You couldn't make it up. After having been exposed no less than three times already for using illegal timber in their building projects, Tony Blair's government has done it again.

It's been a hectic year in the Amazon. Following three years of research into the activities of the soya industry, in April 2006 we launched a very public campaign to expose how those little beans are chewing up the Brazilian rainforest. Or to be more precise, how the demands of European markets for cheap meat are being met by huge plantations growing soya for animal feed in the ashes of rampant deforestation.

In tropical latitudes, months pass without any rain and in the dry season forests become susceptible to fire. These can occur naturally and would normally not pose a serious problem, but clearing land as a result of logging or to make way for plantations is exacerbating the problem and every year the fires spread faster and further.

John Sauven, campaign special projects director for Greenpeace UK, explains how Greenpeace worked with McDonald's to change the food industry's attitude towards Amazon soya.

"Huge chickens invaded fast food stores in London and started to ask customers if they knew they were eating soya from deforested areas of the Amazon. That was in April. The chickens were noisy Greenpeace activists... It took McDonald's only six hours between the first 'homo chickenacius' invasion of its restaurants and the phone call to Greenpeace to discuss the issue. Why? Because fast-food consumers started to be choked with McNuggets and McChickens. Ethical consumption's appeal is increasing."

In an historic deal that has impacts far beyond the golden arches and into the global agricultural market, McDonald's is now the leading company in the campaign to halt deforestation for the expansion of soya farming in the Amazon.

Yesterday we occupied Admiralty Arch where the government is using illegally logged plywood from the rainforests of Papua New Guinea as hoardings around the building. Fourteen protestors sat on top of the Arch, demanding Tony Blair own up and commit to legislation banning imports of illegal timber into the UK.

Stop us if you've heard this one before, but the government has been caught with illegal timber on one of its own building sites. Sounds familiar? It should, because this is the third time it's happened in four years. If it wasn't so serious, it would be funny.

Whatever you may think of his political credentials, as Mayor of London Ken Livingstone has been pushing to make the metropolis a greener city. His plans for a low-energy London have shown just how far behind central government are in terms of planning for a sustainable future, and the Greater London Authority (GLA) ensures that all timber used in their building projects is from sources approved by the Forest Stewardship Council.

In a verdict that will have far reaching implications for the international timber trade, a judge in The Hague has found a former timber trader and arms dealer guilty of breaking the UN arms embargo in Liberia and sentenced him to a maximum of eight years in prison.

The genteel surroundings of the Chelsea Flower Show are a world away from the timber yards of Burma but the two were inextricably linked in an undercover sting that exposed the dirt lurking under the fragrant blooms of west London. Posing as potential customers, representatives from Greenpeace UK and the Independent newspaper revealed that garden furniture made Burmese teak was on sale at the Royal Horticultural Society's big annual bash.