While some environmental groups try to make their point by conducting high-profile campaigns that generate negative press for brand-name companies, the Canadian ENGO Canopy takes a more low-key, behind the scenes approach. With a stated goal of protecting the world’s forests, Canopy (know formerly as “Markets Initiative”) works directly with publishers, printers, and paper producers, encouraging them to adopt greener practices and use more environmentally favorable papers. For its size, Canopy has demonstrated an impressive reach and impact. According to its website, www.canopyplanet.org, Canopy has a staff of six women, located in Vancouver, Toronto, and Quebec City.  For most of its decade-long existence, Canopy has worked with Canadian companies, but it is now expanding its outreach to the US printing, publishing, and paper industries. There are four areas of emphasis in Canopy’s work with the industry: reduction in overall paper consumption; phasing-out of paper containing fiber from endangered forests; phasing-out of paper made with toxic bleaching agents; and creation of viable, environmentally sound alternatives to wood-based paper. Canopy also has developed its own designation for environmentally preferable paper. Its Ancient Forest Friendly eco-label can be used to identify paper in which 100% of the fiber has what Canopy calls “ecological attributes” and conforms to four production guidelines. Canopy defines “ecological  attributes” as post-consumer recycled fiber, pre-consumer recycled fiber, agricultural residue, and FSC-certified virgin fiber. To be designated Ancient Forest Friendly, the paper also must be: formulated to maximize post-consumer recycled content; contain only FSC-certified virgin fiber if there is a virgin component to the furnish; contain no “controlled wood” (an FSC designation for acceptable non-certified wood in mixed-source products); and be process or totally chlorine-free. The paper also may include pre-consumer recycled fiber and/or agricultural residue. Canopy’s work has produced some highly visible and high-volume results. It was successful in convincing 23 publishers of the Harry Potter book series to print on “Ancient Forest Friendly “ paper. It worked with the Alberta Research Council, Dollco Printing and Canadian Geographic to develop a high-quality, wood-alternative paper called “The Wheat Sheet,” and to print the June 2008 edition of the magazine on that stock. It also has been successful in convincing most of Canadian largest magazine publishers to develop and adopt paper-procurement policies that shift their purchase away from paper originating in endangered forests. Most recently, Canopy was one of the leading actors in securing the Canadian Boreal Forest Agreement – a pact between ENGOs and forest-products companies to cease expansion of harvest in the Boreal while a viable program to protect the Woodland Caribou is developed.