***********************************************
WORLDWIDE
FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS
Greenpeace
Activists Blockading Clayoquot Sound, Canada
***********************************************
Forest
Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises
6/25/96
OVERVIEW
& SOURCE by EE
Greenpeace
has made a controversial stand to say enough is enough in the
destruction
of one of the largest remaining temperate rainforests,
Clayoquot
Sound, which is located in Canada.
Activists, using inflatable
boats,
chained themselves to the log loader.
While not the only means to
end
predatory logging, peaceful protest an important wing of the forest
movement
that is certainly justified in light of the importance of forest
ecosystems
to the planet. Greenpeace is calling
for protection of all
remaining
pristine areas in Clayoquot Sound.
Following are four pieces
from
gp.press conference in econet which provide details of their peaceful
direct
action in protection of forests. The
last piece details how the
protest
was inappropriately carried out without consulting the local
indigenous
peoples. Nonetheless, all parties are
in agreement that the
current
situation is unacceptable.
g.b.
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RELAYED
TEXT STARTS HERE:
Report
#1
/**
gp.press: 113.0 **/
**
Topic: 6/20 Activists Block Logging in Cla **
**
Written 4:40 PM Jun 21, 1996 by nobody@xs2.greenpeace.org
in
cdp:gp.press
*
*
Subject:
6/20 Activists Block Logging in Clayoquot Sound
Date:
Thu, 20 JUN 96 21:14:10 GMT
----------
Original-TO: World Press (Green2:Green2:Gnl:INET)
Original-TO: The.Greenbase@green2.greenpeace.org
----------
ACTIVISTS BLOCKADE LOGGING OPERATION IN
CLAYOQUOT SOUND
Protest
Highlights Ongoing Destruction of Temperate Rainforest
Press
Release- TOFINO, B.C., 20 June, 1996 (GP) Activists from Greenpeace
and the
Friends of Clayoquot Sound are blockading a logging operation in
Clayoquot
Sound today, using the Greenpeace vessel MV Moby Dick and
inflatable
boats. Three activists are chained to the log loader, which is
used to
load logs onto trucks to be taken out of Clayoquot.
The
blockade occurred almost one year after the Science Panel's stringent
recommendations
for Clayoquot which were adopted by the B.C. government. It
was
designed to highlight ongoing destructive logging by both International
Forest
Products and MacMillan Bloedel. Contrary to recommendations by the
Scientific
Panel, MacMillan Bloedel has already begun clearcutting one of
Clayoquot's
pristine valleys.
"Canadians
have a right to know that Clayoquot Sound's rainforests are
still
being destroyed. A year after the Science Panel the pristine areas
remain
on the chopping block," said Karen Mahon of Greenpeace. "The band-
aid
solutions that have been tried in Clayoquot have not worked. We need to
protect
the rainforest valleys before we lose them forever."
Greenpeace
is calling for full protection of all the remaining pristine
rainforest
areas in Clayoquot Sound. MacMillan Bloedel is currently logging
in the
Bulson watershed in Clayoquot Sound, an area that government reports
consider
pristine. According to the Science Panel no logging should
occur
in the pristine areas.
"Logging
has slowed down in Clayoquot Sound, but the companies are still
doing
extreme damage as they creep silently into the pristine watershed of
the
Bulson," said Valerie Langer of the Friends of Clayoquot Sound.
"It's
time to
get our priorities straight and restore salmon habitat instead of
destroying
it."
Interfor
is logging in Rolling Stone Creek directly adjacent to an area
where
they were recently found in violation of the Forest Practices Code
(Sec.
17.1) for negligent road building which resulted in stream damage. As
a
result, Interfor was fined $10,000 but the Ministry of Forests has not
released
this information to the public. According to the guidelines of
performance-based
logging under the Forest Practices Code, Interfor should
not
have received a permit to log in this area in the first place.
However,
they are currently applying for further permits to log in Rolling
Stone.
"The
ongoing destruction of Clayoquot Sound revealed today is an
international
scandal," said Tzeporah Berman of Greenpeace International.
"The
industry and government have led the world to believe that the
controversy
is solved. We will ensure that customers in Europe and the U.S.
are
informed of the continued threat to Clayoquot's remaining pristine
rainforests."
For
more information:
Karen
Mahon onboard the MV Moby Dick: 011 872
130 2403
Valerie
Langer, Tzeporah Berman or Karen Mahon in Tofino:
604-725-4218
Tamara
Stark in Vancouver:604-253-7701
* Note
to Editors: A Ministry of Forests report by Alan Chapman lists the
Bulson
watershed as only 1.1 per cent impacted.
The Science Panel defines
a
watershed as pristine if it is less than 2 per cent impacted.
Report
#2
/**
gp.press: 114.0 **/
**
Topic: 6/21 MacBlo's New Log Plan for Clay **
**
Written 12:47 PM Jun 22, 1996 by
nobody@xs2.greenpeace.org in
cdp:gp.press
*
*
Subject:
6/21 MacBlo's New Log Plan for Clayoquot Fails Code
Date:
Fri, 21 JUN 96 19:28:31 GMT
----------
Original-TO: World Press (Green2:Green2:Gnl:INET)
Original-TO: The.Greenbase@green2.greenpeace.org
----------
MAC
BLO'S NEW LOGGING PLAN FOR CLAYOQUOT DOESN'T MEET EVEN
B.C.'S
FOREST PRACTICES CODE
Blockade
enters second days in Clayoquot Sound
Press
Release-VANCOUVER, B.C. 21 June, 1996 (GP) Greenpeace, the Friends of
Clayoquot
Sound and the Sierra Legal Defence Fund today revealed that
MacMillan
Bloedel's proposed 5-year logging plan for an area in Clayoquot
Sound
fails to meet even the rudimentary standards of the Forest Practices
Code,
which are far less stringent than those of the Clayoquot Scientific
Panel
which are supposed to apply in this area.
The
report and other key findings in Clayoquot prompted the blockade that
began
in Clayoquot yesterday and is continuing today. Currently, the
Greenpeace
ship MV Moby Dick is blocking International Forest Products and
MacMillan
Bloedel from logging or shipping out logs.
In
addition to the problems in the proposal for Tranaquil Creek, there are
a
number of major problems in the adjacent watersheds. In Rollingstone
Creek,
a road badly built by Interfor has collapsed into a stream. In
another,
the Bulson watershed, one of Clayoquot's remaining pristine
watersheds,
MacMillan Bloedel has already begun clearcutting. Members of
Greenpeace
and the Friends of Clayoquot Sound are on land, locked onto
logging
equipment and blocking four roads.
"Based
on the information we've released over the past two days, it's clear
that
these companies are steamrolling over the Science Panel
recommendations
- on into the pristine valleys, said Valerie Langer of the
Friends
of Clayoquot Sound.
A
critique of the five-year plan for Tranquil Creek by lawyers and
fisheries
biologists from the Sierra Legal Defence Fund documents failures
in the
plan in more than 10 key categories.
"MacMillan
Bloedel has misclassified streams, failed to protect fish
habitat
and plans to build roads on steep slopes exceeding a 80 per cent
grade
without adequate planning - all of which are not in compliance with
the
Forest Practices Code," said Will Horter, lawyer with the Sierra Legal
Defence
Fund. "This is a far cry from the world-class logging we were
promised
when the Science Panel's recommendations were adopted one year
ago."
Nearly
one year ago the B.C. government and the companies logging in
Clayoquot
pledged to fulfill all the recommendations made by the Scientific
Panel.
"The
pristine valleys and islands must be permanently protected," said
Karen
Mahon of Greenpeace. "Clayoquot's rainforests are of global
significance. We will continue to blockade them on the
road and make sure
they do
not get into these areas and we will ensure that international
customers
of MacBlo know that it's business-as-usual in Clayoquot Sound."
Greenpeace
is calling for a moratorium on all logging in Clayoquot Sound
and
demanding full protection for the intact rainforests of Clayoquot
Sound.
For
More Information Please Contact:
Karen
Mahon and Valerie Langer: 604-253-7701, or by cell phone
313-0159
Will
Horter, Sierra Legal Defence Fund 685-5618
THE
SCIENTIFIC PANEL FOR SUSTAINABLE FOREST PRACTICES IN CLAYOQUOT SOUND:
ONE
YEAR LATER
On July
6, 1995 the government of British Columbia adopted in its entirety
over
120 recommendations of the Scientific Panel for Sustainable Forest
Practices
in Clayoquot Sound. The report represented a significant shift in
the way
forestry is viewed in B.C. Some of the key recommendations in the
report
were:
1) a
moratorium on all logging in the pristine areas until full biological
and
cultural inventories of these areas are completed, and until such time
as
logging methods are proven to have no negative impact on biodiversity;
2) the
creation and implementation of ecosystem-based planning for
Clayoquot
Sound;
3) an
end to conventional clearcutting in Clayoquot Sound;
4) no
logging in areas that have already been seriously overcut;
and
5) base
the level of cutting on watershed planning, rather than on a pre-
determined
annual allowable cut. This was to ensure that the focus is on
what
must remain in the forest to maintain biodiversity rather than a focus
on
extracting a set volume of wood. Now almost a year later and it has
become
clear that spirit and intent of the Scientific Panel's
recommendations
have in many cases been violated by both MacMillan Bloedel
and
International Forest Products.
MacMillan
Bloedel's Five Year Development Plan for Tranquil Creek
MacMillan
Bloedel recently submitted for approval of a five-year
development
plan for Tranquil Creek, an area of Clayoquot Sound that has
already
been heavily logged. A critique of the plan by the Sierra Legal
Defense
Fund reveals that in 43 separate occasions the plan fails to meet
the
standards imposed by the Forest Practices Code, demonstrating that the
logging
giant is light years away from being able to meet the far more
stringent
Science Panel guidelines. In particular the plan fails to protect
fish
habitat and the riparian zones around the streams. The government's
Clayoquot
Sound Watershed Assessment clearly states that:
"Because
substantial portions of streams in Tranquil Creek watershed have
been
impacted to some degree by forestry, including 90 per cent of all
streams
known to be fish-bearing, all streams potentially affected by
proposed
future harvest blocks must receive a high level of streamside
protection".
The
Code's riparian zone standards are meant to protect fish habitat from
the
impacts of logging by retaining a wider buffer zone of trees next to
streams,
in particular fish-bearing streams. MacBlo's proposed riparian
zone
protection fail to do so. In the plan MacBlo misclassified streams,
using
the old Fish-Forestry guidelines rather than the new Code.
In
addition, there is no terrain stability assessment, which is mandated by
both
the Forest Practices Code and the Science Panel. In many cases, road-
building
is planned to occur on slopes that are in excess of a 70 per cent
grade,
with a significant number on slopes of 80-100 per cent. All of these
areas,
if identified correctly, would classify as Class 5 terrain which,
according
to the Science Panel, would exclude them from logging activities.
The
plan also fails to fully identify cultural heritage sites.
MB has
also neglected to include visual quality assessments, assessments of
factors
which might damage forest health (such as windthrow or
infestations),road
deactivation and maintenance plans, and has likewise
failed
to identify how stand-level biodiversity will be protected.
The
plan for this region of Clayoquot Sound is woefully inadequate and
suggests
a serious lack of awareness by MacMillan Bloedel of logging
methods
that would not irreparably harm the forest health of Clayoquot
Sound.
MacMillan
Bloedel's Entry Into One of Clayoquot's Pristine Valleys
One of
the Scientific Panel's key recommendations was that there should be
no
entry into undeveloped watersheds in Clayoquot Sound, until such time as
full
biological and cultural inventories of these areas are completed, and
until
such time as logging methods are proven to have no negative impact on
biodiversity.
The
Science Panel defines an undeveloped watershed as "less than 2 per cent
of the
watershed has been modified by industrial or land use practices".
According
to the government's Clayoquot Sound Watershed Assessment, the
Bulson
watershed is only 1.1 per cent impacted and therefore is considered
to be
pristine. If the Science Panel's recommendations were followed, a
moratorium
would be imposed on all logging in the Bulson watershed.
Despite
this knowledge, MacMillan Bloedel is now roading and clearcutting
in the
Bulson watershed, with governmental approval. This cutting is
clearly
in violation of the Scientific Panel.
International
Forest Products Prosecution in Rolling Stone Creek
After
over one year of complaints regarding Interfor's new Rolling Stone
Creek
road building by the Friends of Clayoquot Sound the Ministry of
Forests,
recently imposed a $10,000 fine on InterFor for negligence. The
road
collapsed into some creeks in October 1995.
The
Watershed Assessment report stipulated that limited logging of 50
hectares
could be allowed in Rollingstone, on the condition that concurrent
restoration
begin in the lower impacted section of the salmon-bearing
stream.
90% of the salmon bearing reaches of Rolling Stone Creek have
already
been impacted by logging.
Interfor
and MacMillan Bloedel have both failed to produce a restoration
plan
for this area. Despite the violation in Rollingstone, Interfor was
given
approval to log an adjacent cutblock R50. Cutblock R40 currently
awaits
approval.
Report
#3
/**
gp.press: 117.0 **/
**
Topic: 6/21 MacBlo Violates Code-Activists **
**
Written 4:42 PM Jun 22, 1996 by nobody@xs2.greenpeace.org
in
cdp:gp.press
*
*
Subject:
6/21 MacBlo Violates Code-Activists Blockade Clayoquot Loggi
Date:
Fri, 21 JUN 96 19:28:54 GMT
----------
Original-TO: World Press (Green2:Green2:Gnl:INET)
Original-TO: The.Greenbase@green2.greenpeace.org
----------
MACMILLAN
BLOEDEL VIOLATES RAINFOREST PROTECTION AGREEMENT
Activists
Blockade Logging in B.C's Clayoquot Sound, Target U.S.
Customers
Press
Release-TOFINO, B.C., June 21, 1996 (GP) Activists from Greenpeace
and the
Friends of Clayoquot Sound are in the second day of a blockade of a
logging
operation in one of N. America's largest contiguous rainforest
areas.
Thirty-six activists have shut down the active logging roads and
three
activists are chained to the log loader, which is used to load the
logs
from the pristine valleys of British Columbia's Clayoquot Sound. The
blockade
in B.C. was mirrored by a mailing in the U.S. to the country's
largest
newspaper, magazine and phone directory publishers, urging them to
sever
their business ties to MacMillan Bloedel.
The
blockade occurred after discovering that MacMillan Bloedel was logging
in a
pristine area of Clayoquot Sound - a clear violation of the
recommendations
made by top government-chosen scientists. Almost one year
ago,
the Science Panel for Sustainable Forest Practices in Clayoquot
Sound
made stringent recommendations which MacMillan Bloedel promised to
abide
by, a commitment MB used to assure their international newsprint and
phone
directory paper customers that they should keep buying from the
Canadian
logging giant. The Science Panel was formed after 850 people were
arrested
blockading MB's logging in Clayoquot in the Summer of 1993 - the
largest
act of civil disobedience in Canadian history.
"The
world has a right to know that Clayoquot Sound's rainforests are still
being
destroyed. A year after the Science Panel the pristine areas remain
on the
chopping block," said Karen Mahon of Greenpeace. "The band-aid
solutions
that have been tried in Clayoquot have not worked. We need to
protect
the rainforest valleys before we lose them forever."
Greenpeace
is calling for full protection of all the remaining pristine
rainforest
areas in Clayoquot Sound. Based on this flagrant transgression,
Greenpeace
and its partners in the Clayoquot Rainforest Coalition -
Rainforest
Action Network, Natural Resources Defense Council and Pacific
Environment
& Resources Center - have renewed their efforts to shift the
U.S.
paper market away from clearcut ancient rainforest products and
towards
ecologically sound alternatives.
"The
ongoing destruction of Clayoquot Sound is an international scandal,"
said
Marc Evans, Greenpeace Forest Campaigner. "B.C.'s industry and
government
have led the world to believe that the controversy is solved. We
will
ensure that major paper buyers in the U.S. and Europe are informed of
the
continued threat to Clayoquot's remaining pristine rainforests by
MacMillan
Bloedel."
Clayoquot
Sound is 650,000 acres of coastal temperate rainforest, 20% of
which
has been clearcut to date. It is the traditional home of the Nuu-
Chah-Nulth
First Nations and contains redcedar trees up to 1700 years old,
as well
as wolves, bald eagles, Rosevelt elk, river otters, martens and
salmon.
For
more information:
Karen
Mahon on board Greenpeace's MV Moby Dick: 011 872 130 2403
Tamara
Stark at Greenpeace-Vancouver: 604/253-7701
Valerie
Langer or Tzeporah Berman at F.O.C.S. in Tofino:
604/725-4218
Marc Evans at Greenpeace-San Francisco:
415/512-9025
Report
#4
/** gp.press:
120.0 **/
**
Topic: 6/22 Clayoquot Sound-Joint Statemen **
**
Written 12:40 AM Jun 24, 1996 by
nobody@xs2.greenpeace.org in
cdp:gp.press
*
*
Subject:
6/22 Clayoquot Sound-Joint Statement by Natives & Enviros
Date:
Mon, 24 JUN 96 01:37:06 GMT
----------
Original-TO: World Press (Green2:Green2:Gnl:INET)
Original-TO: The.Greenbase@green2.greenpeace.org
----------
JOINT
STATEMENT OF THE NUU-CHAH-NULTH FIRST NATIONS, GREENPEACE,
AND THE
FRIENDS OF CLAYOQUOT SOUND.
Press
Release-CLAYOQUOT SOUND, BC, 22 June, 1996 (GP) Greenpeace and the
Friends
of Clayoquot Sound agreed today to a temporary suspension of the
blockades
in Clayoquot Sound.
Greenpeace
and the Friends of Clayoquot Sound acknowledge our breach of
protocol
for not discussing our activities with the chiefs of the Nuu-Chah-
Nulth
Central Region prior to the protest.
The NCN
First Nations commit to facilitate a meeting with all parties in
two
weeks to address the concerns of the protestors and work towards
finding
a solution to the issues that led to this conflict.
All
three parties view the activities this week as a warning to government
and
industry that change needs to happen faster in Clayoquot Sound.
The Greenpeace
ship, the MV Moby Dick, has been invited to
remain
in Clayoquot Sound to tour the area.
For
more information: Tzeporah Berman on board the MV Moby Dick
011-872-130-2403
Mary
MacNutt at Greenpeace Vancouver 253-7701
Valerie
Langer at the Friends of Clayoquot Sound (604) 725-4218/
(604)
725-2600
Chief
Councillor Francis Frank (604) 725-3233
Nelson
Keitlah Co-chai of the Nuu-chah-nulth Tribal Council
(604)
724-5757
###RELAYED
TEXT ENDS###
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