Greenpeace protesters blockade ship in Kemi harbour

Dispute on felling in Upper Lapland flares up again

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A dispute over tree felling in the forests of the north of Finnish Lapland flared up again on Monday, when activists of the environmental organisation Greenpeace held a protest near the Veitsiluoto factories of the paper company Stora Enso in the northern city of Kemi.
      The protesters used five rubber boats in an attempt to blockade the Finnlines Antares cargo vessel, which had arrived to pick up a load of paper manufactured from trees felled in the far north.
      Some of the demonstrators used ropes to board the ship.
     
Greenpeace used the same tactic in the spring of 2003 when it blockaded a Finnish vessel in the harbour of Lubeck in Germany. The move was a protest against the felling of old-growth forest in the north.
      "We are disappointed that Stora Enso has approved of the decision to stop discussions on preservation with environmental organisations. At the same time, Stora Enso supports expanded felling by buying wood from Upper Lapland", says Greenpeace forest expert Matti Liimatainen.
      Liimatainen says that Metsähallitus, the state enterprise supplying wood to the forest industry, also broke off talks with reindeer-herding associations and the Saami Parliament on the use of the forests of Inari.
      "In the same week, Metsähallitus announced that discussions on protection of forests of Northern Finland with WWF and the Finnish League for Nature Conservation were over. These negotiations were launched, and the felling was suspended last spring at the initiative of Stora Enso", Liimatainen says.
      The protest in Kemi involved over 20 Greenpeace volunteers from several European countries. The ship was able to embark on its voyage to Lubeck late in the afternoon after police, rescue officials, and the Coast Guard had removed the protesters.
     
Metsähallitus has resumed felling in Nelim in the Inari region. Local reindeer herders say that they will file a complaint on the logging, noting that it is taking place in a part of the forest that is an important grazing area for reindeer.
      Environmentalists tried to force Stora Enso to change its policy on wood acquisition at the company’s shareholders’ meeting in late March. An initiative to end felling in areas inhabited by the indigenous Saami, or Lapp population was noted in the minutes of the meeting. However, there was no vote, because the company does not engage in any felling in the area itself.
      Metsähallitus says that it has stopped discussions it had been holding with environmental organisations on the issue in Tikkurila near Helsinki.
      "In the spring, after talks with environmental groups, we decided to set up more protected forests in Northern Finland. Discussions will continue in connection with the handling of natural resource plans in Kainuu, North Ostrobothnia, and Lapland. We stopped the discussions in Tikkurila, and are going to the regional level, where other groups will be able to join the discussion", says Hannu Jokinen of Metsähallitus.
     
Jokinen says that the reason for stopping the discussions was that the company’s other affinity groups in the provinces were not getting enough of a say in the matter.
      "Greenpeace’s goal is to put an end to forestry in Upper Lapland. To this end they take advantage of reindeer herding and values of nature", Jokinen says.
      Stora Enso says that it will continue to buy wood from the area. The company says that the felling is ecologically sustainable.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Greenpeace sends truckload of logging waste from Finnish Lapland to Germany (1.11.2005)

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