Globe and Mail -- Victoria's Secret snubs West Fraser Timber
December 6th, 2006
VANCOUVER — Victoria's Secret owner Limited Brands has agreed to stop buying paper from suppliers that log in caribou habitat in the Rocky Mountain Foothills near Hinton, Alberta.
The Pittsburgh-based retail giant has also promised to stop buying paper from any suppliers that get their trees from any caribou range in Canada unless the paper is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.
The changes, announced Wednesday morning, follow a high-profile campaign against the company that included full-page advertisements that featured a lingerie-clad model toting a chainsaw and the tag line ‘Victoria's Dirty Secret.' Environmental groups including Forest Ethics had targeted Limited Brands for mowing down swaths of Canada's boreal forest for catalogues and contributing to the loss of critical habitat for endangered caribou.
In a statement Wednesday, Limited Brands said the growing controversy about logging in caribou rangeland is “of serious concern” and that the company wants to ensure that its paper consumption does not contribute to the demise of endangered species.
As part of the agreement, Limited Brands has agreed not to buy from suppliers that source material from Vancouver-based West Fraser Timber Co. Ltd., which operates a pulp mill near Hinton, Alberta.
The company's new policy also states a preference for fibre from forests certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, an international group that runs a certification program for Canadian forests.
Victoria's Secret mails more than 360 million catalogues each year. Limited Brands runs about 3,500 retail stores and reported sales of $9.7-billion (U.S.) last year.
Canada's woodland caribou have been designated as threatened by the federal government.
The announcement has serious ramifications for Alberta and the Canadian forestry industry, Forest Ethics program director Tzeporah Berman said in a statement.
“The ecological damage from the impacts of logging, oil and gas development and mining on Canada's boreal forest is becoming extreme and North American business leaders are watching,” Ms. Berman said.
