Toronto, December 6, 2012 – Logging roads built in Quebec’s Montagnes Blanches region managed by Resolute Forest Products are a violation of the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement (CBFA) says Greenpeace. The organization released GPS-tagged photos of the logging activity in critical caribou habitat today, prompting Greenpeace to leave the CBFA.
“The Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement was a framework for cooperation whereby companies like Resolute Forest Products agreed to stay out of areas of important habitat,” said Stephanie Goodwin, Greenpeace Canada forest coordinator. “When the biggest logging company in the Boreal Forest goes back on its word to stay out of critical habitat, it signals the Agreement has broken down.”
Lauded at its signing as the largest conservation agreement in history, the CBFA promised new protected areas, recovery for threatened caribou herds and improved forestry practices. Instead, the Agreement has failed to produce consensus on a single hectare of protection in the Boreal Forest after more than two and a half years of discussions.
Further, despite many attempts to reset priorities and to focus on the completion of five conservation plans, only one is complete with the remaining four all falling within Resolute’s land tenures. Other companies have been held back while waiting for the overdue plans.
In August 2012, in the northern parts of the Saguenay Lac St-Jean region, Greenpeace found kilometers of logging roads approved by Resolute in five different areas identified as off-limits under the CBFA.
“Greenpeace’s number one priority continues to be a healthy Boreal Forest that supports viable economies and communities,” said Goodwin. “With the Boreal Forest under threat, the only responsible decision for Greenpeace is to pursue other pathways to obtain results in the forest.”
Greenpeace will pursue its work with large corporate customers to differentiate the logging companies that are taking action and achieving greater forest protection. The market for truly sustainable forest products continues to grow, rewarding leaders that champion and achieve conservation.
Around the world, Greenpeace has a proven track record for successful collaboration with companies based upon strong work plans and the respect of Indigenous people’s rights and title. Ongoing collaborations with companies in Canada’s Great Bear Rainforest, Brazil’s Amazon and Indonesia have all reduced the threat to forests globally.
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Notes:
GPS photo evidence package and Broll: www.greenpeace.ca/images
Backgrounder: www.greenpeace.ca/resolutebackgrounder
For more information:
Holly Postlethwaite, Media and Public Relations Officer, (416) 524-8496