Virgin Forests Threatened by Proposed APEC Action
11/24/97
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Headline: Virgin Forests Threatened by Proposed APEC Action
Source: Agence France-Presse
Date: 11/24/97
Byline: Helen Maserati
Copyright 1997 by Agence France-Presse
VANCOUVER, Nov 23 (AFP) - An APEC initiative to lift regulatory
protection on trade in forestry products imperils the planet's last
intact virgin forests, environmentalists warned a Canadian minister
here Sunday.
Their meeting with Trade Minister Sergio Marchi came one day
before a summit here of leaders from the Asia-Pacific Economic
Cooperation forum.
A voluntary pact to deregulate trade in forest products as early
as 1999, part of a package approved Saturday by APEC ministers, will
accelerate the logging on tracts already degraded by Asia's growing
demand for wood, environmentalists said.
The package will be submitted to a summit of APEC leaders
opening here Monday.
Opponents of moves to lift trade restrictions contend that an
open season on forest products in four Pacific Rim countries -- the
United States, Canada, Indonesia and New Zealand -- will lead to the
rapid depletion of the majority of the world's remaining virgin
forests.
The four countries have 60 percent of the last intact primary
forests, which are major biodiversity stores and play an important
role as carbon sinks, according to US environmentalist Paige
Fischer.
Environmental non-governmental organizations called on APEC
countries to halt discussion on liberalizing trade in forest
products until environmentally responsible forest management can be
assured.
"This plan will jeopardize forests in the Pacific Northwest and
around the Pacific Rim," said Fischer, director of the Pacific
Environment and Resources Center's program on APEC and forests.
The center has launched a joint campaign with the Sierra Club of
Canada against the APEC forestry initiative.
"Countries will slash prices of forest products, fuel
consumption and undermine the ability of local communities
everywhere to control the resources upon which they depend," Fischer
said.
Greg Higgs of Canada's Forest Action Network said the
environmental health of forests "needs community-based forest
economies, not increased dependence on fluctuating world markets."
The forest sector initiative will remove barriers that
discourage trade in value-added forest products.
The United States, its own forest resources dwindling, has long
objected to restrictions on the export of raw logs imposed by
provincial authorities in British Columbia, northwestern Canada.
The issue is a major source of friction in the US-Canadian trade
relationship.
"We have no intention of giving up the restriction," said BC
Prime Minister Glen Clark.
"It's the people of British Columbia who actually own the trees
and as the owner we have the right to do what we want with those
trees. And in this case we want to process them here in British
Columbia."
British Columbia has "focused on exporting value-added forest
products to increase employment in the province," said Candace
Kenyon, manager of communications for BC's Ministry of Forests.
About a quarter of the province's lumber goes to Asia, a major
market for value-added products, Kenyon said.
Proponents of the APEC accord have said liberalization of the
forest sector will fuel economic growth, lower prices on wood and
wood products, promote infrastructure development, increase
productivity and innovation and expand choices for consumers.
The wood industry, including furniture, and the pulp and paper
industries, including the printing industry, stand to benefit from
the accord, according to an APEC document.
Corporate executive members of APEC's Business Advisory Council
are expected to welcome the measure when they meet with state
leaders at the government-industry forum on Monday.