Orang-utan, under threat from illegal logging in Indonesia

Asda, Marks and Spencer and John Lewis' garden furniture pushing orang-utans towards extinction

GARDEN FURNITURE SOLD by Asda, Marks and Spencer and John Lewis is made from trashed rainforest timber and is responsible for pushing endangered animals such as the orang-utan further towards extinction, according to Greenpeace today (29 May 2004).

The three companies are the worst offending High Street stores selling rainforest-wrecking garden furniture, and have come bottom of a league table released by Greenpeace this Bank Holiday weekend on where to buy garden furniture. The well-known retailers are using timber that comes from the last remaining rainforests of south-east Asia to make outdoor goods such as tables, chairs and benches.

Much of the timber comes from Indonesia where nearly 90 percent of all timber is illegally logged. The country has the longest list of endangered species in the world, including the Sumatran tiger and the orang-utan.

Much of the timber used for garden furniture in the UK comes from the world's ancient forests. These forests support around 90 percent of the world's land-based species and millions of forest-dwelling people. Yet every two seconds, an area of ancient forest the size of a football pitch is destroyed.

Some retailers have proven that it is possible to use environmentally friendly timber that doesn't endanger rare animals. B&Q, Woolworths and Robert Dyas sell garden furniture made of wood that is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) as being logged from environmentally friendly sources.

Nathan Argent, Greenpeace Forests Campaigner, said: "If you're buying outdoor furniture from Marks and Spencer or Asda to lounge around in the garden, you're contributing to trashed forests and the extinction of the orang-utan.

"There are readily available alternatives that don't harm the environment or contribute to wiping out rare animals, yet irresponsible stores like Asda and Marks and Spencer continue to buy timber from destroyed rainforests. These companies should all be buying FSC certified timber, which is guaranteed to be environmentally friendly."

Further information
Contact the Greenpeace press office on 020 7865 8255.

Notes:
The league table of garden furniture retailers shows those companies who were able to offer products that had come from FSC certified sources. FSC certification ensures that timber products come from socially and environmentally responsible forest management.

Those companies at the bottom - Asda, Marks and Spencer and John Lewis - are all purchasing rainforest timber and do not offer products that have been credibly certified as legal and environmentally friendly.

Asda claim to be sourcing Red balau from plantations in Vietnam for their garden furniture. There are no Red balau plantations and the tree species is not available from Vietnam. Red balau is found in the last rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia.

Marks and Spencer source Nyatoh, which is found in Indonesia's last rainforests, and were not able to verify that it has been sourced legally.

John Lewis are sourcing Teak and Melapi which is found in Indonesia' last remaining forests.

The league table is, from best at the top to worst at the bottom:

1. B&Q
2. Woolworths
3. Robert Dyas
4. Focus Wickes
5. Homebase
6= Argos
6= Habitat
6= Wyevales
6= Tesco
10. Harrods
11. John Lewis
12. Asda
13. Marks and Spencer

Help to stop the trade in illegal mahogany

Greenpeace investigation reveals trail of illegal destruction from the Amazon Indian lands to Harrods

Greenpeace today called on the UK Government to seize imports of Brazilian mahogany coming into UK ports and for retailers, including Harrods and the John Lewis Partnership, to immediately remove mahogany products from their stores.

This follows the dramatic announcement made late yesterday by the Brazilian Government on board the MY Arctic Sunrise in the Amazon to suspend all transport and export of mahogany. The ban will stay until the Brazilian Government can carry out a full investigation into rampant illegalities in the industry. The Brazilian Government's own assessment is that 80% of logging in the Amazon is illegal. On the ground investigations by Greenpeace in Brazil have discovered mahogany logging on Indian lands, which is strictly prohibited, use of fraudulent documents and falsified mahogany inventories. The mahogany business has also been linked to political corruption, money laundering, death threats and murder.

For the last four months, Greenpeace has also been investigating the UK end of the trade. The illegal destruction is driven by the international market demand for mahogany. The UK is Brazil's third largest customer of Brazilian mahogany, which ends up as expensive reproduction furniture, pianos and guitars. Those potentially implicated include the John Lewis Partnership, Harrods - where a 12-seater solid Brazilian mahogany dining table sells for almost £000 - and Burns Guitars of London, whose instruments have been played by Elvis and Eric Clapton.

John Sauven, Director of Greenpeace's UK forest campaign, said:
"No one wants to deal in stolen goods. If the UK continues to play a role in the mahogany trade it will encourage illegal logging to continue. The UK Government and importers and retailers should stamp out the trade in illegal logging and end the trade in mahogany now."

Greenpeace's research is published today in a new report, "Partners in Mahogany Crime". This reveals that two 'mahogany kings' - Moisés Carvalho Pereira & Osmar Alves Ferreira - control most of the illegal trade in the Amazon's main mahogany region, Pará State. Moisés is said to make more than US$1 million a day during the logging season. More than 70% of the direct exports of mahogany from Pará to the UK come through companies linked to these two kings.

Following Greenpeace's investigations, its Amazon campaigner Paulo Adario received death threats and is under 24-hour protection from the Federal Police. The threats follow on from the recent murder of the Brazilian environmentalist and native Indian rights activist Dema Federicci, who worked closely with Greenpeace.

Greenpeace is shocked that while there have been many fine words from the UK Government on the need to control the international trade in illegal logging, there has been little action to back up the rhetoric. Tony Blair said in his party conference speech this year that "we can provide work and trade without deforestation".

Blair also wrote to Greenpeace last year saying: "Thank you for the important role Greenpeace is playing in tackling illegal logging." However, when Greenpeace wrote to Environment Minister, Michael Meacher, asking for copies of the required permits and documents that UK importers are legally obliged to complete for mahogany, he refused - hiding behind the Data Protection Act. Meacher wrote to Greenpeace saying that the relevant information could only be disclosed to law enforcement agencies "for the purposes of detection of prevention of a crime". Greenpeace is the only organisation currently investigating illegal logging in the region.

John Sauven added:
"It is outrageous that a UK Environment Minister should be anything less than open and transparent when it comes to protecting the Amazon rainforest. This is a clear failure by our government to play its role in protecting the world's last remaining ancient forests."

Notes to Editors:
(1) Images from Greenpeace's on-the-ground investigations in Brazil and of Brazilian mahogany products in the UK are available from the UK Press Office
(2) Copies of all correspondence are available from the UK Press Office

Further information:
Contact:
Greenpeace press office on 020 7865 8255