illegal

Greenpeace climbers pass 72 hour landmark in vigil on criminal timber ship

Three Greenpeace volunteers were arrested today when police boarded the Greenpeace vessel Beluga as it lay alongside the criminal timber ship MV Enif. Ironically, one volunteer was arrested for criminal damage for daubing a small amount of white paint on the side of the MV Enif despite the fact that the ship contains 1700 tonnes of criminal timber from the Amazon. Greenpeace was attempting to rename the ship 'Amazon Crime'

Four Greenpace volunteers today began their second day of occupatio of the MV ENif to prevent it from unloading its cargo of criminal timber from the Amazon rainforest at London's Tilbury docks. The volunteers who have spent over 48 hours on top of the ship's crane, are demanding that the cargo of rainforest plywood is returned to the Amazon and donated to local communities from the areas where it was logged.

Six Greenpeace volunteers today began their second day of occupation of the MV Enif to prevent it from unloading its cargo of criminal timber from the Amazon rainforest at London's Tilbury docks. The volunteers, who have been in action since 11.30 am Tuesday, are demanding that the cargo of rainforest plywood is returned to the Amazon and donated to local communities from the areas where it was logged.

Greenpeace is today towing a raft of 116 illegal logs from a remote location on the Jurua River in Brazil's Amazonas State at the request of Brazil's Environmental Agency, IBAMA. Now bound for the Villages of Carauari, the logs were first discovered during a routine flight of Greenpeace's Cessna aircraft on Monday, May 8th. The following day Greenpeace activists attempted to relocate the raft, but it had disappeared. It was later found hidden in a small tributary of the Jurua River and turned over to IBAMA.

Manaus, Brazil 22 March 2000 - Greenpeace announced this morning, aboard its new vessel, the Amazon Guardian, the beginning of a four-month tour through the various rivers of the Amazonas and Para States to denounce illegal logging in this Amazon region. Next week, the boat will head to the Purus and Jurua rivers. "The Amazon Guardian will broaden our capability to investigate and collect data about the Amazon reality." said Paulo Adario, Greenpeace's Amazon campaigner in Manaus.

Belem, December, 1999 -- Using ultra-violet technology, Greenpeace activists yesterday identified an illegal supply of logs in the yard of Eidai do Brasil, a Japanese export logging company, in Icoaraci Municipality of Para State, Brazil.

Officials from Brazil's environment agency, IBAMA, subsequently fined the company and confiscated the logs. The action was a result of the environmental group's investigation of Para's timber industry, lasting over a month and covering more than 4,000 km.

An international report published today (4/10/99) names the major 150 companies involved in the logging of ancient forests around the world. The report - 'Buying Destruction' - compiled by Greenpeace, profiles major logging and wood trading companies active in the ancient forests of Brazil, Guyana, Chile and Suriname, Cameroon and Gabon, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Canada and Russia.

Sao Paulo, 21 September 1999 - Greenpeace welcomed the decision by the Brazilian President, Fernando Henrique Cardoso, to approve the regulation of the Environmental Crimes Law but demanded the government to take all the necessary efforts to enforce the Law.

"The regulation will have strong impacts on illegal logging activities in the Amazon," said Paulo Adario, Greenpeace Amazon Campaigner.

Brasilia, 17 September 1999 - Greenpeace launched today a campaign to pressure the Minister of the Civil House, Pedro Parente, to implement the Environmental Crimes Law that was approved in 1998 but has not been regulated.

"While the Brazilian Government discusses the regulation of the Law the environment is being damaged, as the recent apprehensions of illegal timber and the forest fires show. Currently, there is no way to properly punish the environmental criminals", says Roberto Kishinami of Greenpeace in Brazil.