Finnish Company Joins Bid to Save Russian Forest

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WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

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Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

10/23/96

OVERVIEW & SOURCE by EE

Reuters reports on the one year suspension by Finland's largest timber buyer of

the purchase of old growth timber harvested in the Carelia and Murmansk regions

of Russia. The move is in response to intense pressure by consumer and

environmental groups for Enso to stop buying timber which was logged in old

growth forests. The company states it will use the one year moratorium to

develop final criteria for "an economically viable and sustainable forestry"

plan for the region. Now Enso, and other large scale industrial forestry

companies making proclamations of their conversion to sustainable forestry

practices, must be held to a standard of ecological and not just timber volume

sustainability. The world is watching.

g.b.

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Finnish company joins bid to save Russian forest

10/22/96

HELSINKI, Finland (Reuter) - Finland's biggest timber buyer in Russia, Enso Oy,

said Tuesday it would suspend timber harvesting in a large area of Russia as

part of an effort to preserve fragile old-growth forests.

The company, which has come under fierce attack from consumers, especially in

Germany, concerned about destruction of old-growth forests, also said it would

work with environmental groups to chart the forests' environmental values.

The one-year moratorium would cover an area of almost five million acres in

Carelia and Murmansk, equivalent to more than half of the Netherlands, Enso

said.

Enso said in a statement it would form a working group by the end of January

next year to classify the forests in the Russian republic of Carelia, which

borders Finland.

"Stock will then be taken of the forest areas which should be preserved," the

company said. It said the move was its initiative with the Finnish and German

World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and the Finnish conservation association.

The working group will take three to five years to develop final criteria for

"an economically viable and sustainable forestry for Carelia," Enso said.

It said it had stopped renewing import contracts for the regions, with the last

due to expire in December, and that the moratorium would also apply to all its

sub-contracted wood suppliers.

Enso said it is currently importing 600,000 to 800,000 cubic yards of wood from

the region, paying over $27 million annually for the wood, and it would continue

to import wood from other areas in Carelia and Murmansk to cushion the economic

blow.

The volume imported represents about 10 percent of Carelia's export volume in a

structurally weak economy, Enso said.

But a Greenpeace representative said the scheme was not enough: one year might

well not be enough time for the group to search the area properly, he said,

calling on Enso to completely halt timber cuttings in old-growth forests.

"We'll join in the cheering as soon as Enso stops cutting old-growth forests,"

he told reporters.

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