Archived press release

S.O.S! ' SAVE OUR SNOWFORESTS' NEW YOUTH CAMPAIGN

28 November 1996

Snowforests are natural forests that form a belt around the top of the northern hemisphere.Although the snowforests still occupy vast areas, huge tracts have already been destroyed,with others increasingly being felled. In many cases natural snowforest has been replaced with inferior intensively-managed forest or plantations [3]. In Scandinavia, one of the UK's principal suppliers, little natural snowforest remains [4] - and even the remainder is being felled! Friends of the Earth's Save our Snowforests campaign will tell young people what they can do to help stop the chop [5].

Celebrities backing the campaign include (see separate sheet for quotes [6]):
* Danni Minogue (singer and TV presenter)
* Rolf Harris (TV presenter)
* Tim Wheeler from Ash
* Mark Speight (TV presenter)
* Chris Packham (TV presenter)
* Janice Acquah (TV presenter - Really Wild Show)

A colourful, free action pack [7] is available by post and spells out the importance of these endangered forests, the threats they face and what we can all do to help.

Notes to Editors

[1] Friends of the Earth will have a highly creative stand (number 643) built from reclaimed timber at the BBC Big Bash in the Birmingham NEC. Children will be invited to take part in a an interactive Snowforests quiz, sign a Save Our Snowforests petition and fill in a flyer to order their free campaign action pack. They will also be able to take part in a range of scheduled workshop activities including a paper parade, paper making,constructing papier mache animals and face painting.

[2] According to the UN's Food and Agricultural Organisation, world demand for wood and paper products is expected to rise by 58 per cent between 1990 and 2010 - and that doesn't even include fuel wood.

[3] Snowforests are natural forests which form a band around the upper part of the northern hemisphere. As demand for wood and paper products has risen, international companies have increasingly been targeting snowforests for felling and replacement with intensively managed forests or plantations. Such forests are a poor substitute for the forests they replace: fewer tree species, supporting fewer of the plant and animal species that lived in the original forest.

[4] More than a third of the UK's paper and over 20 per cent of its timber comes from the forests of Scandinavia, especially Finland and Sweden. Around 5 per cent of the old-growth forest remains in these countries - the rest having been largely converted to intensively managed forests or plantations where wildlife struggles to survive. The continuing conversion of old growth forests to intensive "factory forests" is driven by the increasing demand for timber and paper. By being more sensible about the wood and paper we use we can all help take pressure off the snowforests.

[5] The attached briefing sheet includes details of What You Can Do.

[6] Please see attached sheet for celebrity quotes.

[7] Save our Snowforest packs are available free from: 'S.O.S.', Publications Despatch,Friends of the Earth, Luton LU1 2PH (Please enclose an SAE). Press copies are available from FOE press office.

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust