American company destroys Canada’s magnificent Boreal Forest
Toronto, Ontario, February 12 2007- Four Greenpeace activists have locked themselves down in the offices of Kleenex manufacturer Kimberly-Clark, demanding that the company stop destroying Canada’s Boreal Forest. Others are broadcasting chainsaw noises and spreading woodchips in the corridors to further disrupt operations at the American company’s Canadian headquarters.
“Kimberly-Clark’s executives want to continue on with business as usual. Unfortunately, business as usual for this company means taking one of the last great forests on Earth, one of our best defenses against global warming, and turning it into Kleenex and toilet paper,” said Christy Ferguson, a Greenpeace forests campaigner, from inside the building where she is locked down. “That can’t continue. We simply won’t let it. If companies and governments don’t change soon, they’re going to see large scale action and controversy in Canada’s forests.”
This latest action follows a series of confrontations with Kimberly-Clark in Europe, the United States, and Canada in an ongoing international campaign to get the world’s largest producer of tissue products to stop using virgin pulp from clearcut ancient forests to make its well known Kleenex brand. All of the Kleenex brand products sold in North America are made from 100% virgin tree fibre, much of it from badly managed forests in Ontario and Alberta.
In recent months Greenpeace has blockaded Kimberly-Clark facilities in Huntsville, Ontario; Everett, Washington; and Turin, Italy, each time with the message that until the company stops destroying ancient forests, Greenpeace will continue to use non-violent direct action to disrupt its operations. But despite these actions and the growing pressure from customers and investors in the form of contract cancellations and shareholder resolutions, Kimberly-Clark executives have refused to change their policies.
Greenpeace is demanding that Kimberly-Clark dramatically increase the use of recycled fibre in its entire line of products, and only purchase virgin fibre from logging operations that are sustainable and certified as meeting the strict standards of the Forest Stewardship Council.
“It is unconscionable that this huge American company continues to destroy Canada’s Boreal Forest -- one of the largest intact ecosystems left on Earth -- to make something that’s used once and then thrown away,” continued Ferguson. “Because of this company, forests that have stood for thousands of years are literally being flushed down the toilet.”
Stretching from Newfoundland to the Yukon, Canada’s Boreal Forest comprises one quarter of the world’s remaining intact ancient forests. As the world’s largest land-based storehouse of carbon, the Boreal is essential in fighting global warming. It is home to numerous communities including hundreds of First Nations, many of which have never consented to logging in their traditional territories. The forest also provides essential habitat to hundreds of species of birds and animals including the endangered woodland caribou and wolverine.
For more information contact:
Christy Ferguson, Greenpeace forest campaigner, cell: 416-270-2243
Jane Story, Greenpeace communications, cell: 416-930-9055
