Chilean Environmental Authority Will Allow Destruction of A Uniq

["greenbase" <greenbas@gb.greenpeace.org>]

CHILEAN ENVIRONMENTAL AUTHORITY WILL ALLOW THE DESTRUCTION OF A
UNIQUE FOREST.

Santiago, Chile, Jan. 21st. (GP). The Chilean environmental
authority is about to approve Trillium Corporation's Rio Condor
project, thus sealing the fate of a unique forest in Tierra del
Fuego. The operations of Forestal Trillium (Chilean branch of
Trillium Corp.) will affect 120000 hectares (240000 acres) of
frontier temperate forest. This is one of the most vulnerable
frontier forests in the World, according to the World Resources
Institute.

Greenpeace South Pacific regards the approval of the Rio Condor
project as an arbitrary decision by the Chilean environmental
authority, since the last version of the environmental impact
assessment submitted by the company does not include topographic
and other data essential to determine the impact of the
exploitation of the forest on the soil and the whole ecosystem.
It must be underlined that an independent report on the project
commissioned by the environmental authority says that Forestal
Trillium has grossly overestimated the growth rate of the Lenga
trees (Nothofagus pumilio) that compose most of the forest. This
supports the denunciations by Greenpeace and local environmental
groups about the intentions of Forestal Trillium of altering
data to suit its economic interest.

Greenpeace also points out that it will be almost impossible for
the company to export the wood from Tierra del Fuego, due to the
restrictions to the trade in wood from endangered forests. The
Rio Condor project will be heavily subsidized by the Chilean
government, under the special laws for the development of the
southern regions of the country, thus creating the risk of price
dumping accusations in foreign markets.

Greenpeace urges Trillium Corp. to reconsider the Rio Condor
project in the light of environmentally friendly options, such
as ecotourism, and announces its determination to pursue the
case in the Chilean Courts of Law as well as in the
international scene.

Greenpeace on the Internet at http://www.greenpeace.org