Greenpeace locks down Kleenex headquarters - American company destroys Canada's magnificent Boreal Forest

    TORONTO, Feb. 12 /CNW Telbec/ - Four Greenpeace activists have locked
themselves down in the offices of Kleenex manufacturer Kimberly-Clark,
demanding that the company stop destroying Canada's Boreal Forest. Others are
broadcasting chainsaw noises and spreading woodchips in the corridors to
further disrupt operations at the American company's Canadian headquarters.
    "Kimberly-Clark's executives want to continue on with business as usual.
Unfortunately, business as usual for this company means taking one of the last
great forests on Earth, one of our best defenses against global warming, and
turning it into Kleenex and toilet paper," said Christy Ferguson, a Greenpeace
forests campaigner, from inside the building where she is locked down. "That
can't continue. We simply won't let it. If companies and governments don't
change soon, they're going to see large scale action and controversy in
Canada's forests."
    This latest action follows a series of confrontations with Kimberly-Clark
in Europe, the United States, and Canada in an ongoing international campaign
to get the world's largest producer of tissue products to stop using virgin
pulp from clearcut ancient forests to make its well known Kleenex brand. All
of the Kleenex brand products sold in North America are made from 100% virgin
tree fibre, much of it from badly managed forests in Ontario and Alberta.
    In recent months Greenpeace has blockaded Kimberly-Clark facilities in
Huntsville, Ontario; Everett, Washington; and Turin, Italy, each time with the
message that until the company stops destroying ancient forests, Greenpeace
will continue to use non-violent direct action to disrupt its operations. But
despite these actions and the growing pressure from customers and investors in
the form of contract cancellations and shareholder resolutions, Kimberly-Clark
executives have refused to change their policies.
    Greenpeace is demanding that Kimberly-Clark dramatically increase the use
of recycled fibre in its entire line of products, and only purchase virgin
fibre from logging operations that are sustainable and certified as meeting
the strict standards of the Forest Stewardship Council.
    "It is unconscionable that this huge American company continues to
destroy Canada's Boreal Forest -- one of the largest intact ecosystems left on
Earth -- to make something that's used once and then thrown away," continued
Ferguson. "Because of this company, forests that have stood for thousands of
years are literally being flushed down the toilet."
    Stretching from Newfoundland to the Yukon, Canada's Boreal Forest
comprises one quarter of the world's remaining intact ancient forests. As the
world's largest land-based storehouse of carbon, the Boreal is essential in
fighting global warming. It is home to numerous communities including hundreds
of First Nations, many of which have never consented to logging in their
traditional territories. The forest also provides essential habitat to
hundreds of species of birds and animals including the endangered woodland
caribou and wolverine.

For further information: Christy Ferguson, Greenpeace forest campaigner,
cell: (416) 270-2243; Jane Story, Greenpeace communications, cell: (416)
930-9055