New Report Details Global Trade in Illegal Amazon Mahogany
From Greenpeace
October 25, 2001
Amsterdam/Brazil - Greenpeace today called on government's worldwide to seize Brazilian mahogany and stop any further trade in such ancient forest products unless independently certified legal and sustainable. Following months of investigations, Greenpeace today released a report onboard the Greenpeace ship, MV Arctic Sunrise at the mouth of the Amazon River, detailing rampant illegalities in the mahogany industry in Pará State in the Brazilian Amazon. In anticipation of the report, the Brazilian government announced unprecedented action to suspend all logging, transport and trade of Brazilian mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla), until it completes an investigation into the industry.
The Greenpeace report, "Partners in Mahogany Crime", reveals a chain of illegality and corruption behind the glossy image of mahogany. These illegalities include logging in Indian lands, which is strictly prohibited, obtaining fraudulent authorisation papers and falsifying mahogany inventories. By overestimating the volume of mahogany present within an allowed logging area (Forest Management Plan) loggers are able to log outside of their legally allotted area without raising suspicions. High quality mahogany is only found in pristine areas of rainforest, and so the illegal mahogany trade is directly responsible for the destruction of these areas as it leaves behind a network of roads and trails that other loggers can use to access the remaining forest.
"This report should be the final nail in the coffin for the illegal mahogany industry," said Greenpeace Amazon Campaign coordinator Paulo Adario. "The Brazilian government is finally taking action on this specific problem, but must go further and put a moratorium on all logging in the Middle Lands - the heart of the Amazon - to protect this precious rainforest. Consumers should stop buying this wood unless Eco-certified to Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) standards, as all mahogany that is not FSC certified is suspect."
The exposure of this scandal is part of Greenpeace's global campaign for the protection of the world's last ancient forests. Greenpeace is calling on world governments to place a moratorium, globally, on logging and other industrial activities in all large areas of ancient forests, until measures are adopted to ensure that timber is produced and traded in a legally and ecologically responsible way, a network of protected areas is established and governments create a global ancient forest fund of $15 billion annually to fund these measures.
The report details two mahogany kings - Moisés Carvalho Pereira & Osmar Alves Ferreira - who control most of the trade. The mahogany is given the appearance of being legal by falsified paperwork, then is exported by these companies to international markets, predominantly in the USA and the UK, Netherlands and Germany. Just four importers - DLH Nordisk, Aljoma Lumber, J Gibson McIlvain Co Ltd and Intercontinental Hardwoods Inc accounted for more than two-thirds of the mahogany export trade from Moisés and Ferreira. Mahogany is used largely in luxury goods such as yachts, high-class furniture, musical instruments and coffins.
"This illegal mahogany logging is a clear example of the destruction of the world's ancient forests and the failure of governments to control this destruction," said Adario. "As a first step to ensure the future of the world's ancient forests, governments around the world should seize all mahogany until it can be proven to be legal and sustainable."
The decision to suspend mahogany exports has come in the wake of a series of Greenpeace exposés on illegal logging in the Amazon, which two weeks ago resulted in a death threat to Greenpeace Campaign Coordinator for the Amazon, Paulo Adario. The research forms part of Greenpeace's global campaign to save the world's last remaining ancient forests. Some 80 percent of these forests have already been degraded or destroyed, and time is running out for the last 20 percent.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
In Brazil, Paulo Adario, Greenpeace Amazon Campaign Coordinator:
+55 92 9985 5001
In Amsterdam, Natalia Truchi, Greenpeace International Press Officer:
+31 621296908
Photo and video are available from Greenpeace International:
Photo Desk, Tel. +31 205 249 580
Video Desk + 31653504721