More than 1.55 million cubic meters (39 million cubic feet) of trees from the Kenogami forest in northern Ontario are being logged each year. Clearcuts as large as almost 11,000 hectares (27,000 acres) are threatening critical habitat for woodland caribou and other wildlife species. Increased logging has also led to more roads in the forest, expanding at a rate of 93 miles a year. Less than 2.4% of the Kenogami forest is protected from development, including logging.
The Location: Northern Ontario Wilderness
The Kenogami boreal forest comprises 1.98 million hectares (4.9 million acres) of woodland in northern Ontario. It is located east of Lake Nipigon and borders on the vast Northern Boreal forest, a landscape still largely untouched by industrial development. Because the Kenogami is adjacent to pristine forest, preserving its intact areas is extremely important if it is to serve as viable wildlife habitat.
The Species at Risk: Caribou, Bears, Eagles and other Rare Wildlife
The Kenogami Forest is one of the last strongholds of the endangered woodland caribou, as well as habitat for threatened grey wolves, black bears, bald eagles, golden eagles, red foxes, American white pelican, owls and songbirds that return every year to nest and breed. The majority of these species are listed under Canada�s federal Species at Risk Act. Woodland caribou used to range throughout the Kenogami Forest but have retreated to the northeast and northwest sections of the Forest in the face of increased logging. They currently reside on little more than 33% of the Kenogami Forest.
Neenah Paper
In late 2004, Kimberly-Clark spun off Neenah Paper, including its Terrace Bay pulp mill and the tenure to log the Kenogami Forest. The Terrace Bay mill uses more than 1.1 million cubic meters (39 million cubic feet) of trees, producing over 470,000 metric tonnes (520,000 tons) of hardwood and softwood pulp, much of which is sold to Kimberly-Clark for their use in products sold throughout North America. Neenah Paper is responsible for clearcuts over 10,807 hectares (26,690 acres) in the Kenogami Forest.
Kimberly-Clark
Kimberly-Clark, one of the largest tissue paper manufacturers in the world, is Terrace Bay�s primary purchaser of fiber under a long-term supply contract. And although Kimberly-Clark professes to hold its suppliers to high standards of sustainability, before Kimberly-Clark spunoff Neenah Paper, it left about 1 million cubic meters of wood to rot on the side of logging roads according to auditors.
The ministry mandated that Kimberly-Clark set aside just 36,000 hectares (90,000 acres), less than 1.7 percent, of the Kenogami forest as part of Ontario�s Living Legacy protected areas program in 1999. In total, less than 2.4 % of the Kenogami Forest is protected; the average amount of land protected by other logging companies licensed in Ontario is 12 percent.
The facts at a glance
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Location:
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Northern Ontario boreal forest, east of Lake Nipigon.
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Size of Kenogami Forest:
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1.9 million hectares (4.9 million acres)
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Preferred method of logging:
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Clearcutting.
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Type of trees:
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Jack pine, spruce, balsam fir, cedar, larch and poplar.
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Age of forest:
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Growing since last Ice Age, approximately 10,000 years ago. Trees upwards of 180 years old are being cut to supply the pulp mill.
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Companies logging forest:
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Neenah Paper (recently spun-off from Kimberly-Clark)Buchanan Forest Products, Long Lac Forest Products,
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Pulp mill being supplied:
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Neenah Paper pulp mill, Terrace Bay, Ontario. Recently owned by Kimberly-Clark.
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Pulp mill demand:
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Uses more than 1.1 million cubic metres (1.4 million cubic yards) of trees from ancient Boreal forests each year, for use in the Kimberly-Clark products sold throughout North America.
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Amount of pulp produced:
- 470,000 tonnes (520,000 tons) per year.
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Example of forest crime:
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In November 2000, auditors discovered that over 1 million cubic metres of trees were cut and left to rot on the side of logging roads.
