Fifty Percent of European Tropical Timber Imports Illegal
Copyright 2001 Friends of the Earth
August 10, 2001
According to an analysis of data on illegal logging, as much as 50% of EU tropical timber imports are likely to be from illegal sources, Friends of the Earth reveals today. The biggest eight importers of illegal timber in Europe, in order of ranking, are the UK, France, Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, Italy, Spain and Portugal. Friends of the Earth is calling on the European Commission to make it illegal to import illegally sourced timber, together with stiff penalties for the corporations involved in this trade.
FOE has produced a European league table for illegal tropical timber imports. In total the EU corporations responsible for the trade imported and sold 5 million cubic metres of illegal tropical timber in 1999, with an import value of £800 million. As a result the EU was responsible for illegally logging 740,000 hectares of tropical forest.
The nature of the trade in illegally sourced material makes it impossible to know precisely how much illegal timber is traded. FoE's league table has been calculated by comparing illegal logging rates in five of the main supplier countries - Indonesia, Brazil, Malaysia, Cameroon & Gabon - with tropical timber imports.
Illegal logging is one of the major causes of forest loss in tropical countries. In Indonesia, the biggest supplier of illegal tropical timber to the EU, it is estimated by a UK Government sponsored study that 73% of logging is illegal. Over 70% of Indonesia's forests have now been damaged or destroyed, with 2 million hectares of forest being lost each year. In Brazil, the second biggest supplier to the EU, a report from the Brazilian Government found that 80 % of all logging in the Amazon was illegal. There were 2 million hectares of deforestation in the Amazon in 2000.
Friends of the Earth are also demanding that European Government procurement policy is revised to ensure timber can only be purchased if accompanied by credible, independent certification to prove it is legal, such as provided by the Forest Stewardship Council.
FOE Corporates campaigner Ed Matthew comments: "Major corporations are making millions from trading in illegally sourced tropical timber. This is having a devastating impact on wildlife rich forests and on the people that depend on them. The European Commission has made repeated promises that it would combat illegal logging but the trade continues with the EU one of the world's worst offenders. Its long past time for media friendly sound bites, it's time for tough legal sanctions to stop the felling."
For further information or a copy of Friends of the Earth's "European League Table of Imports of Illegal Tropical Timber", please contact: Ed Matthew - Forest Campaigner, Friends of the Earth: Tel: 00 44 20 7566 1720.