Greenpeace Report Highlights Canadian Forests Ecological Importance
6/28/97
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Greenpeace Report Released at United Nations Highlights Global
Ecological Importance of Canada's Temperate Rainforest
Occupation of massive log barge enters fourth day
(New York) -- June 27, 1997 -- Greenpeace today released a report at the
United Nations General Assembly Special Session on the Environment,
highlighting the ecological importance of Canada's unprotected rainforest
valleys. The report entitled "The Great Bear Rainforest: A report on the
Ecology and Global Importance of Canada's Temperate
Rainforest" also documents the status of the remaining unprotected
pristine rainforest valleys, the majority of which are threatened with
clearcut logging. The report was released simultaneously in Vancouver and
Europe.
"This report clearly reveals the global significance of the temperate
rainforests and the need for the Canadian government to act quickly to
protect what little remains."
Said Greenpeace Forests Campaigner, Patrick Anderson from New York. "Our
review of the logging companies plans shows that unless action is taken
now, the majority of the remaining rainforest valleys will be roaded or
clearcut logged within the next five to ten years."
The report is the first comprehensive summary of the existing science
regarding the importance of the temperate rainforests. Among its findings:
*temperate rainforests are among the rarest and most productive forest
types on the planet; *these complex forests are the result of over 10,000
years of post-glacial activity; *are home to at least 100 species of
vertebrates including one of the world's largest populations of grizzly
bears.
The report also exhaustively documents for the first time, the remaining
intact rainforest valleys on British Columbia's coast, the key ecological
traits in each valley and the status of the timber companies plans to log
in them.
Meanwhile, six Greenpeace activists move into their fourth day of
occupation of one of the world's largest log barges. The log barge
occupation, was launched from the Greenpeace vessel the MV Arctic Sunrise
Tuesday June 24 at dawn. Aboard the log barge,
the Seaspan Rigger, activists have unfurled a 50 by 30 foot banner reading
"Don't Buy Rainforest Destruction--Greenpeace."
The barge is carrying clearcut logs from an International Forest Products
operation. The barge is 397 feet long and 88 feet wide and carries the
equivalent of 400 truckloads of timber covering an area equal to 56
fottball fields. The Seaspan Rigger is used to bring old growth rainforest
trees, such as red cedar and hemlock for minimal processing before export
to Asia, Europe and the United States, Greenpeace is calling on consumers
in Europe and the United States to phase out their consumption of old
growth rainforest products.(1) International Forest Products is currently
appearing before the Supreme Court of British Columbia requesting an
injunction that would allow the Royal Canadian Mounted Police to
physically remove the activists. PHOTOS AND VIDEO OF THE LOG
BARGE OCCUPATION AVAILABLE. (1) Current products made from British
Columbia's old growth temperate rainforest include: newsprint, toilet
paper, disposable products, graden furniture and window frames. For more
information and a copy of the report contact:
Mary MacNutt, Tamara Stark or Tzeporah Berman in Vancouver (604) 253-7701.
THE GREAT BEAR RAINFOREST
A Report on the Ecology and Global Importance of
Canada's Temperate Rainforest
Executive Summary
Over half of the earth's original forest cover is gone, much of it
destroyed in the past three decades. Canada, Russia and Brazil are the
only countries in the world which still have significant primary forests
and together house 70 per cent of the planet's remaining
natural forests. Commercial logging poses the greatest threat to the
world's primary forests and temperate forests are the most endangered
forest type of all. - The Last Frontier Forests, World Resource Institute.
On the west coast of Canada, nestled between high alpine reaches and lush
white sand beaches lie rich and fertile forests that are home to thousands
of species of birds, plants and animals. In these temperate rainforests
stand ancient cedar over 1,000 years old and Sitka Spruce trees that tower
over 90 metres tall. Globally, temperate rainforests are a rare and
endangered forest type that only ever covered less than 0.2
per cent of the earth's land surface.
Today over half of these exceptional forests have already been destroyed
and over a quarter of what remains globally is in British Columbia. The
diversity and complexity of these forests is a result of over 10,000 years
of post-glacial activity, and it is only now that basic ecological studies
and biological inventories are being conducted.
Yet industrial logging has continued: half of all the logging that has
ever occurred within the temperate rainforest has been done in the last 25
years. Today rainforest valleys are rapidly being destroyed by industrial
clearcut logging and replaced by biologically simple tree farms. If
current trends continue, virtually all the unprotected
rainforest valleys will be clearcut logged or roaded within the next
decade.
Summary of key findings:
* over half the world's temperate rainforests are gone. Of what remains,
25 per cent is in B.C.
* more than half the original ancient rainforests of B.C. has been logged
or cleared, while less than six per cent has been protected.
* only 69 of an original 353 coastal rainforest watersheds in B.C. over
5,000 hectares are still pristine. Almost all these valleys are slated to
be logged.
* British Columbia makes up less than 10 per cent of Canada's land mass
but is home to 74 per cent of Canadian mammals and 70 per cent of breeding
birds.
* at least 100 species of vertebrates are dependent on British Columbia's
ancient temperate rainforest. The most common large mammals are black-
tailed deer, black bear, grizzly bear, grey wolf and mountain goat.
* clearcut logging has already drastically reduced and in some cases
extirpated, grizzly bear populations in coastal B.C., which houses half of
Canada's grizzlies. Grizzly bears are considered vulnerable to extinction
by both the provincial and federal governments.
* Salmon are a key component of the rainforest ecology. Returning salmon
substantially enrich carbon and nitrogen cycles in the vicinity fo
spawning areas and at least 22 forest and sea mammals and birds feed on
salmon. In the fall, salmon can account for 90 per cent of the Grizzly
bears' diet.
764 salmon stocks in B.C. have gone extinct or are at risk of extinction.
* B.C.'s rainforest has more biomass - combined weight of all living
things - than any other forest on earth, including the tropical
rainforest. Cedar trees within the rainforest grow slowly and to huge
proportions over their 1,000-year life, eventually
decaying and providing nutrients to the soil and habitat for innumerable
other plant and animal species.
* the soil structure of the rainforest is fragile and shallow, depending
heavily on fungi and root systems as anchors. As a result, up to 97 per
cent of the conifer seedlings in B.C.'s rainforest grow on decaying logs,
stumps or snags.
* in the rainforest, the size of an opening which occurs naturally is
normally less than two tree lengths in diameter. Larger openings, such as
those created by clearcutting, dramatically increase the likelihood of
soil erosion and landslides.
* in some areas of coastal B.C., rain or snow fall more than half the days
of the year. The west coast of Vancouver Island and on Haida Gwaii are the
wettest places in North America: Clayoquot Sound receives up to 330
centimetres of rainfall per year, and Haida Gwaii may receive up to 457
centimetres.
June, 1997