Greenpeace Protests Canada Rainforest Destruction
6/24/97
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Subject: Greenpeace protests Canada rainforest destruction
Organization: Copyright 1997 by Reuters
Date: Tue, 24 Jun 1997
ROME (Reuter) - Environmental group Greenpeace staged a
demonstration outside the Canadian embassy in Rome Tuesday to
protest the rapid destruction of rainforests in the eastern
British Colombia region.
Around 30 Greenpeace activists paraded a 16 foot high
inflatable bear near the embassy to protest logging in the Great
Bear rainforest north of Vancouver by paper industries.
Francesco Francisci, Greenpeace's campaigns organizer in
Rome, said Italy was one of the major importers of the products
made from the Canadian rainforests.
``Italy contributes significantly to the ravishing of the
British Colombian rainforests. This happens just to feed our
paper and pulp industry,'' Francisci said.
Francisci said Greenpeace had asked Italian industry to seek
guarantees from Canadian suppliers that wood products did not
come from ancient rainforests such as the Great Bear park.
Greenpeace would also press Italy to stop importing from all
forests which are being cut down unsustainably, he said.