A new Greenpeace report released today reveals that Hachette USA is one of a number of North American and European corporations fueling the destruction of Canada’s Boreal Forest.
The report, 'Consuming Canada’s Boreal Forest: The chain of destruction from logging companies to consumers', details the environmentally destructive and socially unjust logging practices of Abitibi-Consolidated, Bowater and Kruger. It reveals that more than 68 per cent of the Boreal Forest under the collective management of these companies has already been degraded or fragmented – an area totalling nearly 200,000 km2 - 100 times the size of London. Hachette’s US book arm uses 'alternative book cream' paper manufactured by Abitibi consolidated, which uses pulp from intact Boreal forest areas and Caribou habitat.
Greenpeace UK Forest Campaigner, Mariana Paoli said: "The Hachette Book Group USA is contributing to the destruction of the Canadian Boreal Forest, the largest ancient forest in North America. The company must suspend its contract with Abitibi as a matter of urgency until action is taken on the ground to protect the forest and end destructive logging."
She continued, "In the UK Greenpeace is urging Hachette to follow progressive publishers in the industry and commit to phasing out all paper from dubious sources and move towards ancient forest friendly papers instead."
While other parts of the book industry are making real progress in sourcing ancient forest friendly papers, Hachette has consistently failed to act.
In the UK alone, over 40 per cent of the book industry has adopted good environmental policies – including Random House, Harper Collins, Bloomsbury and Egmont - as part of the Greenpeace Book Campaign. (1) These companies are now well on their way to phasing out fibre from ancient forest destruction and printing their books on recycled paper and paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). (2) Similar progress is being made by publishers in Canada, North America and Europe. Meanwhile, Hachette, which controls 17 per cent of the UK market alone, continues to source ancient forest fibre and has not made any similar commitment to go ancient forest friendly.
Canada’s Boreal Forest contains a quarter of the world’s remaining intact ancient forests and stores 47.5 billion tonnes of carbon in its soils and trees. It is the largest ancient forest in North America and provides habitat for threatened and endangered species such as woodland caribou, lynx, grizzly bear and wolverines. The forest is also home to nearly a million aboriginal peoples.
The report can be downloaded online.
Broadcast quality video and photos available upon request.
For more information, please contact the Greenpeace Press office on 0207 865 8255
NOTES TO EDITORS:
(1). The Greenpeace Book Campaign encourages book publishers to stop printing their paper linked to ancient forest destruction and instead to print their books on ‘ancient forest friendly’ paper. Such paper maximises post consumer recycled content with any virgin fibre coming Forest Stewardship Council certified sources.
(2) The Forest Stewardship Council certification scheme is the best way to ensure that the virgin fibre you use comes from forests that have been managed in an environmentally and socially responsible way.
Greenpeace report reveals Hachette is buying Boreal Forest destruction
The Boreal Forest of North America
Stretching from the Pacific to the Atlantic, the Boreal Forest of North America is a colossal expanse of temperate rainforest covering some 5.6 million km2 and accounts for 28 per cent of the remaining intact forest on the planet.
Orang-utans 'Go Ape' at Hereford garden centre
Orang-utans at the Wyevale garden furniture centre
25 March 2005
Orang-utans, accompanied by Greenpeace volunteers, are protesting at Wyevale garden centre's flagship store in Hereford due to the retailer's involvement in trashing endangered rainforests.
The orang-utans have unveiled a banner reading DON'T BUY WYEVALE GARDEN FURNITURE, while other protestors are distributing 'Lost Ape' leaflets to shoppers.
Yesterday Greenpeace revealed that the timber for Wyevale's 2005 garden furniture range has come from the last rainforests of south-east Asia. The disgraced garden centre chain has also purchased timber from Burma, providing a key source of revenue to the country's military dictatorship. Yesterday evening, Greenpeace received a fax from Wyevale, claiming that they had decided to withdraw all garden furniture made from Burmese timber. However, the garden centre chain is continuing to sell garden furniture made from the last fragments of south-east Asian rainforests.
Yesterday, Greenpeace revealed this year's league table of garden furniture retailers, with Wyevale firmly placed at the bottom. The league table has been compiled following a four-month investigation by Greenpeace, which has identified that some of the UK's largest retailers continue to sell timber from the destruction of the world's last rainforests.
Documents provided by Wyevale indicate that the timber used for some of its garden furniture is exported from the port of Labuan, off the coast of Malaysia. This port is one the main centres for smuggling illegal Indonesian timber, which passes through Malaysia and on to furniture manufacturers in the Far East.
Wyevale are the largest garden centre chain in the UK, with over 110 stores in England and Wales. Garden furniture sales in the UK in 2003 peaked at £557 million.
Illegal and destructive logging in the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia is driving critically endangered species such as the orang-utan to the brink of extinction, where it is estimated that as much as half the population of orang-utans has been wiped out in just ten years.
Unlike Wyevale, some retailers, such as B&Q and Tesco have taken positive steps to remove uncertified rainforest timber from their stores. These retailers sell garden furniture certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) - the only way consumers can buy garden furniture confident in the knowledge that it hasn't come from ancient forest destruction.
Greenpeace has also developed an easy-to-use online guide to buying garden furniture. It is designed to help consumers identify which shops sell environmentally friendly garden furniture, as well as those who still sell furniture from rainforest destruction.
Nathan Argent, Greenpeace forest campaigner said:
"Just to sell garden furniture, Wyevale have pillaged from some of the world's last rainforests, helping to drive the orang-utan towards extinction. That's why we're here today to tell shoppers not to buy garden furniture from Wyevale.
"Customers should buy only garden furniture that has been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council - the only way to be sure that it is from legal and well-managed sources.
"Late yesterday, Wyevale said they'll re-call all their garden furniture made from Burmese timber. However, they're still punting out chairs and tables made from rainforest timber. Until they stop selling all dodgy timber products, we will continue to call for a boycott of their garden furniture."
For more information call Greenpeace on 020 7865 8255, 07799 790542 or 07796 947449.
Stills and video footage available.