Finnish Minister of forestry accuses Friends of the Earth for running a "fraudulent postcard campaign".

"The minister´s attempts to discredit FOE`s campaign distract from the core issue of whether
logging in old-growth forests in Finland has ceased", says Friends of the Earth.

Finnish Minister of Forestry Mr Kalevi Hemilä told Finnish newspapers Taloussanomat and Kainuun Sanomat in January 1999 that he has received thousands of postcards from UK since 1996 demanding old-growth protection.

After answering about 2000 cards personally the Minister claims he is dealing with a fake campaign. According to Mr Hemilä many of his responses have been returned to him. The minister theorizes that either the people that have sent postcards do not exist or fake identifications have been used so that the real person behind the ID does not know anything about the issue. The campaigns have been organised from Finland, Mr Hemilä says. He is concerned because "environmental activists spread one-sided and false information about Finnish forestry abroad".

Sarah Tyack, FOE-UK sent a reply to Minister Hemilä (and a response to Finnish newspapers) stating that the Minister`s accusations are "misleading and merely clouding the real issue". "Mr Hemila`s attempts to discredit FOE`s campaign distract from the core issue of whether logging in old-growth forests in Finland has ceased.".

28 January 1999

Dear Sir,

Friends of the Earth's Finnish forest campaign

I would like to refute recent claims in the Finnish press Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland (FOE EWNI) has been running a "fraudulent" postcard campaign demanding a halt to the logging of old growth forest in Finland. To suggest that we have made up names on the thousands of postcards sent to Mr Hemila is misleading and is merely clouding the real issue.

Friends of the Earth has over 220 active local community groups and 200,000 supporters. As part of a campaign launched in 1996, we distributed postcards and petitions to a number of these groups who in turn collected signatures from the public. We are surprised that petitions addressed to Mr Persson, Minister of State for Sweden were misdirected to Mr Hemila. By way of explanation, the original petition sheets for signatures were two sided for groups to photocopy - addressed to Mr Hemila on one side and Mr Persson on the other. It could be that some individuals accidentally sent some signatures addressed to Mr Persson to Mr Hemila. instead. We are sorry that this happened, but, as I am sure you will understand, once cards and petitions are distributed, it is impossible to keep control over what people do with them. It is also worth bearing in mind that around 10% of the UK population move house every year. Any letters that were returned could be explained by this.

Friends of the Earth is concerned about the loss of natural old growth forests in Europe and paper products sourced from these areas being imported into the UK. This postcard campaign served to demonstrate the concern of the UK public about this issue.

Mr Hemila's attempts to discredit FOE's campaign distract from the core issue of whether logging in old growth forests in Finland has ceased. Recent old growth logging in Malahvia proves that Forest and Park Service continues logging under the name of "landscape ecological planning". Stora Enso and UPM-Kymmene took advantage of authority weaknesses and pulped their share of old growth wood for paper which is also exported to the UK. It is unfortunate that such companies underestimate growing concern about environmental issues and UK consumers will increasingly seek to buy sustainably sourced paper products such as those approved by the Forest Stewardship Council.

Yours sincerely

Sarah Tyack
Forest Campaigner Biodiversity and Habitats Campaign
FOE England, Wales and Northern Ireland.