Following a Greenpeace investigation, the environmental organisation today urged the Royal Family to launch an enquiry over "green" procurement guidelines for their buildings. The call follows revelations that the Queens Gallery in Buckingham Palace, re-opened as part of the Jubilee celebrations, has been renovated with wood from Africa's last remaining rainforests and the Brazilian Amazon.
Greenpeace investigations found that architects John Simpson & Partners commissioned nearly 100 doors and other items of joinery made of African utile, sapele, iroko, African mahogany and Brazilian Amazon mahogany for the Queen's Gallery. Wenge, an endangered species, (1) has also been used in the flooring. The wood used comes mainly from destructive and illegal logging in Africa's Forest of the Great Apes and the Brazilian Amazon. None of it is independently certified despite the Palace insisting that any tropical timber used in the project should be.
The findings follow revelations that the new Cabinet Office building in Whitehall used sapele wood from Africa's last ancient rainforests in their refurbishment, despite Government commitments to use only legal and sustainably produced wood in their projects.
Prince Philip, in his role as international president then president emeritus of the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) (2) has been a vocal opponent of illegal and destructive logging that is decimating Africa's ancient forests and the Amazon. He has also spoken of his support for the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification scheme which guarantees wood comes from sustainable sources. (3)
Prince Charles, chair of the Royal Collection Trust, which is responsible for the Queen's Gallery refurbishment, is also a vocal advocate of FSC. (4)
Greenpeace Campaigner Andy Tait said,
" The unscrupulous behaviour of some in the timber and construction industry is destroying the world's last ancient forests in regions such as Central Africa and the Amazon. Already eighty per cent of the world's ancient forests have been destroyed or severely degraded. It is inexcusable that the industry has used timber in the Queen's Gallery that is contributing to that destruction.
"The sad fact is that unless we take action now species such as gorilla's and chimpanzees, dependant on the forests of Central Africa, will be wiped out in the wild in the next 50 years. The timber industry has to clean up its act and start buying only environmentally friendly wood, such as that from Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), guaranteed to be from legal and sustainable sources."
Africa's Forest of the Great Apes once stretched across Africa from Senegal to Uganda - but around 85% of this ancient forest has been destroyed and illegal and destructive logging by international companies threatens most of what remains. Endangered wenge, utile, sapele and African mahogany (Khaya ivorensis) woods used in the Palace refurbishment are all listed as threatened on the World Conservation Union's red list because of over-exploitation. Iroko is listed as near threatened. (5)
Brazilian mahogany is listed under the Convention on the Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). The trade in Brazilian mahogany was banned by Brazil in October of last year due to the extent of illegality and corruption in the industry.
Greenpeace research found that the timber traders who supplied the wood for the Queen's Gallery are themselves supplied by international logging companies in Africa and Brazil, where the timber industries are notorious for illegal logging and corruption. One of the logging companies has recently been directly linked to the bushmeat trade in Africa by a BBC documentary crew whilst another supplier has links to the notorious "mahogany mafia" in Brazil. (6)
The investigation into the palace and cabinet office refurbishments are part of 'Save or Delete', Greenpeace's global campaign to save the world's remaining ancient forests.
Notes for editors:
(1) From the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources website
(2) HRH The Duke of Edinburgh served as international president of WWF for 16 years until his retirement at the end of 1996, but his continuous involvement with the organisation goes back to its foundation in 1961 when he was appointed president of WWF-UK. Now, as president emeritus, he still works actively on behalf of the organisation.
(3) Excerpt from a 1998 interview with Prince Philip by UPM-Kymmene. What are the most serious threats to the forests? What measures should be taken to avoid these threats?
The most serious threats to natural forests are the growing demand for timber and for land for agriculture and development. Among other threats is the award of felling licenses in sensitive areas; the lack of control over the management of felling concessions and the straight-forward illegal extraction of timber. Every government should ensure that an ecologically representative network of 10% of each natural forest type should be given protection in perpetuity. Forests subject to commercial exploitation should be certified under the Forest Stewardship Council certification scheme (emphasis added).
(4) For example HRH the Prince of Wales hosted WWF event to praise FSC on 14th March 2001 at St James's Palace.
"The FSC... with WWF, have certainly begun to demonstrate what can be achieved with a positive market-based, solutions-oriented approach to major issues of sustainability".
(5) see www.redlist.org for details
(6) Documentary Broadcast on BBC4 (18 March 2002). Mahogany supplied by Red Madeiras Tropicais Ltda who buy timber from companies linked to the two notorious "mahogany kings" in Brazil, responsible for much of the organised crime behind the illegal mahogany trade. More details on the mahogany kings here
Further information:
Contact:
Greenpeace press office on 020 7865 8255
