We hang a banner outside the Finnish Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry

Helsinki. Today (19 April 2005), Greenpeace activists and campaigners from six countries (1) dumped a truckload of logging waste inside the Helsinki offices of the Minister of Forestry, Mr Korkeaoja. Climbers unfurled a banner from the roof of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry (MAF) reading: "Don't Finnish the Sàmi forests."

In northern Lapland, many Sàmi indigenous peoples still practice traditional reindeer herding, relying on remaining old-growth forests to provide vital food for their reindeer during the cold winter months. However, for many decades, MAF has sanctioned the wholesale destruction of reindeer forests by allowing Metsähallitus, the State's own logging company, to profit from this human rights conflict. (2)

"Minister Korkeaoja is ultimately responsible for the forest conflict in the Sàmi Homeland," said Matti Liimatainen, Greenpeace forest campaigner. "His Ministry is jeopardising the future of the Sàmi forests and reindeer herding, all in the name of making a profit for Metsähallitus. This is a disgrace."

To date, MAF has been unwilling to solve the conflict. They have pushed their responsibility and solutions back to local level of Metsàhallitus, despite of the fact that it has no genuine will or tools to solve the conflict. MAF is even unwilling to answer a letter sent in February by Inari reindeer-herding co-operatives regarding pre-conditions for negotiations. Similarly, MAF has not responded to a joint letter by Greenpeace, Finnish Association for Nature Conservation and WWF Finland on this conflict.

On 2 March, Greenpeace established a Forest Rescue Station in one of the threatened reindeer forest areas to highlight the role of Metsähallitus and those paper companies that buy this destruction. In recent weeks, the conflict has escalated into scenes of death threats and intimidation against Greenpeace activists, local reindeer herders and other people who have visited to express their sympathy and support for the campaign. (3)

On 7 April, Metsähallitus workers set up a so-called ''Anti-Terror Info Centre' close to Greenpeace's Rescue Station in Nellim forests. Despite the name 'Anti-Terror,' workers at the camp have tried to intimidate Greenpeace activists during the night by brandishing chainsaws and horns, banging metal drums, or driving snow-scooters around the Station blasting an air-raid siren. A heavy forest machine has been illegally driven around the Rescue Station, dumping tree trunks and stumps close to people, violating safety regulations for such machines.

For more information, please contact:

Matti Liimatainen, Forest Campaigner, +358 400 346 329
Mikael Sjàvall, Press officer, +358 50 3696 202
Phil Aikman, Forest Campaigner, +358 40 879 2472

Notes to editor:

1. Finland, Sweden, The Netherlands, the UK, Spain and Germany
2. In November 2004, the UN Committee on Human Rights gave clear recommendations to the Finnish State to resolve this conflict.
3. Two weeks ago, a Greenpeace campaigner working in the region received a death threat from a local logger, who has recently worked for Metsähallitus. Mr Jarmo Pyykkö received the call on his mobile phone, which was witnessed by his wife. The individual, who gave his identity and did not hide his own phone mobile number, said: "If you will not remove the camp in 48 hours, some people will be killed. Me and some others will do it.... You will be the first one... I can kill if needed... There's no harm if I'll end up in prison." The local police in Ivalo have failed to take urgent measures to ensure the safety of Greenpeace activists from many countries across Europe. Many reindeer herders have also received threatening phone calls in the middle of the night.

Old-growth forest destruction in Finland's Inari municipality (Sami homeland)

A group of acclaimed European writers will today join Greenpeace on a tour of northern Finland to witness first hand the destruction of ancient forests. The forests are being decimated to make pulp and paper for the international market.

The tour will include a visit to Greenpeace's Forest Rescue Station in the Sàmi reindeer forest area. The station was established in March to highlight the activities of Finnish State-owned logging company, Metsähallitus and those other paper companies which are buying paper from the area, and supporting the destruction of ancient forests. It has already been instrumental in convincing the Xerox Corporation (USA) to agree to stop buying copy paper sourced from the ancient forests in the Sàmi region.

"I cannot keep wondering how much pulp paper my book has swallowed, how many trees have been logged, how much destruction of natural habitat has my modest endeavour caused," said Spain's Javier Moro, one of the visiting writers. "It is our duty as writers to protect our books from being accomplices in nature's holocaust."

Other writers on the tour are Niccolo Ammaniti (Italy), Ken Finn (U.K.), Karel Verleyen (Belgium), Aurèlie Filipetti (France), Robin Valtiala (Finland) and Lydia Rood (The Netherlands). Greenpeace's campaign is also being supported by internationally renowned writers Isabel Allende, Gunter Grass, Margaret Atwood and Ian Rankin.

As part of the Greenpeace's Book Campaign (1), the writers are acting as ambassadors for the protection of the worlds' remaining ancient forests (2) and have pledged to print their next book on 'ancient forest friendly' paper (3).

The writers will visit some of Finland's most threatened ancient forest areas in northern Lapland, some 300 kilometres north of the Arctic Circle. The region includes important reindeer habitats - vital to the livelihood of the indigenous Sàmi reindeer herders - which have recently been logged by Metsähallitus.

"The Finnish logging industry is writing the final chapter in the demise of Europes ancient forests," said Greenpeace International's Judy Rodrigues. "It is time for the publishing industry to turn the page on ancient forest destruction and lead the paper industry towards 'ancient forest friendly' solutions."

For more information contact:
Judy Rodrigues, Greenpeace International +31 6 46 166 299
Greenpeace International Communications: +31 6 29 00 1141

Notes to editor:
1. The Book Campaign aims convince the book publishing industry to stop using paper which contributes to ancient forest destruction including those in Finland, Russia and Canada. It encourages the industry to start developing ancient forest friendly solutions such as the use of recycled paper and/or FSC virgin fibre certified paper.
2. Areas of ancient forest in Finland, Canada and Russia are mostly under threat by paper demand. The majority of paper products in Western Europe are made of virgin pulp from countries like Finland - which contain some of the last fragments of old growth forest in Europe - and Russia, where at least 50% of logging is estimated to be illegal. Canadas Boreal forest is the largest tract of ancient forest left in North America, yet more than 45% of it has been allocated to logging companies to meet the demand for paper.
3. Ancient forest friendly papers are those that maximise recycled content with any virgin fibre coming from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified sources. The FSC is the only certification scheme that can ensure that the timber products you are buying come from forests that have been managed in an environmentally and socially responsible way.

Links
< www.greenpeace.org/bookcampaign weblog.greenpeace.org/forestrescue

Greenpeace is an independent campaigning organisation that uses non-violent creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems to force solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future.

A present for the Finnish PM: woodchips made from ancient reindeer forests

Greenpeace activists in Rome today appealed to the Finnish Prime Minister to save the Sàmi reindeer forests in Northern Finland . The activists unfurled a banner - Stop Trashing Sàmi Reindeer Forests - at the UN headquarters of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Wood chips were deposited in front of the building to highlight the fact that the Finnish government is turning the reindeer forests into wood chips for pulp and paper production.

The Prime Minister of Finland, Matti Vanhanen, is visiting Rome to open a Finnish Forestry Room in the FAO building. The government claims that the meeting room "represents an important aspect of their national culture."

"Whilst the Finnish Prime Minister travels abroad to celebrate its national culture, his government back home has been busy making money from destroying the livelihood of Sàmi reindeer herders," said Matti Liimatainen, Greenpeace forests campaigner. "Traditional free-grazing reindeer herding forms the basis of Sàmi indigenous culture, but its future hangs in the balance as the government refuses to seek a long-term solution in the issue."

Through the state-owned forest company Metsähallitus, the Finnish government has been logging in important reindeer grazing areas to supply Finnish pulp mills with cheap raw materials (1). In 2003 the reindeer herders together with Greenpeace and the Finnish Association for Nature Conservation (FANC) mapped out forest areas essential for winter grazing. Over 90% of the mapped forest areas were found to be old-growth forest.

"Speaking from Rome, Ms Sini Harkki from FANC said: "It is time for the Finnish government to live up to its national and international responsibilities and protect Lapland's old growth forests and the rights of the Sàmi to practise traditional reindeer herding. If this issue continues to be ignored, the future of traditional free-grazing reindeer herding remains uncertain. We can not let this happen.""

This activity follows a similar protest outside the UN venue Palais de Nations in Geneva yesterday. During the UN Human Rights Commission's 61st session, Mr Erkki Tuomioja, Minister of Foreign Affairs, gave a speech stating that Finland's objectives for its term of membership in the UN Human Rights Commission is to prevent discrimination of minorities and indigenous peoples. However, the Finnish government was recent criticised by the UN Human Rights Committee for discriminating against the rights of the Sàmi as indigenous people. (2)

At the beginning of March, Greenpeace established a Forest Rescue Station in one of the threatened reindeer forest areas to highlight the ongoing destruction by Metsauml;hallitus, the Finnish government's logging company and those paper companies that continue to buy this destruction (3)

Contacts:
Matti Liimatainen, Greenpeace Nordic (Lapland) + 358 400 346 329
Phil Aikman Greenpeace International (London) + 44 7801 212995
Mikael Sjövall, Greenpeace Nordic (Helsinki) + 358 50 3696 202
Sini Harkki (FANC, Rome) + 358 50 582 1107

Notes to editor:
1. Up to 90% of Metsauml;hallitus's turnover comes from the sale of timber. The Finnish State is also the single largest shareholder in the main company that buys pulp logs coming from these areas, owning nearly one quarter of the voting shares in the Finnish-Swedish paper giant StoraEnso.
2. UN Human Rights Committee (November 2004):
"....regrets that it has not received a clear answer concerning the rights of the Sàmi as an indigenous people (Constitution, sect. 17, subsect. 3), in the light of article 1 of the Covenant. It reiterates its concern over the failure to settle the question of Sàmi rights to land ownership and the various public and private uses of land that affect the Sàmi's traditional means of subsistence - in particular reindeer breeding - thus endangering their traditional culture and way of life, and hence their identity."
"The State party should, in conjunction with the Sàmi people, swiftly take decisive action to arrive at an appropriate solution to the land dispute with due regard for the need to preserve the Sàmi identity in accordance with article 27 of the Covenant. Meanwhile it is requested to refrain from any action that might adversely prejudice settlement of the issue of Sàmi land rights. "
3. A weblog documenting the activities of the Forest Rescue Station can be seen at: weblog.greenpeace.org/forestrescue/

Old-growth forest destruction in Finland's Inari municipality (Sami homeland)

Angeli, Finland. 15 March 2005
Today, as local reindeer herders and Greenpeace activists defended the forest rights of indigenous Sàmi people in Arctic Lapland, the Finnish Minister for Foreign Affairs was busy abroad painting a rosy picture of Finland's human rights policy. Campaigners placed demarcation signs in an area of winter reindeer grazing forest important for the Muotkatunturi co-operative in Angeli, northern Lapland.

The area is subject to a pending case in the UN Human Rights Committee. However, the state-owned forestry company Metsähallitus has not given up its plans to log the area. The logging would mean a violation of international human rights agreements signed by the Finnish government (1). The government has ignored the UN Human Rights Committee before. In 1996-1997 Metsähallitus logged an important winter grazing area in Angeli despite a complaint, which was being handled by the Committee.

At the UN Human Rights Commission's 61st session in Geneva, Mr Erkki Tuomioja gave a speech stating that Finland's objectives for its term of membership in the UN Human Rights Commission is to prevent discrimination of minorities and indigenous peoples. However, the Finnish government was recent criticised by the UN Human Rights Committee for discriminating against the rights of the Sàmi as indigenous people (2).

"Mr Tuomioja's hypocrisy is unbelievable. In his correspondence with Greenpeace he has avoided his responsibility by delegating this human rights conflict to the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry," said Matti Liimatainen, Forest Campaigner. "Yet it is the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, which is charged with fulfilling international agreements and reporting about Finland's human rights commitments at these UN meetings. Finland can't demand human rights to be respected elsewhere and neglect international law at home."

A group of Greenpeace activists in Switzerland reminded the international community about the discrepancy in Finland's human rights promises. A group of activists unfolded a banner outside the UN venue Palais de Nations in Geneva saying: "Dear Finnish Minister of Foreign Affairs: Stop Trashing Sàmi Reindeer Forests".

"The logging of old-growth forests in the Sàmi homeland is unsustainable. If the intact forest landscapes disappear, we will loose biodiversity and ethnic diversity. The Sàmi culture and the traditional reindeer herding will also be endangered. We can't allow this to happen," said Liimatainen.

On 2 March, Greenpeace established a Forest Rescue Station in one of the threatened reindeer forest areas to highlight the ongoing destruction by Metsähallitus, the Finnish government's logging company and those paper companies that continue to buy this destruction.

For further information please contact:
Matti Liimatainen, Greenpeace Nordic (Lapland) + 358 400 346 329
Phil Aikman Greenpeace International (London) + 44 7801 212995
Mikael Sjövall, Greenpeace Nordic (Helsinki) + 358 50 3696 202


Notes to the editor:
1. UN Covenant for Civil and Political Rights, Article 2.
2. UN Human Rights Committee (November 2004):

"....regrets that it has not received a clear answer concerning the rights of the Sàmi as an indigenous people (Constitution, sect. 17, subsect. 3), in the light of article 1 of the Covenant. It reiterates its concern over the failure to settle the question of Sàmi rights to land ownership and the various public and private uses of land that affect the Sàmi's traditional means of subsistence - in particular reindeer breeding - thus endangering their traditional culture and way of life, and hence their identity." "The State party should, in conjunction with the Sàmi people, swiftly take decisive action to arrive at an appropriate solution to the land dispute with due regard for the need to preserve the Sàmi identity in accordance with article 27 of the Covenant. Meanwhile it is requested to refrain from any action that might adversely prejudice settlement of the issue of Sàmi land rights."