Dutch TV Show Films Iisaak's Forestry

20 February 2003

Ucluelet---- The star and crew of a Dutch home improvement television show were in Clayoquot Sound this weekend to show their viewers Iisaak Forest Resources' brand of forestry. Eigen, Huis, & Tuin ('Your Own Home and Garden') spent three days filming Iisaak's operations and the beauty of Clayoquot Sound's forests, for a special series being aired in Holland this March. The special focuses on the Netherlands' increasing demand for lumber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). The FSC independently certifies wood products and guarantees to consumers that products bearing the FSC logo come from well managed forests in accordance with the rules of the Forest Stewardship Council. Iisaak earned their FSC certification in June 2001.

"We would like to give our viewers information about why it is important to maintain the woods and nature, and that we have to be careful with the species of plants and animals living there," said Rob Verlinden, the show's host. "We would like to show (our viewers) the whole FSC process - the social, economic and ecological aspects being managed for." The show introduced their viewers to the FSC last year in a special series on FSC certified wood products. "This year we are giving more information about how trees are carefully and professionally taken out of the woods (with a helicopter) without making big roads for transporting the wood," said Andre de Geus, the show's producer.

The TV show is considered the Dutch Martha Stewart, and has over 1.5 million viewers. The crew filmed from a helicopter as well as from the ground, comparing Iisaak's lower impact operations to past harvesting activities. The crew also filmed Iisaak's wood being processed and packaged at Coulson Manufacturing Ltd. in Port Alberni. Coulson's mill has FSC chain-of-custody, which means the mill commits to ensuring that orders for FSC products are filled only with wood from FSC certified forestry. "These are very exciting times for us--Iisaak is the only producer of FSC certified Western red-cedar in the world, and much of the demand for FSC certified products is currently coming from the Netherlands," said Gary Johnsen, Iisaak General Manager. "We have also just started to realize a premium on some of our product."