Greenpeace Broadens Struggle to Protect Canadian Rainforests
6/26/97
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RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:
Jun 26, 1997 by nobody@xs2.greenpeace.org in igc:gp.press
Subject: Struggle Broadens to Protect Canadian Rainforests
GREENPEACE BROADENS STRUGGLE TO PROTECT CANADIAN RAINFOREST -
Blockade on Log Barge Continues, Actions at European
Consulates, First Nations and Enviros in Court
(Port Hardy, British Columbia)-- JUNE 25, 1997 --- Five
Greenpeace activists continue their two day occupation of one
of the world's largest log barges to protest the destruction
of The Great Bear Rainforest. A further 24 activists,
representing members of the Nuxalk First Nation, Greenpeace
and three other environmental groups will appear in a
Vancouver court this morning. Their charges related to a 19
day blockade in which they stopped all clearcut logging on
King Island on British Columbia's mid-coast.
Meanwhile, in Europe Greenpeace activists protested at the
Canadian embassies in Bonn and the Canadian High Commission
in London, closing both offices for several hours. A 20-foot
inflatable grizzly bear and 20 people in bear costumes were
part of the demonstration in London. Both sites had dozens of
activists holding banners reading "Stop Clearcutting Canada's
Rainforest" and "Save the Spirit ear" (a reference to the rare
white bear that lives only in B.C.'s rainforest). Meetings
occurred at both sites, as well as in Brussels, with Canadian
officials demanding that no clearcut ancient rainforest
products be brought into each respective country.
Canada's destruction of its temperate rainforests also came
under intense scrutiny yesterday at the United Nations
Special General Assembly Meeting on the Environment in New
York. "How can we ask Brazil to stop the illegal logging and
clearing in Amazonia when two of the world's wealthiest
nations, Canada and the U.S., are, as I speak, logging their
last remaining rainforests into extinction, said Greenpeace
International Executive Director Thilo Bode in his address to
the U.N. late yesterday.
Satellite mapping shows that half the world's temperate
rainforests have been destroyed and one-quarter of what
remains in British Columbia. While representing less than 1%
of Canada's landbase, it interior and coastal rainforests are
estimated to contain almost half of Canada's species. On the
coast, 3 companies - MacMillian Bloedel, Interfor and
Doman/Western Forest Products - are allowed t log half of all
the timber coming from BC's public lands. About 600 acres of
old-growth BC rainforest are clearcut daily by all companies.
The barge occupied by the Greenpeace activists, the Seaspan
Rigger, carries the equivalent of 400 truckloads of timber
covering an area equal to 56 football fields. The trees were
cut by Interfor. Across the top of the barge, the activists
have unfurled a banner reading "Rainforest Destruction ---
Don't Buy It."
For further information call: Marc Evans, Greenpeace
Vancouver, 604-253-7701
Dr. Matthew Bramley occupying the Seaspan Rigger:
604-341-5665;
Steve Shallhorn aboard the MV Arctic Sunrise: 416-451-9354
For footage of the Great Bear Rainforest, recent clearcuts,
the King Island blockade and arrests, the ongoing log barge
blockade, Thilo Bode's speech or European actions, contact:
Mary MacNutt (416 505-1792)
Photos of the Canadian and London protests are available
through AP
Greenbase Information Services
Greenpeace International
Tel: 604-253-7701
Fax: 604-253-4990