Taivalkoski,
Finland. Activists of the Finnish Nature League protest old-growth
logging on-site today in Taivalkoski, north-eastern Finland.
The
state Forest Service is logging the forest of Hämeenvaara which
is one of the old-growth forests considered most valuable by all
environmental NGOs. According to inventories of the Forest Service,
Hämeenvaara "contains notable amounts of extremely valuable old-growth
forest". Several old-growth forest species as well as threatened
species have been observed in the forest. The 200 hectare area will
be fragmented with a total of 70-80 hectares of clearcuts.
Another
PEFC -certified old-growth logging
95%
of Finnish forests have been certified according to the Pan-European
Forest Certification Scheme PEFC. All state forests, such as Hämenvaara
have been given the certificate. PEFC is claimed to be a proof of
'socially, ecologically and economically sustainable forestry".
Despite this, old-growth forests inhabited by threatened species
are being logged in Finland.
"PEFC
seems to be nothing but a well-marketed greenwashing scheme", says
Sini Harkki, forest campaigner for Nature League.
In
January 29, Finnish Nature League together with Greenpeace published
the report "Anything
Goes? A Report on PEFC Certified Finnish Forestry", which
shows that Finnish forestry certification has not stopped the logging
of forests of high conservation value. Finnish forests are supplying
the European market with 15% of its timber. Germany, France, Belgium,
Great Britain, Spain and the Netherlands are the main importers
of Finnish forest products and run the risk of becoming involved
in the destruction of these biologically valuable forests.
More
information: Finnish Nature League, forest campaigner Sini Harkki,
harkki(@)sll.fi http://www.luontoliitto.fi/forest tel. +358 50 582
1107