Treed Over Potty Denial

Hush, can you hear that?  That's the sound of a million Finnish hearts breaking.

It's a sad, sad day when Finnish children get treed as author goes potty over paper.

The down-to-earth J.K. Rowling, author of the best-selling Harry Potter series, has vetoed ... nay, in fact, has blocked the printing of the last book in the series in Finland.  

Photo from Hotels of the Rich and Famous.

Why? cry you and the deprived little younglings in Finland.  Because their paper apparently is not up to scratch.  It appears the local Finnish paper lacks the ecological Forest Stewardship Council ('FSC') certification.  The FSC stamp ensures that the paper is ecologically produced and derived from sustainable forest.

I applaud Ms Rowling's good-intentioned demands but as the beleaguered Finnish publishing house, Tammi, said, "Finnish paper has labels, but not the Forest Stewardship Council" and was clearly bewildered as they added, "The first (Harry Potter) books printed in Finnish were on recycled paper.  This time it's a more specific demand."

Finland is one of the largest producers of paper in the world but the Finnish Federation of Forest Industries claims that FSC products are limited in availability still.  They utilise the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes while supporting sustainable forestry.  

The publishing house and the Federation are trying hard to resolve the current row over paper with Rowling but it is unlikely that it will be a happy March 7 for Finnish kids - the day the 7th book of the bespectacled young boy's adventures was supposed to be in every Finnish fan's hands.