Greenpeace calls on UK Government to take action and seize all mahogany to support Brazilian Government ban
Today Greenpeace welcomed the unprecedented Decree (1) by the Brazilian Government to ban all mahogany logging that is not certified.The decision by the President of the Brazilian environmental agency (IBAMA), Mr. Hamilton Casara, came as direct result of a two-year investigation by Greenpeace exposing the extent of the illegal mahogany logging trade. During Greenpeace investigations, one of its Amazon campaigners received death threats.
Brenda Ramsey, Greenpeace UK Forest Campaigner, said: "Illegal mahogany logging in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest has been out of control for years, and has been responsible for the devastation of huge areas of pristine rainforest. This scandalous trade has led to large-scale corruption, death threats and even murder.
"It has threatened to destroy the habitat on which creatures such as the Amazon jaguar depend, and threatened the future of many Indian cultures that rely upon the forest for their way of life. Thankfully, today's historic announcement is effectively an end to the illegal mahogany industry in Brazil."
The destruction is caused not just through the mahogany logging itself, but also by the thousands of kilometres of illegal roads the loggers build, which open up the forest to further logging and devastation.
Greenpeace investigations have traced the supply of this illegal mahogany to the UK market. The release of the Greenpeace report of these investigations, Partners in crime, revealed that two 'mahogany kings' - Moises Carvalho Pereira & Osmar Alves Ferreira - control most of the illegal trade in the Amazon's main mahogany region, Pará State. The report showed that more than 70% of the direct exports of mahogany from Pará to the UK came through companies linked to these two kings.
In the UK, Greenpeace investigators tracked illegal Amazon mahogany to luxury furniture products sold by leading retailers Harrods and Peter Jones, part of the John Lewis partnership. The illegal mahogany was imported by DLH Nordisk, one of the largest international timber importers, who bought the timber from companies linked to the two mahogany kings.
Harrods' response to Greenpeace revelations was complacent: "After more than 150 years of trade we continue to service an international clientele with wide and varied tastes. Harrods buys from long standing suppliers whom we have contacted and been given proof that the wood used in their products is from legal and sustainable sources."
But one of Harrods' suppliers is Timbmet, who said that most of the mahogany it sold was probably illegal. In a letter to Environment Minister Michael Meacher, Timbmet states: "It seems we were buying timber that was technically legal at point of export but that had in most cases been primarily illegally cut, due to irregularities and corruption in the internal supply chain in Brazil."
Greenpeace has called on the Prime Minister, Tony Blair to support the Brazilian Government in its efforts to stamp out illegal logging by seizing all uncertified Brazilian mahogany destined for the UK and at retailers. Since October, over 60 MPs have joined the campaign for UK government action.
Brenda Ramsey added, "We call on the Prime Minister, Tony Blair to act now. At this year's Labour Party conference, he stated that we can have trade without deforestation. Now is the time for him to back up these words with urgent action."
Note to the editors:
(1) Article 1° To suspend all the forest management plans of mahogany, approved by IBAMA, in the States of Pará, Mato Grosso and Acre, excluding the management plans in the course of certification or in conclusive phase of certification.
(2) In October, a joint operation between government officials and Greenpeace led to the seizure of a total of 7,165 cubic metres of illegal mahogany worth almost US$7 million on the international market. In total, the Government seized around 30,000 cubic metres of illegal mahogany, eleven logging trucks, 5 bulldozers and fined logging companies millions of dollars.
Further information:
Contact:
Greenpeace press office on 020 7865 8255
