Coastal BC Forest Companies Vow to Continue Peace Initiative - with or without Greenpeace
Copyright 2000 Canada NewsWire Ltd
October 20, 2000BODY:
In a letter written to German paper makers and publishers the environmental group Greenpeace has re-opened its market campaign against BC coastal forest companies participating in a peace pact with environmental groups.
"When the companies and environmental groups participating in this effort decided to go down this path we all made a conscious decision to move beyond the culture of conflict that had come to characterize forest issues on the BC coast. With or without Greenpeace, the companies involved remain committed to this objective," said Weyerhaeuser Vice President Linda Coady.
Coady said the companies and environmental groups are currently developing proposals and information that will be presented to First Nations, communities, forest workers, logging contractors and the government-sponsored Central Coast Land and Resource Management Planning process (LRMP).
"We believe this project can make an important contribution to the successful completion of land use planning processes and current discussions between First Nations and government regarding Interim Measures Agreements," she added.
Coady stressed that as the different groups involved in coastal forest issues come closer to finding solutions that can work in the forest and in the marketplace it is inevitable that tensions will rise. "But unanimity is not a requirement for progress," she said. "What is needed is a critical mass of support, both inside and outside of British Columbia, for new approaches. We believe that critical mass is starting to build."
In the spring of this year four coastal companies reached an agreement with four environmental groups that saw an 18-month standstill in harvesting in contentious areas on the Central and North Coast of British Columbia in return for an 18-month standstill in market campaigns against the companies involved in the Coast Forest Conservation Initiative (CFCI). The four companies were Western, Weyerhaeuser, Canadian Forest Products and Fletcher Challenge Canada. The four environmental groups were Greenpeace, Sierra Club of BC, the Coastal Rainforest Coalition and the Rainforest Action Network.
The purpose of the peace accord was to create a conflict-free period in which both sides could work towards new solutions to the controversy over harvesting on the Central and North Coast of BC, an area that has been called the Great Bear Rainforest by environmentalists.
It is estimated the solutions project will require approximately $4 million in funding for analysis of the ecosystem and social and economic issues that both the companies and environmental groups agree are key to the future of the region's old growth forests. Environmental groups have raised an initial $1 million for the project and the companies have agreed to match it.
CONTACT: Linda Coady, (604) 661-8169