Greenpeace and Cree have erected blockade to protect Broadback Valley Forest

MONTREAL, Nov. 3 /CNW Telbec/ - Greenpeace and the Cree Nation of Waswanipi have erected a symbolic blockade in the heart of Quebec's Boreal Forest to protest against the construction of logging roads that will open the Broadback Valley Forest to industrial exploitation. 

Today, Greenpeace and Chief Paul Gull of Waswanipi, revealed a giant photo of the blockade at EACOM Timber Corporation's headquarters in downtown Montreal. This afternoon, they will go to  the Montreal office of Prime Minister Jean Charest to ask that his government take action on this file.

"We are telling EACOM to immediately and publicly suspend its logging project in the Broadback Valley, one of the last intact wilderness areas in Quebec and the only remaining pristine lands of the Waswanipi Cree Nation," said Nicolas Mainville, Greenpeace forest campaigner. "EACOM's logging plans will cause irreversible ecological damage and adversely affect the Cree way of life.."

Ten members of the Waswanipi Cree Nation along with Greenpeace created the blockade a few days ago by cementing a massive billboard into the ground at the end of a partially built logging road 200 kilometres north of EACOM's Matagami mill, blocking further construction. The 6' by 12' billboard reads in Cree and French: "The path of destruction stops here."

EACOM is the new owner of Domtar's Quebec operations. The company plans involve building bridges over the Broadback River and logging in ancestral Cree land and pristine woodland caribou habitat. Although the company has recently shown some openness to the creation of a large protected area in the Broadback Valley Forest, Greenpeace and Cree remain concerned.

"Fifty nine out of our sixty-two traplines we administrate have already been logged and fragmented. Those last wild areas are what are most valuable to our community and the time has come to protect them from further industrial activity," said Allan Saganash from the Waswanipi Cree Nation, Director of the Joint Working Group on Forestry. "We need a healthy forest if we want to continue to fish, trap and hunt on our territory. We are here to say that industrial logging in the Broadback Valley will do the complete opposite," said Paul Gull, Chief of the Waswanipi Cree Nation.

The Waswanipi tallyman (hunting territory leaders), the Grand Council of the Cree, Greenpeace and other environmental organizations have repeatedly asked the Quebec government and logging companies to recognize the ecological and cultural value of the Broadback Valley and to ensure the permanent protection of its biodiversity.

Greenpeace documented the ecological values of the Broadback Valley in its recent scientific report called "Refuge Boreal." Published last May, the study scientifically documents the importance of woodland caribou habitat, old-growth forests, the large carbon stores, plus the importance of the cultural values for the Cree in this 22 000 km² area.

"The future of the Broadback Valley is ultimately in the hands of the Quebec government," said Mainville. "If Jean Charest's government grants EACOM or any other company a licence to implement such a controversial logging plan, it would be a significant step backwards for forest protection and respect for aboriginal rights in Quebec."

For further information:

Editors:
Photos of the blockade are available at: www.greenpeace.ca/gallery
A video of the expedition is at: greenpeace.ca/savethebroadback
The Refuge Boreal report, in French, is at: www.greenpeace.ca/foretsintactes

For more information, please contact:
Catherine Vezina, Media and Public Relations Officer, [phone] (at EACOM's headquarters)
Nicolas Mainville, Forest Campaigner, [phone] (at EACOM's headquarters)
Paul Gull, Chief of Waswanipi, [phone] (at EACOM's headquarters)