The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Greenpeace activists yesterday placed 150 tree stumps in the entranceway of the Quebec City Convention Centre where the UN-sponsored World Forestry Congress is underway, to highlight how Canada's forests are being mismanaged by the federal and provincial governments. Standing in front of a backdrop of a painted forest scene, a circus ringmaster invited delegates to visit Canada's beautiful boreal forest, but as the sound of chainsaws roared to life, the backdrop parted to reveal a sea of stumps. "Canada claims to be a world leader in protecting our forests, but the reality is that over one third of Canada's Boreal forests have already been allocated to logging companies and in less than 30 years the amount of land clearcut in this country has increased by 40 per cent," said Richard Brooks, Greenpeace Canada forests campaigner. "Canada has an amazing opportunity to protect the most endangered areas of its Boreal forest, but time is running out." Greenpeace is calling on the federal and provincial governments to place an immediate moratorium on the most endangered portions of Canada's Boreal forest until proper conservation planning can be completed and protected areas and transition funding for affected communities are established. "We are not saying 'Stop all logging in the Boreal forest,' but we are saying stop logging the most endangered parts of the boreal forest and dramatically improve it in the remaining areas," said Brooks. Approximately 80 per cent of the world's original forests are already destroyed or degraded: Canada's Boreal forest, which extends from the Yukon to Labrador, represents almost a quarter of what's left in the world. Canada's Boreal forest is home to roaming populations of wolf, caribou, grizzly and black bear and over 60 per cent of Canada's songbirds. Currently there are over 430 species list at risk in Canada. The Boreal forests of Canada and Russia hold approximately 40 per cent of the planet's terrestrial carbon and are essential in the fight against climate change.
