Greenpeace Forces Canadian Timber Ship to Turn Around
Greenpeace Press Release
July 23, 2000
As the G8 summit drew to a close today in Japan, Greenpeace continued its campaign to protect the worldís remaining ancient forests by forcing the Hong-Kong- flagged timber ship Saga Horizon to turn around and head back towards the North Sea. The 60,000-tonne cargo carrier was carrying thousands of tonnes of sawn timber and pulp from Canada's endangered rainforests to European ports, including lumber from the Canadian logging giant International Forest Products (Interfor).
The Saga Horizon was attempting to dock in the port of Brake (Germany), in order to unload sawn timber and pulp from British Columbia (Canada) when Greenpeace intervened. Six Greenpeace activists chained themselves to fenders at the quayside, and eight inflatables blockaded access to the quay to prevent the Saga Horizon from berthing. As the Saga attempted to go alongside the quay, despite the dangers to the environmental protesters, Greenpeace captain John Castle warned the cargo vessel that it would be held responsible for any injury to the activists.
Earlier on, as the Saga approached the German port, two Greenpeace climbers had boarded the vessel and hung banners reading "Canadian forests crime" in German and "G8: you are destroying ancient forests". While the G8 Summit ended earlier today in Okinawa, with the Heads of Government acknowledging in their statement the severity of the problem of destructive and illegal logging in the world's remaining ancient forests , Greenpeace continues to call for real action and not just more words.
"The cargo of the Saga Horizon represents exactly the kind of destruction that G8 countries, like Germany and Canada, must stop", said Greg Higgs, Greenpeace Forest campaigner. "The cargo included a significant quantity of western red cedar from the Canadian timber company Interfor, one of the largest destroyers of ancient forests. Companies like Interfor continue to commit environmental vandalism on a gigantic scale by logging in the last remaining ancient rainforests of British Columbia. They are supported by the Canadian Government, which allows this crime to take place. Canada, as a member of the G8, has once again turned its back on the world's ancient forests and it is left to Greenpeace to protect them".
Interfor cuts three and a half million cubic metres of temperate rainforest per year, largely through clearcuts of up to 60 hectares - the size of around 90 soccer pitches. Despite concerns over its environmental impact, clearcutting remains the dominant harvesting method in Canada.
Earlier this year, 400 independent international scientists stated that industrial clearcut logging should be stopped in most of the temperate rainforests where Interfor logs. The area includes pristine valleys of Canada's temperate rainforest, which are home to some of the last wild salmon as well as grizzly bears and the world's only population of the rare white kermode bear. For the last year, Greenpeace and other environmental groups have been working to establish a moratorium on logging in intact rainforest areas in Canada, and currently four major logging corporations are engaging in the process. Unfortunately, Interfor has left this process and is continuing with its plan to clearcut pristine rainforest in British Columbia.
Today's action follows a series of Greenpeace protests throughout Europe, the Amazon, Russia and Japan against the import of logs and timber coming from illegal and destructive timber operations in the last ancient forests around the world . These protests have highlighted the roles of both the forestry industry and importing nations in the ruthless destruction of the remaining ancient forests.
The G8 Governments should stop subsidizing ancient forest destruction and only forest products certified according to the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or an equivalent body should enter the global market . According to Greenpeace, non-sustainable logging practices should be outlawed and in addition, there should be a complete export ban on companies found to be logging illegally.