Tony Benn is just one of the authors supporting the Book Campaign
If you like a good read, you may be unnerved to realise many books have been printed at the expense of ancient forests, and that paper fibre can be the product of destructive or illegal logging. But don't put down your Jackie Collins just yet - the good news is that the publishing industry is gradually getting the message.
The paper trail
Our 2003 report, The Paper Trail, explained how the UK publishing industry was inadvertently fuelling the destruction of forest regions in Finland and Canada. More than 45 per cent of the Boreal Forest has been allocated to logging companies to meet the demand for paper, while Finland harbours some of the last fragments of old growth forest in Europe.
Via Finland, paper is also being sourced from Russia where it's estimated that at least 50 per cent of logging is illegal, and many publishers also print children's titles in South East Asia on paper that could be linked to rainforest destruction in Indonesia.
However, as a result of our Book Campaign, many publishers have realised the impact their businesses are having on deforestation and have introduced policies that reject paper linked to forest destruction in favour of ancient forest friendly paper.
"If we don't act now, the terrible irony is that our great grandchildren will only know of our ancient forests through pictures in books printed on the paper that contributed to their destruction."Graham Lester George, Chair, Writers Guild of Great Britain
Major industry players are now working to develop and use paper with a high level of recycled content, and with any virgin wood pulp coming from sources certified by the Forest Stewardship Council. Over 40 per cent of the UK book industry has now introduced such policies, including Random House, HarperCollins, Penguin, Bloomsbury and Egmont, and an increasing number of their books now carry statements about how much recycled or FSC paper makes up their pages.
And we have support from authors too. Names that regularly appear in the bestseller lists have signed up to support the campaign. JK Rowling, Philip Pullman, Helen Fielding, Michael Morpurgo and Ian Rankin are all working with us to ensure their future books aren't published at the expense of old-growth forests. Meanwhile, recent books by Bill Bryson, Mark Haddon and Margaret Atwood have already been printed on ancient forest friendly paper. If you're an author, find out what you can do to help the Book Campaign.
Publishers go forest friendly
We're working with other publishers to improve their paper policies although some are more keen than others. Hachette, for example, is lagging behind the rest of the industry. Publisher of Hodder Headline, Orion, Little Brown and Octopus, they have shown little interest in moving towards a forest friendly paper policy.
The campaign kicked off in Canada in 2000 where Markets Initiative has been working with book publishers to change their paper procurement policies. By 2007, 90 Canadian publishers, including Random House Canada, Boréal and Raincoast Books, had made formal commitments to phase out ancient forest fibre from their books, and more than 6 million books have been printed on recycled paper including Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.
As well as the amazing progress we've made in this country, the campaign is also achieving results in Spain, France, Germany, Belgium and Italy, but more needs to be done. Some publishers have still to be persuaded to change their policies and end their involvement in ancient forest destruction.
