History of Greenpeace's Canadian Ancient Rainforest Campaign

1991: Greenpeace launches campaign to raise awareness of the clearcutting of Canada's coastal rainforest.

1993: International outcry arises over plans by MacMillan Bloedel to clearcut Clayoquot Sound, the largest rainforest on Vancouver Island. Greenpeace organises performance of rock band Midnight Oil to perform for thousands of Canadians concerned over the clearcutting. By the end of the year, over 1,000 individuals have been arrested for trying to stop the clearcutting. In November, senior officials of Greenpeace offices from around the world, including the Executive Director of Greenpeace International, go to jail for blocking the road to the forests.

1994: After meetings with Greenpeace, MacMillan Bloedel customers such as Scott Paper in the UK and Kimberley-Clark cancel contracts, putting pressure on the logging company to resolve the conflicts in Clayoquot Sound. Customers in Austria, Germany and the US express concern to MacMillan Bloedel.

1995: The BC government endorses the findings of an independent scientific committee, which recommends that clearcutting in Clayoquot be ended and logging be deferred in pristine areas of the Sound.

1997: A campaign to save the Great Bear Rainforest is launched on the Central and North Coast of BC, with the main focus on Western Forest Products, International Forest Products and West Fraser Timber. Greenpeace activists are invited by the hereditary chiefs of the Nuxalk Nation to help them protect one of the their sacred sites from being logged by Interfor. After a 21 day blockade, six Nuxalk people and 18 non-Nuxalk are arrested and jailed for their efforts to stop the clearcutting. Customers in European countries condemn the logging and the arrests, and begin to exert consumer pressure on the three logging companies.

1998: Customers in Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, UK and Germany cancel contracts with the coastal logging companies. The campaign also begins in Japan, with the support of a Nuxalk hereditary chief. After years of concerted pressure from concerned Canadians and the international marketplace, MacMillan Bloedel announces a five-year-plan to phase out clearcutting throughout its operations.

1999: After months of protests, Home Depot finally commits to phase out purchasing wood from endangered forest areas, including Western Red Cedar from the Canadian rainforest and instead demands FSC certified logging. Frustrated by years of hollow promises from the BC logging industry, a delegation of the German paper and magazine publishing companies visit B. on a Greenpeace-sponsored tour of logging sites. Shocked by what they see, they inform the BC government and industry that unless eco-certification is pursued, and unless all the remaining large intact, rainforest valleys are placed under a moratorium, the German buyers will cancel contracts with BC companies. The coastal logging companies begin negotiating in earnest with Greenpeace and other environmental organisations to reach agreement on a moratorium on logging the rainforest valleys and the development of a process to achieve permanent protection for many of these threatened areas.

2000: In May Interfor and West Fraser leave the negotiations and continue logging in critical rainforest areas. Greenpeace launches a campaign targeting these two companies, including a new campaign to target their investors.Ethical Funds Inc. immediately divests its shares in West Fraser Timber in response to their departure from the negotiations. In December Royal Bank of Canada and Friends Ivory Simes of the UK follow suit, divesting over $11million in Interfor shares between them, amounting to almost 10 percent of Interfor's outstanding shares.

2001: From January to March protests are carried out by Greenpeace in Europe, North America, China and Japan, with blockades of wood shipments, protests at embassies, retail outlets and lumber yards, aimed at persuading investors and customers to demand an end to the destruction. Companies globally voice concerns over Interfor’s logging and refusal to join in dialogue with key players. Key industry players such as Amdega, (the world’s largest conservatory manufacturer), Auspine (Australian timber importer), and the Italian supermarket chain Coop, the Belgian Timber Trade Federation (representing Belgian timber importers) and other companies in New Zealand, China and The Netherlands all cease buying products derived from Interfor. In Japan alone over 70 companies including Mitsubishi and Fujiya stop buying from Interfor.

April 2001: Interfor and West Fraser agree to a package of deferrals in logging, protection of rainforest areas, and an ongoing process to reform logging practices along with other logging companies. BC government endorses the agreement.