In Memoriam

Mr. Giuseppe Vassallo

Mr. Giuseppe Vassallo, the Honorary Consul of Gabon in Italy (Milan), died in a car accident on March 31 2000 at the age of 63. Mr. Vassallo was well-known and respected by Greenpeace as the person who had focused world-wide attention on the importance of Gabon's rainforests and the destructive role of the logging industry in this country.

Mr. Vassallo had made it his mission to bring to the world's attention, the particular plight of the Ipassa-Mingouli rainforest in Northeastern Gabon.

Ipassa-Mingouli rainforest - Gabon

International conservation bodies such as IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) have long identified this wilderness region as a top priority for biodiversity conservation. Moreover, the Ipassa-Mingouli region has tremendous potential for eco-tourism and scientific research on primary rainforest ecology.

Despite numerous recommendations to protect this precious area, all rainforests in this region are allocated to logging companies, risking irreversible damage and endangering other development options for the region. Greenpeace's own research (Buying Destruction -1999, p. 27,40&41) - identifies the activities of the French logging company Rougier, who are active in the Ipassa-Mingouli region, as being of major concern.

Greenpeace has expressed its condolences to Gabon's ambassador in Italy and to the family of Mr. Vassallo for the tremendous loss of a great servant to the people and to the nature of Gabon. Greenpeace hopes, together with Mr. Vassalo's many friends and family, that the Ipassa-Mingouli region will soon get the protection it deserves.

Greenpeace International forest campaign