Vocabulary

 

 
 
 
 
 

Video

 

 
 
 
 

Transcript

 

Hundreds of millions of packages travel the globe each day. Products and food delivered right to your door.

But the raw materials for boxes like these are disappearing. Like here in Sweden.

For these unspoiled pine forests, found mostly in the north, the clock is ticking. Clear-cutting in many regions is leaving behind vast, barren landscapes. Sometimes these areas are replanted with crop trees. But the old-growth forest is long gone.

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Daniel Rutschman, Protect the Forest Action Group: “There’s been a forest here since after the ice age for thousands of years, so this ecosystem we’re standing in is ancient. And if we clear-cut it, we break this ecological eternity.”

Daniel Rutschman from the Protect The Forest Action Group is drilling deep into this tree – to determine its age. This area is set to be cleared soon – for the Swedish paper industry.

Daniel Rutschman, Protect the Forest Action Group: “I mean this tree is 400 years old, so . . .”

And this may well be what it will be turned into. We’ll never know for sure, because tracking what the Swedish wood and cellulose industry does with an individual trunk isn’t possible.

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Biologists warn against clearcutting old-growth forests. They say the ecological value of these stands is much greater than that of commercial timberlands undergoing regular clearing. And that it takes an old-growth forest a hundred years to recover again.

This map shows the clearings from the past 50 years in Rutschmann’s home province of Västernorrland. Nature conservation organizations say at least two percent of valuable continuity forests are lost each year.

Rutschman’s work is rarely done. He continues his tracking of logging companies’ activities in the evening at home.

Daniel Rutschman, Protect the Forest Action Group: “So I’m looking at recent notifications for final felling. We see that SCA now has of their notifications for final felling about 37 percent is within these continuity forests.

And since there’s not very much left of these forests, that means every year we’re losing crucial areas for preserving our biodiversity.”

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The Swedish company SCA faces frequent criticism. It owns 10 percent of all forests in Sweden. In promotional clips, SCA presents itself as a responsible industrial company — one that protects rather than exploits the forest and ships sustainable paper products throughout the world.

The company declined requests for an interview and issued a written statement instead:

“The portion of continuity forests that may still be subject to forestry undergoes a nature value assessment, and management methods are adjusted based on the values present at the site. In cases where high nature values are identified, the land is set aside.”

The company makes note of an international certification system for more sustainable forestry, also observed in logging; so-called FSC certificates. The FSC logo can be found on many products all over the world, such as milk cartons.

But Rutschman says the verification system has failed to save forests — at least in Sweden. He regularly observes SCA logging valuable continuity forests, informing officials managing the certification process of the violations.

Daniel Rutschman, Ecologist: “So, they warn SCA, and then they say, OK, we won’t do it again. But then they do it again, of course.

And we see this is just happening over and over again. It doesn’t matter how many times we catch them logging trees that are not allowed according to the FSC.

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Forest exploitation has other victims, too — like Sweden’s unique reindeer and the indigenous Sami reindeer herders.

Pär-Mikael Åhren is one of them. His herd has been grazing on their own for the past half-hour. In the winter, the reindeer feed on lichens hanging from trees.

Before logging on Sami lands, companies must obtain consent from reindeer herders.

That’s the FSC rule.

But it isn’t always followed.

Pär-Mikael Åhren, Reindeer Breeder: “These few thousand hectares were cleared without our consent.

When a forest is logged, the lichens on the ground are mostly destroyed. And the next step is to plant a commercial forest — or more precisely, plantations. Those then suffocate the remaining nourishment for the reindeer.”

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“The clear-cutting of Swedish continuity forests threatens the survival of some 1400 animal and plant species. Biologists are sounding the alarm.

Hakan Berglund, Biologist: “So, if we look at these cuttings that are ongoing, we are losing some of these old-growth and continuity forests, where these rare species occur. It means that locally, species are getting extinct.

And if you add that to a larger scale, you have a larger number of individuals of these species lost.”

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Swedish authorities reject accusations they’re not sufficiently protecting the forest. They argue it’s difficult to distinguish between valuable old-growth and less valuable commercial forests.

Herman Sundqvist, Swedish Forest Agency: “Take, for example, in an extreme case, a forest no person has ever set foot in, but where one tree was felled 100 years ago. And on the other hand, an area that has been clear-cut except for one old tree.

There are all sorts of variations between these two extremes. How can we clearly determine when a forest has such a high ecological value that we shouldn’t manage it?”

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Conservationists regularly hang warning signs on very old trees, hoping workers will then work around them. Others block the path for forest-clearing machines. They say old-growth forests play a major role in protecting the climate, too.

Daniel Rutschman, Environmentalist: “So, from a climate perspective, the forests are both carbon sinks — that sequester carbon from the atmosphere — and they are huge storages of carbon, which is stored in the trees we see, and it’s in the soil and in the mycelium below us.

So, if we log this, we lose the carbon stock.”

Most Swedes are proud of their extensive woodlands. But, as conservationist Daniel Rutschman explains, if current practices continue, the country will soon see its forests entirely replaced . . . by plantations.

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One of SCA’s biggest clients is Swiss food and beverage conglomerate Nestle — which declined requests for an interview.

In a written statement responding to our concerns that old-growth trees might end up in their packaging, the company said it’s working on alternatives made from recyclables.

“We also actively work with our direct suppliers to incorporate responsible forest sourcing strategies and practices in northern Sweden.”

But Daniel Rutschman is skeptical. He hopes consumers will take action . . . Reassess their consumption habits . . . Exert more pressure . . . And thereby protect what is left of Sweden’s old-growth forests.

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Questions

 

Oak. Cardboard boxes, packages, and parcels are made of petrochemicals. True or false?

Pine, Conifer. Are the forests in the video newly planted? Can deforested lands recover and grow back quickly?

Maple. Have there been changes in the woodlands of Sweden? Has deforestation been very slow and gradual, or rapid?

Coconut Palm. Is the company SCA hypocritical, lying and dishonest?

Cherry. Are the ethnic Sami farmers? Do they raise broccoli, carrots, cucumbers, tomatoes, and sweet potatoes?

Redwood, Sequoia. When forests are cut down or clear cut, are only trees lost?

Banyan. The Swedish loggers and government admit they are destroying the environment. Is this right or wrong?

Teak. Does the deforestation of Swedish forests only involve Sweden? Does deforestation only effect Sweden?
 
 
 
Mahogany. Who is “right”, the logging and timber industry, the ecologists, both, or neither?

Douglas Fir. What is the forest situation in your region and country?

Cedar. Why are forests being cut down?

Baobab. What might happen in the future?

Elm. What could or should people, governments and businesses do?