Renewed Pressure on Brazil Mahogany Traders by Friends of the Earth
6/22/98
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Title: Renewed Pressure on Brazil Mahogany Traders by Friends of the Earth
Source: Friends of the Earth
Status: Distribute freely with proper credit to source
Date: 6/22/98
RENEWED FOE PRESSURE ON MAHOGANY TRADERS AS LOGGING SEASON KICKS OFF IN BRAZIL
Friends of the Earth is marking the start of the Brazilian logging season by
renewing
calls to UK timber traders to withdraw from the mahogany trade.
Over the past few days, Friends of the Earth has leafleted staff outside
Timbmet, Meyer
and Lathams in the run up to a meeting this week of the Brazil sub-committee of
the
National Hardwood Association [1], at which continuing problems with the
mahogany
trade will be discussed.
Despite conclusive and widespread evidence of the illegal logging of mahogany,
and the
fact that there are no sustainable sources of mahogany in Brazil, companies such
as
Meyer, Timbmet and James Latham continue to deal in this timber.
In May, Buckinghamshire based timber merchant, Parker Kislingbury decided to
stop selling
mahogany following discussions with Friends of the Earth about illegality in the
mahogany
trade.
Virtually all mahogany entering the UK comes from primary rainforest in Brazil
[2]. The
trade is having a devastating effect on the forest and its people, as loggers
continue to
invade areas set aside for indigenous people [3]. Deforestation rates in the
Brazilian
Amazon are higher than ever and Brazilian government sources state that over 80%
of all
timber from the Amazon is obtained illegally [4]. The UK timber trade continues
to rely
on widely discredited voluntary agreements to guarantee that mahogany imports
are legally
and sustainably produced.
Sarah Tyack of Friends of the Earth said:
"After the continued failure of voluntary agreements to provide a guarantee of
legally
and sustainably obtained mahogany, the UK timber trade must now face the reality
that if
it is to maintain credibility with its customers, it must disassociate itself
from
the mahogany trade. The meeting this week is a real opportunity for the timber
trade to
put its money where its mouth is: these companies claim to be committed to the
environment, they must now withdraw from the mahogany trade to prove they really
mean
it."
Notes to Editors
[1] The Brazil sub-committee of the National Hardwood Association is meeting
this week
following the association's AGM. Representatives from the Timber Trade
Federation were at
the international mahogany working group in Brasilia at the beginning of June
where the
issue of the uncontrolled trade was discussed at length without any effective
agreements
on control measures being agreed.
[2] The UK is the world's second largest importer of mahogany from Brazil.
Virtually
all the UK's mahogany comes from the Brazilian state of Par , where
investigations have
revealed a widespread illegal trade.
[3] Illegal logging of mahogany within areas set aside for indigenous people
is having
a devastating impact on these people. GTA, a network of human rights and
environmental
groups in Brazil, have been calling for the UK to withdraw from the mahogany
trade
since 1992. Only very few mahogany trees grow per hectare of rainforest. It is
estimated that for every mahogany tree logged, dozens of other trees are
damaged.
[4] In May 1997, a leaked report from the Brazilian Department of Strategic
Affairs
confirmed that 80% of all timber extracted in the Amazon was being illegally
obtained.