A new Greenpeace report released today reveals that Hachette USA is one of a number of North American and European corporations fueling the destruction of Canada’s Boreal Forest.

The report, 'Consuming Canada’s Boreal Forest: The chain of destruction from logging companies to consumers', details the environmentally destructive and socially unjust logging practices of Abitibi-Consolidated, Bowater and Kruger. It reveals that more than 68 per cent of the Boreal Forest under the collective management of these companies has already been degraded or fragmented – an area totalling nearly 200,000 km2 - 100 times the size of London. Hachette’s US book arm uses 'alternative book cream' paper manufactured by Abitibi consolidated, which uses pulp from intact Boreal forest areas and Caribou habitat.

Greenpeace UK Forest Campaigner, Mariana Paoli said: "The Hachette Book Group USA is contributing to the destruction of the Canadian Boreal Forest, the largest ancient forest in North America. The company must suspend its contract with Abitibi as a matter of urgency until action is taken on the ground to protect the forest and end destructive logging."

She continued, "In the UK Greenpeace is urging Hachette to follow progressive publishers in the industry and commit to phasing out all paper from dubious sources and move towards ancient forest friendly papers instead."

While other parts of the book industry are making real progress in sourcing ancient forest friendly papers, Hachette has consistently failed to act.

In the UK alone, over 40 per cent of the book industry has adopted good environmental policies – including Random House, Harper Collins, Bloomsbury and Egmont - as part of the Greenpeace Book Campaign. (1) These companies are now well on their way to phasing out fibre from ancient forest destruction and printing their books on recycled paper and paper certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). (2) Similar progress is being made by publishers in Canada, North America and Europe. Meanwhile, Hachette, which controls 17 per cent of the UK market alone, continues to source ancient forest fibre and has not made any similar commitment to go ancient forest friendly.

Canada’s Boreal Forest contains a quarter of the world’s remaining intact ancient forests and stores 47.5 billion tonnes of carbon in its soils and trees. It is the largest ancient forest in North America and provides habitat for threatened and endangered species such as woodland caribou, lynx, grizzly bear and wolverines. The forest is also home to nearly a million aboriginal peoples.

The report can be downloaded online.

Broadcast quality video and photos available upon request.

For more information, please contact the Greenpeace Press office on 0207 865 8255

NOTES TO EDITORS:

(1). The Greenpeace Book Campaign encourages book publishers to stop printing their paper linked to ancient forest destruction and instead to print their books on ‘ancient forest friendly’ paper. Such paper maximises post consumer recycled content with any virgin fibre coming Forest Stewardship Council certified sources.

(2) The Forest Stewardship Council certification scheme is the best way to ensure that the virgin fibre you use comes from forests that have been managed in an environmentally and socially responsible way.

This Christmas, three years after the launch of the Greenpeace Book Campaign, consumers are able to buy a good range of high profile books printed on ancient forest friendly paper.

Such books include Bill Bryson's 'Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid' (Random House), Mark Haddon's 'A Spot of Bother' (Random House) and Bernard Cornwall's 'Sharpe's Fury' (Harper Collins) all printed on Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified paper [1]. In addition, Margaret Atwood's 'The Tent' (Bloomsbury) and Tristram Stewart's 'The Bloodless Revolution' (Harper Collins) are printed on recycled paper. Children's books are also available - from Michael Morpurgo's 'Kensuke's Kingdom' and Alice Hoffman's 'The Foretelling to Giles Thaxton's Spud goes Green' (all Egmont) printed on recycled and FSC certified papers.

Forest campaigner Belinda Fletcher said, "Whilst we may not have a white Christmas this year, the book publishing industry are making great strides to help us have a green one. There are an increasing number of books on sale that are printed on ancient forest friendly paper, which is great news for the environment and for consumers. Make sure you look out for the recycled and Forest Stewardship Council logo when buying your Xmas books this year."

Over the past eighteen months over 40 per cent of the UK's book publishing houses, including Random House, Harper Collins, Penguin, Bloomsbury and Egmont, have introduced 'green' policies. These publishers are now printing some of their books on recycled and FSC certified papers.

However, the UK's largest publisher, Hachette [2], which owns Hodder Headline, Orion, Little Brown and Octopus, is lagging behind the rest of the industry. It is one of the few publishing houses which have yet to respond to the issues raised by Greenpeace Book Campaign.

Despite repeatedly highlighting these concerns to Hachette, requests by Greenpeace to meet with the company have been refused [3].

Fletcher continued, "Hachette UK is the Grinch when it comes to using ancient forest friendly paper this Christmas. We will continue to encourage the UK's largest publishing house to follow the lead taken by other progressive players in the industry."

In 2003 Greenpeace released a report which detailed how the UK publishing industry was inadvertently fuelling the destruction of ancient forest regions in Finland and Canada, as well as sourcing paper from Russia (via Finland), where at least 50 per cent of logging is estimated to be illegal. Many publishers also print children's titles in South East Asia, on paper that could be linked to South East Asian rainforest destruction [4]).

Editor's notes:

Pictures available from the Greenpeace Press Office on 0207 865 8225.

For the latest information on the book campaign, please see our new author's newsletter at www.greenpeace.org.uk/spread-the-word-1206.

[1] FSC certification is the only way that a company can ensure that its virgin fibre is coming from socially and environmentally responsible sources.

[2] Hachette controls 17 per cent of the UK market place.

[3] Hachette stated in recent correspondence to Greenpeace that its paper is 'sourced from wood grown in managed and sustainable and reputable forests' and that its 'procurement policy is extremely similar to that of the more enlightened of our competitors'. However, Hachette failed to provide a copy of its paper procurement policy with the letter and has also refused to make it available to interested journalist and have not put it on their website. In addition, Hachette UK made only passing reference to FSC certified fibre in the letter and made no reference at all to recycled fibre. These are the main ways that the company can ensure its books are printed on environmentally and socially responsible sources.

[4] Report available at http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/MultimediaFiles/Live/FullReport/6583.pdf.