Photos released today reveal the existence of a massive stockpile of old-growth logs that are destined to become disposable products.
The stockpile is evidence of Kimberly-Clark's egregious
mismanagement of the forests despite company claims that "much of
[the] fiber from the Canadian Boreal forest comes to K-C in the
form of wood pulp produced from sawdust and chips - or leftovers -
of the lumber production process."1
As these new photos and recent government correspondence reveal,
Kimberly-Clark is currently purchasing huge quantities of pulp made
primarily from whole, old-growth trees from intact areas of
Canada's Boreal Forest. According to the Ontario Ministry of
Environment, the stockpile contained 85,000 cubic metres of wood as
of the end of March 2008. That's equivalent to over 7,000 logging
trucks full of wood. Since the closure of an area sawmill in June
2008, this wood has been trucked to the Terrace Bay pulp mill where
it is being turned directly into pulp for Kleenex and other
disposable products. In total, the logs will have been trucked 6-7
hours from the forest to the mill.
What's worse, even with this massive stockpile of timber already
cut and waiting to be pulped, the Ogoki Forest continues to be
logged, largely in order to supply Kimberly-Clark.
Fast facts:
- As of the end of March 2008, the stockpile contained 85,000
cubic metres of wood, equivalent to over 7,000 full logging
trucks
- According to the Ontario Ministry of Environment, the stockpile
has now diminished to 12,000 cubic metres, as large amounts of pulp
have been shipped to Terrace Bay for pulping since the shutdown of
the Nakina sawmill in June
- The distance between where the stockpiled wood was logged and
where it will be pulped is an approximately 6-7 hour drive
- Kimberly-Clark purchases 55 per cent of the 420,000 metric
tonnes (462,970 tons) of pulp produced at the Terrace Bay pulp mill
each year, an amount equal to the weight of over 1150 jumbo
jets
- Kimberly-Clark uses the pulp produced at Terrace Bay to make
Kleenex, Cottonelle, Scott and Viva brand products that are sold
across North America and Europe.
The Ogoki Forest is the northernmost area in Ontario subject to
logging. Unlike other forests in the province that have been logged
for the last 70-100 years, the first industrial logging in Ogoki
did not occur until 1998. For this reason, it is the most intact of
all the forest management units in Ontario. Because the neighboring
Kenogami Forest was managed so poorly by Kimberly-Clark and then
Buchanan Forest Products, and because regeneration there has been
so unsuccessful, logging company Buchanan is pushing further and
further north to supply its pulp mill at Terrace Bay.
The size, location, and near pristine state of the Ogoki Forest
make it critical habitat for the threatened woodland caribou, while
its carbon-dense trees and soils make it critical for mitigating
climate change. As detailed in Greenpeace's Cut & Run report,
the Kenogami Forest was turned from a vast expanse of healthy,
near-pristine forest to a severely damaged landscape rife with
environmental problems during 70 years of mismanagement by K-C.2 The Ogoki Forest cannot be allowed to
become the next Kenogami.
Unfortunately, as this new photographic evidence shows, Ogoki is
already being subjected to the same gross mismanagement as the
Kenogami. As incredible as it may seem, K-C is apparently willing
to risk total devastation of yet another valuable eco-system in
order to make its disposable paper products.
In light of the discovery of this staggering woodpile that was
once pristine ancient Boreal Forest, Greenpeace is calling on
Kimberly-Clark to ensure that no more fiber from the Ogoki Forest
enters its product stream by immediately engaging with us and other
stakeholders in a process to revise its ineffective and
unsustainable fiber procurement policy.
1 Kimberly-Clark
Fact Sheet on Sustainable Fiber Practices updated July 30,2008. http://www.kimberly-clark.com/pdfs/KC_Sustain_NAmerica.pdf
2 Greenpeace.
2008. Cut & Run, Kimberly-Clark's legacy of environmental
devastation and social conflict in the Kenogami Forest. http://www.kleercut.net/en/node/936