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All this for paper pulp …… by Aurélie Filipetti
Ten young Sámi people and ten Greenpeace activists from Finland, Netherlands and Germany create a giant reindeer using charcoal on the ice of Juutua River in Inari, northern Lapland. The environmental art - 50 x 50 meters - includes the text: 'Denohká!' (Sámi) and 'Enough!' (English). In early March, Greenpeace established a Forest Rescue Station in one of the threatened reindeer forest areas to protest the ongoing destruction by Metsähallitus, the Finnish government's logging company and those paper companies that continue to buy this destruction.
Enlarge Image
The trees here grow slowly - barely one millimetre in diameter per year
- as there is not much light during the winter, given the latitude of
69º North.
They also take hundreds of years to die, and during this time they provide habitat for a range of flora and fauna essential for biodiversity. In this regard they are like ancient stars that continue to light the sky long after their death.
We had lunch near the Russian border, on the bank of a frozen lake, sitting on an enormous pine tree that had taken root in the year 1300, died in 1700 and fallen to earth only a year or two ago.
Lichens too need a lot of time: it takes one hundred and fifty to two hundred years before they appear on a tree. They are a food source for the reindeer, but deforestation is forcing the animals to travel greater distances in search of food. This is also a human catastrophe as the Sámi people are completely dependent on the reindeer.
The reality is far removed from the post-card image of a peaceful Nordic country, and from the Lapland of Santa Claus. The culture of thousands of Sámis is threatened by our lack of concern, and we must not ignore the trees destroyed to make magazines, paper tissues, newspapers and books, instead of using paper from the sustainable forests in the South of the country.
This morning we are faced with a textbook case: the 45 woodcutters who work the forest are accusing Greenpeace of conducting a "terror campaign" and of threatening their work. The argument of jobs versus environment is an old one, and only benefits those who wish to ensure a continued rise in their profits. We, the authors of this article, have acted as intermediaries. We spent a long time talking to the workers, trying to make them understand that we are not against them, but that our aim is in fact to safeguard the future for everyone.
For our part, we are committed to do everything within our power for this cause. The six authors (Finnish, Spanish, Belgian, Dutch, English, French) are insisting that their next books be printed on recycled paper. We learned yesterday evening that Einaudi, a major Italian publisher, has agreed to this.
When simple technical solutions exist (recycled paper, or paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council), it is a crime to allow tree-felling in a forest that is hundreds of years old, and to destroy the human community that has tamed it. (Note: Judy do we want to say they tamed it???)
We must act quickly. Already, huge deforestation machines have left serious damage in their wake. This forest, our heritage and the green heart of the European Union, is under threat.
Let us act quickly!
They also take hundreds of years to die, and during this time they provide habitat for a range of flora and fauna essential for biodiversity. In this regard they are like ancient stars that continue to light the sky long after their death.
We had lunch near the Russian border, on the bank of a frozen lake, sitting on an enormous pine tree that had taken root in the year 1300, died in 1700 and fallen to earth only a year or two ago.
Lichens too need a lot of time: it takes one hundred and fifty to two hundred years before they appear on a tree. They are a food source for the reindeer, but deforestation is forcing the animals to travel greater distances in search of food. This is also a human catastrophe as the Sámi people are completely dependent on the reindeer.
The reality is far removed from the post-card image of a peaceful Nordic country, and from the Lapland of Santa Claus. The culture of thousands of Sámis is threatened by our lack of concern, and we must not ignore the trees destroyed to make magazines, paper tissues, newspapers and books, instead of using paper from the sustainable forests in the South of the country.
This morning we are faced with a textbook case: the 45 woodcutters who work the forest are accusing Greenpeace of conducting a "terror campaign" and of threatening their work. The argument of jobs versus environment is an old one, and only benefits those who wish to ensure a continued rise in their profits. We, the authors of this article, have acted as intermediaries. We spent a long time talking to the workers, trying to make them understand that we are not against them, but that our aim is in fact to safeguard the future for everyone.
For our part, we are committed to do everything within our power for this cause. The six authors (Finnish, Spanish, Belgian, Dutch, English, French) are insisting that their next books be printed on recycled paper. We learned yesterday evening that Einaudi, a major Italian publisher, has agreed to this.
When simple technical solutions exist (recycled paper, or paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council), it is a crime to allow tree-felling in a forest that is hundreds of years old, and to destroy the human community that has tamed it. (Note: Judy do we want to say they tamed it???)
We must act quickly. Already, huge deforestation machines have left serious damage in their wake. This forest, our heritage and the green heart of the European Union, is under threat.
Let us act quickly!
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