You smell it first – the smell of recently splintered trees is so strong that it hits me long before I reach the logging site. The tree stumps are still sticky with resin. A few hours ago this was a lush forest with trees that had stood tall for over a hundred years. Now it is a barren wasteland.

It’s heartbreaking, because I know that just one tree can be home to so much other life; insects, birds, mushrooms, lichen. It will take a long time for this place to become a living ecosystem again.

Greenpeace campaigner Lina Burnelius walks in the middle of a clear cut. Greenpeace is documenting forest and forestry activities in the Swedish part of the Great Northern Forest. Biodiversity is under threat by the expansion of logging companies into critical forest landscapes. Lodgepole pine plantations and clear cut in Sweden. 6 September, 2017.

Go here right away if you want to give a voice to all of the creatures of the forest. Or read on if you want to know who’s responsible for the mess that I’m standing in.

Forest close to lake Blecktjärnen in Jämtland.
 Greenpeace is documenting forest and forestry activities in the Swedish part of the Great Northern Forest. Biodiversity is under threat by the expansion of logging companies into critical forest landscapes. Forest near Lake Blecktjärnen in Sweden. 20 September, 2017.

The producer of Tempo is Essity. This Swedish tissue and paper giant could play a key role in stopping the destruction of the Great Northern Forest, in Sweden, Finland, Russia and elsewhere across this green crown of the planet. Essity is sourcing pulp from companies that are continuing to expand their logging operations into critical areas of forests that are vital for biodiversity

Read about it in the  Greenpeace International report here 

Where I’m from in Sweden, most of the forested land has been clearcut and turned into industrial tree plantations. That’s a major problem for most forest species because they simply cannot survive in these plantations. Since the last remaining areas of old-growth forests are small and scattered, there is an urgent need to protect these, for the many precious species of plant, insect, and even some animals, that depend on them for their survival. This is not only happening in Sweden. It’s happening across the rest of the Great Northern Forest including in Finland and Russia, where Essity also sources it pulp. 

Lodgepole pine plantations. After clearcutting, it is common for forestry companies in Sweden to plant lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta), which is a non-native tree species. Lodgepole pine monoculture is a threat to biodiversity in Swedish boreal forest, as the plantations replace the natural forests that once covered the landscape. Greenpeace is documenting forest and forestry activities in the Swedish part of the Great Northern Forest. Biodiversity is under threat by the expansion of logging companies into critical forest landscapes. Planting this invasive species are displacing reindeer and putting economic strain on Sami communities. The currently dominant model of forestry poses a fundamental threat to Sami communities, and ultimately to the Sami’s whole culture and identity, because it undermines their right to land and their economic activities. The nature of this threat is twofold. Firstly, clearcutting old forests transforms the Sami’s traditional lands, destroying natural grazing essential for reindeer. Secondly, the plantation of invasive tree species exacerbates the problem by further limiting the areas where reindeer herding is possible. Lodgepole Pine Plantations and Clear Cut in Sweden. 6 September, 2017.

Companies like Essity – the world’s second largest tissue producer – have a responsibility to ensure their suppliers don’t expand their logging operations into the last remaining critical forest landscapes.

You can act now by asking them to clean up their global supply chain and we will deliver your demands straight to the CEO himself.

Brown bear in Swedish forest.Brown Bear in Sweden. 3 June, 2017.

It’s not that difficult, really. Essity can protect life in the forest and still make toilet paper. Forestry can take place outside the critical forest landscapes that need protection. More tissue can be produced from recycled paper and recovered fibre.

It’s your business how you use your toilet paper - but it’s everybody’s business how Essity produces it.

Tell Essity to stop wiping away the Great Northern Forest!

Lina Burnelius is a forest campaigner with Greenpeace Nordic