Orang-utans 'Go Ape' at Hereford garden centre

25 March 2005
Orang-utans, accompanied by Greenpeace volunteers, are protesting at Wyevale garden centre's flagship store in Hereford due to the retailer's involvement in trashing endangered rainforests.

The orang-utans have unveiled a banner reading DON'T BUY WYEVALE GARDEN FURNITURE, while other protestors are distributing 'Lost Ape' leaflets to shoppers.

Yesterday Greenpeace revealed that the timber for Wyevale's 2005 garden furniture range has come from the last rainforests of south-east Asia. The disgraced garden centre chain has also purchased timber from Burma, providing a key source of revenue to the country's military dictatorship. Yesterday evening, Greenpeace received a fax from Wyevale, claiming that they had decided to withdraw all garden furniture made from Burmese timber. However, the garden centre chain is continuing to sell garden furniture made from the last fragments of south-east Asian rainforests.

Yesterday, Greenpeace revealed this year's league table of garden furniture retailers, with Wyevale firmly placed at the bottom. The league table has been compiled following a four-month investigation by Greenpeace, which has identified that some of the UK's largest retailers continue to sell timber from the destruction of the world's last rainforests.

Documents provided by Wyevale indicate that the timber used for some of its garden furniture is exported from the port of Labuan, off the coast of Malaysia. This port is one the main centres for smuggling illegal Indonesian timber, which passes through Malaysia and on to furniture manufacturers in the Far East.

Wyevale are the largest garden centre chain in the UK, with over 110 stores in England and Wales. Garden furniture sales in the UK in 2003 peaked at £557 million.

Illegal and destructive logging in the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia is driving critically endangered species such as the orang-utan to the brink of extinction, where it is estimated that as much as half the population of orang-utans has been wiped out in just ten years.

Unlike Wyevale, some retailers, such as B&Q and Tesco have taken positive steps to remove uncertified rainforest timber from their stores. These retailers sell garden furniture certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) - the only way consumers can buy garden furniture confident in the knowledge that it hasn't come from ancient forest destruction.

Greenpeace has also developed an easy-to-use online guide to buying garden furniture. It is designed to help consumers identify which shops sell environmentally friendly garden furniture, as well as those who still sell furniture from rainforest destruction.

Nathan Argent, Greenpeace forest campaigner said:

"Just to sell garden furniture, Wyevale have pillaged from some of the world's last rainforests, helping to drive the orang-utan towards extinction. That's why we're here today to tell shoppers not to buy garden furniture from Wyevale.

"Customers should buy only garden furniture that has been certified by the Forest Stewardship Council - the only way to be sure that it is from legal and well-managed sources.

"Late yesterday, Wyevale said they'll re-call all their garden furniture made from Burmese timber. However, they're still punting out chairs and tables made from rainforest timber. Until they stop selling all dodgy timber products, we will continue to call for a boycott of their garden furniture."

For more information call Greenpeace on 020 7865 8255, 07799 790542 or 07796 947449.
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