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.
The trees here grow slowly - barely one millimetre in diameter per year- as there is not much light during the winter, given the latitude of69º North.
They also take hundreds of years to die, and during this time theyprovide habitat for a range of flora and fauna essential forbiodiversity. In this regard they are like ancient stars thatcontinue 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 twohundred years before they appear on a tree. They are a foodsource for the reindeer, but deforestation is forcing the animals totravel greater distances in search of food. This is also a humancatastrophe as the Sámi people are completely dependent on the reindeer.
The reality is far removed from the post-card image of a peacefulNordic country, and from the Lapland of Santa Claus. The cultureof thousands of Sámis is threatened by our lack of concern, and we mustnot ignore the trees destroyed to make magazines, paper tissues,newspapers and books, instead of using paper from the sustainableforests in the South of the country.
This morning we are faced with a textbook case: the 45 woodcutters whowork the forest are accusing Greenpeace of conducting a "terrorcampaign" and of threatening their work. The argument of jobsversus environment is an old one, and only benefits those who wish toensure a continued rise in their profits. We, the authors of thisarticle, have acted as intermediaries. We spent a long time talking tothe workers, trying to make them understand that we are not againstthem, 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 forthis cause. The six authors (Finnish, Spanish, Belgian, Dutch,English, French) are insisting that their next books be printed onrecycled paper. We learned yesterday evening that Einaudi, amajor Italian publisher, has agreed to this.
When simple technical solutions exist (recycled paper, or papercertified by the Forest Stewardship Council™), it is a crime to allowtree-felling in a forest that is hundreds of years old, and to destroythe human community that has tamed it. (Note: Judy do we want to saythey tamed it???)
We must act quickly. Already, huge deforestation machines haveleft serious damage in their wake. This forest, our heritage andthe green heart of the European Union, is under threat.
Let us act quickly!