Greenwashing is a well-known form of propaganda to make a consumer product or other environmentally harmful thing sound environmentally friendly. My last year's prize of honour for greenwashing goes to Kontio, a manufacturer of luxury log cabins. Their slogan is: "Long live the woods!"
Forestry industry has long excelled in greenwashing, and in Finaldn has had the resources and propaganda machinery of the state at its disposal. Logging itself is called forest management; monoculture woodfields are called forests. Forest roads are deemed something that benefit everyone who travels in the area - even those whose wilderness plots have been ruined by the road for generations to come. In this very common discourse of benefits, forest roads are nature services that support, among other things, hunting and wilderness hiking. It is as if hunting is just the most efficient way to haul meat without the experience of enjoying the nature, and that the only thing that matters is ease and speed of access to the wilderness.
The Metsähallitus forestry website in particular has excelled in the greenwashing of the forest roads. Or what do you think of this following logic, which confuses emission reduction with practical preparedness for climate change consequences, and which poses that the road network will reduce climate pollution?:
"Improving forest roads is also about preparing for climate change. Roads must be able to withstand the rainy autumns and mild winters. In addition, forest roads will increasingly be used by heavier timber trucks. The use of larger trucks will reduce fuel consumption, which in turn will reduce emissions from timber transport."
