Background - June 20, 2002
The US has already lost more than 94 percent of its ancient forest, and up to 85 percent of its remaining forest is under immediate threat.
Industrial clearcutting of ancient temperate rainforest in North America.
What's more, the US has refused to make a formal commitment to
the Convention on Biological Diversity - thus, in effect, refusing
to commit to saving its remaining biological and cultural
diversity.
Between 1990 and 2000 North America lost at least 12.3 million
hectares of natural or ancient forest, and although on paper there
has been some increase in the area of land designated for
conservation from 6.9 to 11.1 percent, little of this is within the
remaining intact ancient forests.
Canada and the US are G8 countries, which committed at the 1998
G8 meeting in Birmingham to eliminate the trade in illegal timber.
This commitment was reaffirmed at both the 1999 and 2000 G8
Summits.
However, the US, in particular, continues to import
indiscriminately from ancient forest regions, including the Amazon,
where illegal logging is rampant.