climbed on to the unloading cranes of the Pacific Teal in France, the protest against the Canadian logging company Interfor and French do-it-yourself store, Lapeyre, has ended.

Braving force eight winds, more than 25 activists locked themselves to the ship's gantries, hatches and to land-based unloading cranes. Sixty activists participated in this weekend's actions. "This is not the end of the action," said Ludivic Frere of Greenpeace France. "It is the beginning of our campaign against Lapeyre."

The Teal Arrow is transporting timber from Interfor, the largest Canadian destroyer of temperate rainforests in the world. Lapeyre is one of the logging company's largest European customers and the owner of the timber currently under protest. Greenpeace is demanding that Lapeyre stop using timber from ancient rainforest destruction in the manufacturing of the doors, floors and window frames they sell to the public.

Greenpeace was served with documents ordering them to pay a retroactive fine of US$40,000 per day for two days plus, as of 6:00 pm (CET), another fine of US$1,500.0 per hour for anyone on the docks. "We are stopping this protest now because we don't want to tie up our donators fund on legal procedures," said Gavin Edwards, Greenpeace Forests Campaigner from Canada. "We want to be able to continue our protests against Lapeyre in France and the rest of Europe."

Today, Greenpeace launched www.lapeyre.org/destruction, a website highlighting Lapeyre's role in the destruction of Canada's Great Bear Rainforest on Canada's West Coast.

For more information about International Forest Products and their role in ancient temperate rainforest destruction, download:
INTERFOR: CERTIFIED DESTRUCTION - A Greenpeace briefing on Interfor's operations in Canada's Great Bear Rainforest.

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.

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