Belem, December, 1999 -- Using ultra-violet technology, Greenpeace activists yesterday identified an illegal supply of logs in the yard of Eidai do Brasil, a Japanese export logging company, in Icoaraci Municipality of Para State, Brazil.
Officials from Brazil's environment agency, IBAMA, subsequently fined the company and confiscated the logs. The action was a result of the environmental group's investigation of Para's timber industry, lasting over a month and covering more than 4,000 km.
"This is no longer just another story about timber without proof of origin. By using this simple technology we have been able to prove, beyond doubt, that illegality is the trademark of the Amazon logging industry," said Greenpeace campaigner Paulo Adario.
Last Friday IBAMA and Greenpeace, returning from a routine visit to a mill in Para State, stopped a truck carrying 7 logs of "faveira", timber used by the plywood industry. The cargo was not accompanied by ATPF documents (Authorisation for Forest Products Transport), and was therefore illegal. In order to track the logs to their destination, IBAMA agents released the truck after Greenpeace activists marked the logs with a special dye which is sensitive to ultra violet light.
At 11 am yesterday (12/06), the truck carrying the marked logs entered the gates of Eidai do Brasil. A few hours later, empty, the vehicle left. IBAMA and Greenpeace then attempted to enter the company property but were stopped by security guards. Only after intervention by the Federal Police at the end of the afternoon were Greenpeace activists able to enter the Eidai facility and, using ultra-violet lamps, located the marked logs.
Under the Environmental Crimes Law recently adopted by the Brazilian government, IBAMA then fined Eidai do Brasil R$ 3,600 (USD 1,800) for being in possession of the logs. While awaiting the arrival of the Federal Police, IBAMA also apprehended and fined another logging truck delivering "faveira" timber to Eidai with insufficient documentation.
Eidai is the largest exporter of processed wood from the Amazon, controlling major plywood markets in the USA, Japan, UK and the Netherlands. In 1998 the company exported wood products valued at over USD 35,000,000, and processed 260,000 m3 of wood.
"We have shown today that Eidai, like most transnational logging companies operating in the Amazon, buys undocumented and illegal timber from third parties. The Brazilian government themselves admit that 80% of the timber logged in the Amazon is illegal, but has difficulties proving and exposing these practises," said Adario. "But our action, in co-operation with IBAMA, shows that even with simple resources it is possible to expose and punish the destroyers of the Amazon forest."
Paulo Castelo Branco, the new head of IBAMA in Para, welcomed Greenpeace's support. "Thanks to Greenpeace's intelligence support, we could prove that Eidai bought illegal timber. This operation shows that we can ban illegal timber exploitation in the Amazon by combining political will, support from the federal government and public engagement," he said.
The action against Eidai further proves that illegal operations are common practises of the Amazon timber industry. Only last week Madeireira Capacio Ltda., in Tome Acu (196 km from Belem) was fined USD 3,000,000, after an IBAMA/Federal and Military Police raid on their facilities. Madecap is a regular supplier to the transnational wood products export companies Eldorado, Nordisk Timber and Mognolumber.
