May 18, 2010 – The Guardian - Canadian logging campaigners end protest with unprecedented forest truce, Suzanne Goldenberg

Nine environmental groups will stand down boycotts of forestry companies in return for a commitment to suspend logging

Environmental action groups called a halt to decades of protests and came to a truce with logging companies today under a deal that will preserve an enormous swath of forest in Canada's northern wilderness. The groups claim it is the largest forest protection agreement in history.

The extraordinary agreement, announced in Toronto, will see nine environmental groups stand down their boycotts of 21 forestry companies in return for a commitment to immediately suspend logging and road building on nearly 29m hectares of forest that store billions of tonnes of carbon and are critical to the survival of the endangered woodland caribou.

Over the next three years, campaigners and forestry industry giants such as AbitibiBowater and Weyerhaeuser Co will work together to develop logging bans or sustainable business practices for 72m hectares of forested areas.

The designated zones, a band of spruce, larch and other hardwoods just below the tundra from British Columbia across to Newfoundland, together account for about two-thirds of Canada's forests. In combined surface area, they are equivalent to twice the size of Germany.

For environmentalists, the commitment from the forestry companies promises a much bigger win than achieved over years of boycott and divestment campaigns. "We have been battling it out for years, and absolutely there were some victories, but this is much bigger," said Richard Brooks, Greenpeace Canada forestry campaigner.

The immediate gains include an end to highly destructive logging in the last remaining expanses of intact forests in northern Canada; protection for the remaining populations of woodland caribou, whose population has shrunk to 36,000; and preservation of an important resource in fighting climate change. Scientists believe that the soil and trees in Canada's coniferous forests store up to 20bn tonnes of carbon.

In terms of sheer scope, both sides described the deal as a first. "If you think about it, this is a frontier: one of the world's last great frontiers that is still wild and undeveloped," said Steve Kallick, director of the Boreal forest campaign for the Pew Environment Group.

The agreement will see both sides working with the federal and provincial governments and aboriginal people and consulting with scientific experts to put in place a plan that will put particularly sensitive areas – such as woodland caribou habitat or streams and lakes – permanently off-limits to logging.

In the remaining areas, forestry companies will adopt more sustainable practices. Kallick said it was the first time the forestry industry had agreed to limits on future logging. However an industry fighting off competition from Asia and South America and which was hit hard by the global recession may not have had much choice.

"That has not been a lot of fun for us," said Avrim Lazar, president of the Forest Products Association of Canada, which represents the companies. "We know that tomorrow's markets are going to be judging forestry products on their environmental credentials. Having the environmentalist community on our side means that we are getting a huge branding advantage."

Coming to a deal was not an easy, process. Some of the environmental groups involved in today's deal, such as Greenpeace, Canopy, and ForestEthics, have spent years putting on direct actions against forest clear-cuts, or mounting boycott campaigns, and scored landmark victories. In the United States, ForestEthics pushed Victoria's Secret to use more sustainable paper for its catalogue business, a move that hurt forestry companies. In Canada, Canopy took pride in its work in producing a greener version of the Harry Potter books.

The deal took two years of tough negotiations, brokered by an outside professional mediator. Lazar admitted to "sulks". Brooks mentioned "blood, sweat and almost tears". At times, the mediator was reduced to shuttling between the two sides camped out in separate rooms.

The way ahead could be equally delicate, with both sides acknowledging their efforts will be closely monitored over the next three years for evidence of a meaningful conservation plan - or mere greenwashing. With that in mind, the deal calls for an independent auditor and regular public reports to police their conservation plan.

Forestry companies participating in the agreement: AbitibiBowater Inc., Alberta-Pacific Forest Industries Inc., AV Group, Canfor Corporation, Canfor Pulp Limited Partnership, Cariboo Pulp & Paper Company, Cascades inc, Daishowa-Marubeni International Ltd, FF Soucy Inc., Howe Sound Pulp and Paper Limited Partnership, Kruger Inc, Louisiana-Pacific Canada Ltd, Mercer International, Mill & Timber Products Ltd, NewPage Corporation, Papier Masson Ltée, SFK Pâte, Tembec, Tolko Industries Ltd, West Fraser Timber Co Ltd, and Weyerhaeuser Company Ltd, all represented by the Forest Products Association of Canada.

Environmental organisations participating in the agreement: Canadian Boreal Initiative, Canadian Parks and Wilderness Society, Canopy (formerly Markets Initiative), David Suzuki Foundation, ForestEthics, Greenpeace, Ivey Foundation, The Nature Conservancy, and Pew Environment Group's International Boreal Conservation Campaign.

Original Article: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/may/18/canadian-logging-campaigners