Harry Potter wizardry saving ancient forests
Publishing industry pledges to aid forest preservation by increasing use of recycled paper for books
© Copyright 2001 Vancouver Sun
October 23, 2001
When Vancouver-based Raincoast Books publishes Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix next year, the latest installment of the young wizard's struggle against bad guys is to be printed on "ancient-forest-friendly paper."
"Anything that will preserve 500-year-old trees will be big with the wizards," Raincoast publisher Kevin Williams quipped during an interview.
According to a coalition of environment groups called Markets Initiative, Raincoast is one of 20 Canadian publishing companies that will phase out the use of paper with fibre from so-called "ancient forests" by the end of 2004.
The other companies include publishing giants McClelland and Stewart, Penguin Canada and Random House Canada.
In written commitments on their corporate letterheads, the companies say they will give purchasing preferences to paper from reclaimed or recycled fibre, second-growth forests and agricultural waste. The exception: "We will consider procurement of forest products derived from native and long-settled, forest dependent community operations in ancient forest areas, if they are independently certified according to strict ecological criteria."
Since 1994, when police arrested more than 800 people during protests against logging in the Clayoquot Sound region on Vancouver Island, B.C. environmental groups have been lobbying corporations from U.S.-based Home Depot to Mitsubishi in Japan to stop buying old-growth timber.
On Friday, a coalition that includes Greenpeace and the Sierra Club issued a news release congratulating Canadian book publishers.
"As one-third of all trees logged are used for paper production, we are delighted that Canadian publishers are taking action to protect ancient forests," said Nicole Rycroft of Tofino, campaign director for Markets Initiative.
"Canadian publishers are both cultural icons as well as large paper consumers, and the commitment they're making will help to safeguard the forest heritage."
But Brian Zak, president of the Coast Forest and Lumber Association of 39 B.C. forest companies, said new parks have already protected many old-growth forests in coastal B.C.
Zak said he doesn't know how significant the publishers' commitment is for the forest industry, because it depends on the definition of "ancient forest" that environmental groups have persuaded publishers to adopt.
Tamara Stark, a Greenpeace campaigner, said "ancient forests" are synonymous with old-growth or never-logged forests.
Zak said the B.C. government's general definition of old-growth is a forest with trees more than 100 years of age, but the number of years depends on the tree species and the ecosystem type.
"Any time that an environmental group uses confusing terminology to their advantage and does not express the true nature of what's happening out there, they're misleading the public, the newspapers and the product users," he said.
"If we really knew what they told these guys, and what they convinced them of, then I might be able to be in a far better position to explain where I'm coming from."
Williams said Raincoast is concerned about the future of the world's remaining "ancient forests," including rare and threatened temperate rainforests such as the mid-coast region that environmental groups call the Great Bear Rainforest.
He suggested that turning old-growth wood into pulp and paper is not the best use for old-growth trees.
"The only way to get paper suppliers to supply post-consumer or recycled paper is just to say you're going to make use of it," he said.
Williams said recycled paper used to cost about 10 per cent more, but bulk purchases by Raincoast have brought the difference down to about two per cent.
According to Williams, the additional expense amounts to a few pennies per book, because printing costs account for just 15 to 20 per cent of a publisher's total cost for a book. Consumers should not have to pay more, he said.