Blair caught in rainforest scandal

Greenpeace volunteers scale Admiralty Arch

Greenpeace volunteers scale Admiralty Arch as investigation exposes government's use of illegal timber

The Prime Minister's efforts to portray himself as an environmental champion suffered another set-back today as Greenpeace revealed that the renovation of his own Cabinet Office building is using illegally logged rainforest timber. The refurbishment is using plywood hoardings made with illegally logged timber sourced from the rainforests of Papua New Guinea. The Whitehall building is home to Mr Blair's own Strategy Unit.

At 6.45am this morning 14 Greenpeace climbers scaled the Admiralty Arch wing of the building. The volunteers have hung a huge banner which reads: 'REPEAT OFFENDER! BLAIR'S TRASHED ANOTHER RAINFOREST!' Other activists are covering the rainforest timber with plywood certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).(1) Later today 30 year-old Sam Moko from Papua New Guinea will take a piece of the illegal timber to Downing Street with a demand that Tony Blair stop fuelling the destruction of his rainforest home.

The Cabinet Office building was at the centre of a controversy in 2002 when it was revealed that a previous building project used African rainforest timber. On that occasion Tony Blair told the Commons the project was using sustainably sourced timber before later back-tracking. The following year the new Home Office building was found to be using illegal rainforest plywood from Indonesia (2).

Greenpeace executive director Stephen Tindale is on top of Admiralty Arch. He said: "When it comes to trashing the world's last rainforests Tony Blair is a serial offender. It's hard to believe illegal and unsustainable timber has been found at the home of his own strategy unit. What better illustration could there be that his government's timber procurement policy is totally ineffectual? Blair has a history of talking up his green credentials, but it's about time he actually took effective action. The first thing he needs to do is to ban the import of illegal timber into the UK market place."

The Greenpeace volunteers have hoisted their own campaign flag on the famous Admiralty flagpole in the hope that Britain can lead the world in forest protection.

Central government procurement accounts for approximately 20% of the timber used in the UK, while the broader public sector accounts for as much as 40%.(3) In 2001 Tony Blair promised that the government would only purchase legal and sustainable timber. This commitment followed the introduction of a timber procurement policy the previous year, requiring all departments and agencies to 'actively seek' to buy such timber. However, a combination of weak guidelines and failed implementation has meant that the impact of the policy remains limited and in the case of the plywood at Admiralty Arch is failing to prevent illegal timber from being used.

The magnificent forests of Papua New Guinea form part of the few remaining significant ancient forests on earth. It is home to wildlife such as the tree kangaroo, the world's largest pigeon, the largest butterfly on earth (the Queen Alexandra's birdwing, with a wing span of over 11 inches) and the world's longest lizard, along with over 3000 species of orchid. But so-called 'robber barons' are plundering the rainforest with impunity. Their crimes range from illegal logging to corruption, torture and rape. A World Bank funded independent review examining logging in Papua New Guinea found widespread and serious illegalities across the industry. These findings were reinforced by a UK government funded report which found extensive environmental damage, corruption and social upheaval in logging areas.

Before delivering illegal timber to Downing Street Sam Moko from Papua New Guinea said: "Logging companies are harvesting our forest at an alarming rate and we are questioning the survival of our future generations as forest dependent communities. People are now faced with environmental, social and health problems as a result of the bad practices by the foreign logging companies. Local people have no money to pursue court cases against the companies. What can we do? I call on Tony Blair to ban the import of illegal timber."

Greenpeace is calling on the government to finally take effective action to end its role in forest destruction by ensuring that it uses only FSC-certified timber on its construction sites and introducing a ban on the import of illegal timber into the UK  the only way to stop this destructive trade.

Download the full background briefing: Repeat Offender: How Tony Blair's government continues to trash the world's rainforests

For more contact Greenpeace on 07801 212967 / 0207 8658255

Video and stills available, including clipreel of PNG rainforest destruction and previous Greenpeace protests over government timber procurement.

Notes:

(1) Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified timber is the best guarantee that timber products come from environmentally and socially responsible sources.

(2) Previous Greenpeace exposes include:

Cabinet Office: In April 2002 Greenpeace occupied the Cabinet Office at 22 Whitehall and declared it an ancient forest crime scene. This followed an undercover investigation which revealed that the government was installing new doors and windows made from sapele, sourced from companies known to be logging illegally in the rainforests of Cameroon.

Home Office: In June 2003 Greenpeace occupied the construction site of the new Home Office headquarters at 2 Marsham Street in Westminster after finding plywood from Indonesia's last rainforests, supplied by companies notorious for illegal logging, corruption and human rights abuses.

(3) Environmental Audit Committee, House of Commons (18th January 2006), 'Sustainable Timber'