Forest Caucus Report

A Newsletter of the Canadian Environmental Network Forest Caucus

Public Activism: A Report on the Launch of Greenpeace’s Boreal Campaign
Richard Brooks, Greenpeace Canada

Sunday starts sunny and bright as I make my way to St-Mathieu Park to gather for a march sponsored by the Quebec-based Amies de la Terre. It is a perfect day to begin the two-day launch of Greenpeace’s Boreal forest campaign. Greenpeace’s style of activism is one that many people are familiar with. The Greenpeace "Ents", those giant trees from Lord of the Rings, lead the march. Front page coverage of two local newspapers, and multiple TV and radio spoke of the success of the event.

Monday was even more successful as the Greenpeace team erected a 20 foot by 10 foot "curtain" of a beautiful Boreal forest. Behind the curtain, the activists set out 150 stumps. When a circus-style ringmaster stood in front of the curtain, urging Congress delegates to visit the amazingly beautiful Boreal, deafening chainsaw noises cut in to drown him out and the curtains swept back to reveal the sea of stumps. This went on for about 3 hours, and the Canadian government delegates who at first were pleasant became horrified by the attention we received. Over 1500 reports on the state of forestry in Canada were handed out and the truth behind forestry in Canada was revealed to the 4000 delegates from 140 countries attending the Congress. The attention we received sparked denials of the existence of clearcutting by the Quebec Forest Minister, front page coverage in newspapers and a debate that continued throughout the week in the major Quebec media.

What does this attention mean to the fight being fought for the Boreal forest across Canada and the world? Greenpeace sees media simply as tool to 1) get our message out 2) engage and motivate the public 3) pressure companies and government to make positive changes for the environment. With the low awareness of Boreal forest issues in most areas of the country, media events like those detailed above are very important because they raise the profile of an issue and place it forefront in the public’s eye. We are trying to create a watershed event, by building support across the country for the protection of the Boreal forest. In the coming months, we expect that the forest industry, consumer companies and government will no longer be able to deny there is a problem in Canada’s Boreal forest. The Canadian public won’t let them.

For more information about the Greenpeace Boreal campaign please visit: www.greenpeace.ca/boreal/