Blog: Forests

While the EU has just voted to ban illegal timber, yesterday Brazil came a step closer to severely weakening the forest code which has helped protect the Amazon rainforest for over 70 years. The Brazilian congress approved the plan to amend the legislation, and if it becomes law then the area of the rainforest which can be legally destroyed will dramatically increase.

Paulo Adario and others from our Brazilian office were present and activists protested against a yes vote. There was also plenty of criticism from other concerned parties - environmentalists, rural organisations and legal representatives, for instance - but still the vote passed.

The amended forest code still has to pass several more hurdles before it reaches the statute books, but with each yes vote it becomes more and more likely it will do so. Eventually, it will have to go to the president who can sign it into law or kick it out. Hopefully it won't get that far, but we'll let you know how you can help if and when the time comes.

Exposing illegal timber used in the construction of the new Home Office building in 2003 © Greenpeace/Cobbing

It's been a long time coming but finally - finally! - the European parliament has voted overwhelmingly in favour of a law banning illegal timber from entering the European Union. Like many other organisations, Greenpeace has been campaigning on this for years - 10 long ones, in our case - so to see this become a reality is an amazing tribute to the thousands of people who emailed, donated or took direct action.

Like orang-utans, the future of Sumatran tigers is being jeopordised by the relentless destruction of their habitat by paper giant APP

Even though we've had huge success in turning companies like Unilever, Nestlé and Kraft off palm oil produced by Sinar Mas, that only represents one part of the jigsaw and Sinar Mas is still chewing its way through Indonesia's rainforests.

Palm oil is one of two plantation products which are driving deforestation in Indonesia, paper being the other big hitter. Needless to say, Sinar Mas is up to its neck in the paper business as well and we've compiled new evidence in a report called Pulping the Planet which shows exactly how its pulp and paper operations are threatening the forests just as much as its palm oil business is.

In Brazil, moves are afoot to amend a piece of legislation which has been protecting the Amazon rainforest for over 70 years, and not for the better. If the changes are voted through, it could mean that the area of the Amazon which can be legally destroyed will double, and it's the backers of these changes - the agriculture, biofuels and energy barons - who stand to benefit as they argue that pesky forest laws are a hindrance to economic development.