Iisaak Featured on German Prime Time TV

25 July 2003

Ucluelet---- Iisaak will visit millions of German homes this fall. The German prime time adventure and information documentary TV show Abenteuer Ferne ("Adventures in Foreign Places") just completed two days filming Iisaak's operations and the beauty of Clayoquot Sound's forests, for a 50 minute documentary on British Columbia. The show doesn't present the countries and regions it visits as merely interesting for tourists, but as places with interesting technical and scientific projects and as places where you can meet fascinating people. "I found Iisaak on the internet during my research on British Columbia and was very impressed by what the company is doing" said Susanne Belchars the show's researcher. "Our viewers will be very interested to see what a typical work day is like, what Iisaak's approach to logging looks like and how you care for the forest" added Christian Stiefenhofer the show's producer. In every show the audience meets a local protagonist. Tla-o-qui-aht Councilor Simon Tom, Iisaak's main character in the show, led the film crew through all phases of Iisaak's operations including consultation with Chief's and elders, planning, protecting special values, harvesting timber and milling as well as a visit to Clayoquot Crafts, a local high end furniture manufacturer. "The combination of high technology and the application of traditional values demonstrated by Iisaak is very interesting to us" said Stiefenhofer.

By delivering a peek behind the scenes of a country Abenteuer Ferne also provides viewers with new insights into the local culture. The blessing ceremony by Ahousaht Hereditary Chief Corbett George, Elder Trudy Frank and Rosa-Linda Joseph was a highlight, especially to Stiefenhofer who was presented with a cedar headband. The following excerpt from Chief Corbett George's dialogue describes the Nuu-chah-nulth people's connection to the land:

"There are 80 million people in Germany -- many of whom are very aware environmentally" said Stiefenhofer. "In fact right now one of the parties in power is green" he added. In a recent press release German Environment Minister Jurgen Trittin stated that "environmental protection is not a luxury but rather an important factor for modernization." The "green" government combined with environmental awareness is increasing the 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 has been certified by FSC since 2001. Over the past two years Iisaak has been working with Coulson's FSC chain-of-custody mill and Weyerhaeuser to deliver wood with the Iisaak and FSC labels to customers in the UK, Belgium, Holland, France and Germany.