Challenge Issued to BC Gov't and Logging Co's as 3rd UK Contract

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

Greenpeace Issues Public Challenge to Government and Logging
Industry Third UK Company Cancels BC Contract

VANCOUVER, BC., March 3, 1998 - Signaling a dramatic shift in
purchasing decisions, the third UK company in three months has
announced that it will no longer buy clearcut rainforest
products from British Columbia.  In a statement released today
the UK retail chain 'Do It All' stated their concerns about
logging in the Great Bear Rainforest and the refusal of Canadian
companies to provide products certified under the Forest
Stewardship Council (an independent environmental certification
system) as the reason for a shift to second growth certified
pine. The statement from Do It All follows similar statements
from B&Q and Homebase, two other UK do-it-yourself stores.

"The current view of Do It All is that we will be unable to
source Forest Stewardship Council certified hemlock from Canada
in the foreseeable further."  stated Gerard Magill, Do It All's
timber products technical manager.  Do It All is one of the
original members of the World Wildlife Fund 1995 Plus Group
which is committed to providing its customers with timber
products originating from well managed forests.

Greenpeace today issued a challenge to the government and forest
industry to respond to market changes, offering to help promote
BC forest products internationally if the industry moved towards
FSC certification and placed a moratorium on logging in the
contentious pristine watershed of the Great Bear Rainforest.

"The forest industry is behind the times and the bottom line is
that people don't want to buy products made from clearcut
rainforests.  Greenpeace is urging government and industry to
move quickly to more environmentally responsible logging
practices that we can help promote internationally," said
Greenpeace forest campaigner Tzeporah Berman. In this critical
time of downturn and market uncertainty, BC should be grabbing
hold of these new green markets and ensuring  a stable economy
and customer base."

"If we allow the government to sell out to the big logging
corporations they will ensure that our vibrant rural communities
become ghost towns and our ancient forests become an ever
expanding clearcut wasteland," said Ms. Berman "We need to put
BC first and stop giving the logging corporations a free ride." 

Costs of logging on BC's mainland coast have increased due in
large part to scarcity and inaccessibility of the remaining
ancient rainforests.  BC's ancient rainforests are quickly
becoming uneconomical to log as well as undesirable to socially
responsible consumers. 

In addition, while the rate of cut in BC has almost doubled in
the past twenty years, forestry has decreased its contribution
to the economy by one half, from over 10% to around 5% in the
same period. There is a steady growth of jobs in BC but the
forest sector is experiencing no growth at all.  - 2 -

More jobs in the forest industry can be created through
increases in our value added programs and support for other
growing industries that could reduce our dependence on logging
the last of the ancient forests.   Tourism is now BC' s largest
single employer with 25,000 new jobs expected to be created in
this sector by the year 2001.

"We need to all work together to put BC first, diversify our
economy and support new growing industries.  We also need to
develop new environmentally sound forest practices that ensure
the long term health of our environment and our economy," said
Ms. Berman. "This government needs to realize that protecting
our communities does not necessarily mean protecting the big
logging corporations. BC needs to be investing in sustainable
jobs and not logging company profits."

Over 80% of the world's ancient forests have already been
destroyed or degraded.  Canada has some of the largest areas of
ancient forest left in the world.  The Great Bear Rainforest in
British Columbia is one of the largest and most threatened areas
of temperate rainforest in the world.  Of the original 353
intact watersheds on British Columbia's mainland coast only 69
exist today.  The logging companies Doman, Western Forest
Products and Interfor are threatening  to build roads into these
last pristine rainforest valleys within the next two weeks.

The Greenpeace/Ian McAllister tour will visit London, Hamburg,
Brussels, Vienna and Amsterdam in the next two weeks.  

Note: A copy of the Do It All statement is available on request.

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