For Immediate Release

October 23, Toronto    Before a rare public reading at the opening event of YoungIFOA in Toronto today, JK Rowling accepted an award in recognition of the role she has played helping save Canada's and the world's forests. Canadian environmental organization Markets Initiative presented Rowling with The Order of the Forest, citing Rowling's direct hand in transforming the publishing industry. Previous recipients include writer Alice Munro and publisher McClelland & Stewart.

Rowling is credited with encouraging 23 of her publishers to print her books on environmental papers, spawning a trend that has seen an additional 300 publishers, including HarperCollins UK and Random House US, adopt green paper policies. Ms. Rowling is the first international author to be awarded the Order of the Forest.

JK Rowling asked her international publishers to find paper that was free of ancient or endangered forests. With millions of her books now printed on green paper, she's helped take the heat off of carbon and biodiversity storehouses like Canada's Boreal Forest, said Nicole Rycroft, executive director of Vancouver-based Markets Initiative. Markets Initiative began working with Rowling's Canadian publisher in 2000, Rowling in 2003, and with hundreds of publishers and paper mills since to turn other books green.

The last book in the Potter series is considered within the industry to be the most environmentally friendly in publishing history. Twenty-three countries are now printing the book on eco-friendly paper up from one publisher, Canada's Raincoast Books, in 2003.

The English-language editions of the latest book result in a savings of 197,685 trees (an area equivalent to 2.5 times the size of New York's Central Park) and 7.9 million kilograms of greenhouse gases (equivalent to taking 1,577 cars off the road). The book uses the highest standard of eco-friendly paper for the majority of its print runs. The non-English versions of the final book will be released Friday October 26th.

"It's a great thing for Harry Potter fans that J.K. Rowling agreed to give a reading at YoungIFOA, and it's a victory for Canada's forests, because she carries unmatched influence within the publishing industry," said Geoffrey Taylor, Director, International Readings at Harbourfront.