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Greenpeace Canada fonds
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Clayoquot Sound campaign and protests

Clayoquot Sound is located on the west coast of Vancouver Island and contains a number of old growth temperate rainforests. Starting in the late 1970s, local opposition and a growing environmental movement began to oppose clearcut logging in the Sound. The Provincial Government introduced the Clayoquot Sound Land Use Decision in 1993 with the intention to preserve one-third of the Sound’s old growth forests from logging. Continued clearcutting of the remaining unprotected old growth forests led to thousands of protesters to descend upon the Sound to oppose ongoing logging by forestry companies, leading to hundreds of arrests in one of largest acts of civil disobedience in Canadian history. Faced with growing opposition and a Greenpeace-led boycott campaign, forestry companies, notably MacMillan Bloedel, began to work with environmental groups and First Nations to better manage local forests, such as through the jointly run Iisaak Natural Resources. Along with other environmental groups, Greenpeace sought to have the Sound designated as a UN Biosphere Reserve, which UNESCO granted in 2000.

The series primarily includes Greenpeace planning, communications, and strategies to protect forests in the Sound, photographs of clearcut logging and protests, and records produced by external organizations. The Communications subseries includes press releases and reports produced by Greenpeace and external organizations, which includes records by forestry companies, newspapers, and other organizations. Legal documents in the series primarily include copies of BC Supreme Court trials of Greenpeace members arrested during the blockades in Clayoquot Sound and correspondence with legal counsel representing Greenpeace members in court. The Photographs subseries includes all photos not originally housed as part of a file with textual records. File titles are based on the content of items.

Forest Stewardship Council

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) was established in 1994 through the support of businesses, environmentalists, and community groups. The FSC created a voluntary market-based approach towards global forestry practices that allows for the certification of forest products that were harvested in an environmentally responsible manner. First established in Mexico, the FSC Secretariat relocated from Oaxaca to Bonn, Germany in 1999. As of 2019, over 199,000,000 hectares of forests have been certified by the FSC.

Records in this series focus on the FSC in British Columbia, FSC reports, business plans, resolutions, publications, and the development of regional certification standards for BC. Other records include correspondence between Greenpeace and FSC, press releases, and publications by forestry companies and the FSC. The series contains no subseries and only file level arrangement of records exists. File titles are based on the content of items.

Research and resource collection

Records in this collection are primarily publications produced by Greenpeace International to raise awareness of Canadian and international environmental issues, with a particular focus on deforestation and climate change. Other publications include materials produced by other environmental non-governmental organizations, governments, and First Nations. The series includes magazines with a focus on forestry and the environment. The series also includes materials acquired by Greenpeace Canada that provide information on the management of forests in different biospheres of the World. The series contains no subseries and only file level arrangement of records exists. File titles are based on the content of items.

Greenpeace Canada fonds

  • RBSC-ARC-1824
  • Fonds
  • 1964-2017

The fonds primarily includes records that were produced and acquired by Greenpeace Canada, such as research and publications to support their campaigns and projects. Notably, this includes jointly produced documents with other environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs) to coordinate their efforts in Clayoquot Sound and the Great Bear Rainforest. The records of Greenpeace International within this fonds reflect their broader campaigns to inform people and shape public opinion to oppose the clearcutting of old growth forests in Canada and elsewhere in the World. Records by Greenpeace Canada primarily include their efforts to cooperate with environmental non-governmental organizations, First Nations, forestry companies, and governments to achieve greater protection for old growth forests. The primary types of records include reports, communications, legal advice, court cases, planning materials, photographs, maps, ephemera, and posters. Most of the records in this fonds produced by Greenpeace Canada is from their Vancouver office. The fonds is organized into the following series: Clayoquot Sound Campaign and Protests (1980-2017), Great Bear Rainforest Campaign and Protests (1980-2017), Forest Stewardship Council (1992-2017), Rainforest Solutions Project (1991-2017), Research and Resource Collection (1979-2017), Ephemera and Posters (1993-2016), Maps (1964-2015), and Multimedia (1988-2007).

Greenpeace Canada

Great Bear Rainforest campaign and protests

Located on the Central and North Coasts of British Columbia, the Great Bear Rainforest contains some of the largest remaining old growth temperate rainforests in the World and is home to a number of rare species, notably including the Kermode (Spirit Bear). Starting in the mid 1990s, environmental non-governmental organizations (ENGOs), including Greenpeace, ForestEthics, Rainforest Action Network, and Sierra Club of BC began to protest, blockade, and campaign against clearcut logging operations in old growth forests. Greenpeace primarily focused its efforts on campaigns to encourage consumers to boycott purchasing wood from companies that clearcut in old growth forests. Faced with growing domestic and international opposition, including Greenpeace’s boycott campaign, several forestry companies began to work with ENGOs towards more environmentally responsible logging within the Great Bear Rainforest.

Starting in the early 2000s, the Provincial Government began to develop Land and Resource Management plans for the Central Coast (in 2001) and the North Coast (in 2004). Protection of some of the Great Bear Rainforest from clearcut logging was first announced by the Provincial Government in April 2001. In February 2006, the Government announced the Coast Land Use Decision, setting land aside for protection from logging and the framework for further development of ecosystem-based management (EBM) in the region to balance human well-being and ecological integrity. In 2009, the Provincial Government announced the protection of fifty percent of old growth forests from logging and a five year work plan to implement ecosystem-based management. Under the Great Bear Rainforest (Forest Management) Act of 2016, the Provincial Government set aside 85 percent of the Great Bear Rainforest from logging to maintain ecological integrity, with 70 percent of old growth forests being protected from logging.

The records in this series primarily consists of Greenpeace campaigns and correspondence with external organizations and records produced as part of the land and resource management planning for the Central and North Coasts. The series contains records relating to other environmental campaigns in British Columbia ranging from protecting old growth forests in the Elaho Valley north of Squamish to protecting the Taku River in northwest British Columbia. These records are available in the Communications, Legal records, and Reports subseries.

The Communications subseries includes press releases and publications by external organizations, articles produced by news organizations, and publications by Greenpeace Canada and Greenpeace International to shape public opinion and market behaviour regarding the Great Bear Rainforest. Correspondence predominantly includes letters, printed emails, and other correspondence between Greenpeace and external organizations. Ecosystem Based Management subseries includes records relating to land and resource management plans and reports on the Central and North Coasts and Haida Gwaii. External Organizations subseries includes records that originally were external to Greenpeace and later received by them. This includes documents produced by forestry companies and materials produced by other ENGOs.

Files in the Legal records subseries primarily include copies of BC Supreme Court trials of Greenpeace members arrested during blockades in the Great Bear Rainforest and correspondence with legal counsel representing Greenpeace members in court. Planning and Meetings subseries includes planning for Greenpeace campaigns, planning and meetings with other environmental non-governmental organizations, draft documents, and documents relating to the Land and Resource Management Plans for the Central and North Coasts. Protests and Activism subseries includes Greenpeace’s civil disobedience campaigns and market boycott purchasing wood from clearcut old growth forests. Photographs subseries includes all photos, slides, and negatives not originally housed as part of a file with textual records. File titles are based on the content of items.

Rainforest Solutions Project

The Rainforest Solutions Project (RSP) is an initiative that includes Greenpeace, ForestEthics, and the Sierra Club of BC, with the primarily goal to promote conservation and alternatives to industrial logging on the Central and North Coasts and Haida Gwaii. The Rainforest Solutions Project was developed through Tides Canada, a national charity that supports projects that focus on the environment, social equity, and economic prosperity. Tides Canada provides human resources and financial and governance management to help projects achieve their objectives more effectively.

Along with the three environmental non-governmental organizations, the RSP works alongside several forestry companies, represented by the Coast Forest Conservation Initiative (CFCI). The CFCI is composed of BC Timber Sales, Catalyst Paper Corporation, Howe Sound Pulp & Paper, Interfor Corporation, and Western Forest Products. Records involving the CFCI and RSP are included in Joint Solutions Project, RSP Reports, RSP Agreements, RSP Planning, and Communications subseries.

Records in this series include the Joint Solutions Project (JSP), an initiative that supports ecosystem-based management and represents business concerns (represented by the CFCI) and environmental concerns (represented by the RSP). The Joint Solutions Project subseries include meeting notes, JSP agreements, and communications amongst JSP stakeholders.

Records in the Communications subseries include correspondence, press releases, news articles, and legal records. The First Nations Agreements subseries includes agreements between coastal First Nations with either Rainforest Solutions Project or the Provincial Government. Four other subseries include Working Group Notes focused on records relating to the Ecosystem-Based Management Working Group, Ecosystem-based management which includes reports and planning materials on implementing ecosystem-based management, RSP Reports that include reports produced or acquired by Greenpeace as part of the Rainforest Solutions Project, and Government records. File titles are based on the content of items.

Ephemera and posters

Items in this series mostly include posters, buttons, and stickers produced by Greenpeace as part of their campaigns to raise public awareness of the clearcutting of old growth trees in Clayoquot Sound and the Great Bear Rainforest. Other items include awards given to Greenpeace Canada and the Rainforest Solutions Project, reproduced items enlarged onto poster board, protest signs and banners, and t-shirts from Greenpeace campaigns. The series contains no subseries and only file level arrangement of records exists. File titles are based on the content of items.

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