Asda, Marks and Spencer and John Lewis' garden furniture pushing orang-utans towards extinction
GARDEN FURNITURE SOLD by Asda, Marks and Spencer and John Lewis is made from trashed rainforest timber and is responsible for pushing endangered animals such as the orang-utan further towards extinction, according to Greenpeace today (29 May 2004).
The three companies are the worst offending High Street stores selling rainforest-wrecking garden furniture, and have come bottom of a league table released by Greenpeace this Bank Holiday weekend on where to buy garden furniture. The well-known retailers are using timber that comes from the last remaining rainforests of south-east Asia to make outdoor goods such as tables, chairs and benches.
Much of the timber comes from Indonesia where nearly 90 percent of all timber is illegally logged. The country has the longest list of endangered species in the world, including the Sumatran tiger and the orang-utan.
Much of the timber used for garden furniture in the UK comes from the world's ancient forests. These forests support around 90 percent of the world's land-based species and millions of forest-dwelling people. Yet every two seconds, an area of ancient forest the size of a football pitch is destroyed.
Some retailers have proven that it is possible to use environmentally friendly timber that doesn't endanger rare animals. B&Q, Woolworths and Robert Dyas sell garden furniture made of wood that is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) as being logged from environmentally friendly sources.
Nathan Argent, Greenpeace Forests Campaigner, said: "If you're buying outdoor furniture from Marks and Spencer or Asda to lounge around in the garden, you're contributing to trashed forests and the extinction of the orang-utan.
"There are readily available alternatives that don't harm the environment or contribute to wiping out rare animals, yet irresponsible stores like Asda and Marks and Spencer continue to buy timber from destroyed rainforests. These companies should all be buying FSC certified timber, which is guaranteed to be environmentally friendly."
Further information
Contact the Greenpeace press office on 020 7865 8255.
Notes:
The league table of garden furniture retailers shows those companies who were able to offer products that had come from FSC certified sources. FSC certification ensures that timber products come from socially and environmentally responsible forest management.
Those companies at the bottom - Asda, Marks and Spencer and John Lewis - are all purchasing rainforest timber and do not offer products that have been credibly certified as legal and environmentally friendly.
Asda claim to be sourcing Red balau from plantations in Vietnam for their garden furniture. There are no Red balau plantations and the tree species is not available from Vietnam. Red balau is found in the last rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia.
Marks and Spencer source Nyatoh, which is found in Indonesia's last rainforests, and were not able to verify that it has been sourced legally.
John Lewis are sourcing Teak and Melapi which is found in Indonesia' last remaining forests.
The league table is, from best at the top to worst at the bottom:
1. B&Q
2. Woolworths
3. Robert Dyas
4. Focus Wickes
5. Homebase
6= Argos
6= Habitat
6= Wyevales
6= Tesco
10. Harrods
11. John Lewis
12. Asda
13. Marks and Spencer
