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Merbau's Last Stand

Publication Date: 
17 Apr 2007
Body: 

This report warns that the tropical hardwood species merbau (or kwila) will be extinct within 35 years or less if action is not taken to stop the destructive logging and trade of the species.

Merbau, once common from eastern Africa throughout Asia and Oceania, is only found in significant quantities today on the island of New Guinea, in Papua (Indonesia) and Papua New Guinea. The World Conservation Union lists merbau as "facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future", and although Indonesia has stated that it intended to list merbau on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), that has never occurred.

PDF 2: 
Merbau's Last Stand - Full report
PDF: 
Merbau's Last Stand - Briefing
Tags: forests, illegal timber, reports, indonesia, china, destructive logging, papua new guinea, merbau
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UK retailers contributing to extinction of rare rainforest timber species

17 Apr 2007

A new Greenpeace report, Merbau's Last Stand (1), launched today warns that the tropical hardwood species merbau (or kwila) will be extinct within 35 years or less if action is not taken to stop the destructive logging and trade of the species.

Greenpeace has uncovered evidence suggesting that:

  • Several manufacturers are importing Merbau into the UK including Tarkett, Junkers and Boen.
  • Merbau wood is on widespread sale in this country including at Floors-To-Go and Allied Carpets, significant flooring retailers in the UK.
  • Merbau only exists in significant commercial quantities on the island of New Guinea. 83 per cent has already been logged or is allocated for logging, and only 17 per cent is not on the chopping block. (3)

Merbau, once common from eastern Africa throughout Asia and Oceania, is only found in significant quantities today on the island of New Guinea, in Papua (Indonesia) and Papua New Guinea (PNG). The World Conservation Union lists merbau as "facing a high risk of extinction in the wild in the near future", and although Indonesia has stated that it intended to list merbau on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), that has never occurred.(2)

Belinda Fletcher, head of the forest campaign at Greenpeace UK said: "Merbau is a highly prized tree species used for products like flooring. Market demand is driving this species to extinction. It is outrageous that manufacturers are bringing it into the UK and retailers are selling it with no regard for where they are sourcing it from and despite the serious issues connected to this species."

She continued, "Consumers can make sure they are buying 'good' timber, by looking out for the Forest Stewardship Council logo, the best way to ensure the timber products they are buying come from environmentally and socially responsible sources."

Greenpeace are calling on the UK and EU governments to introduce legislation banning the import of illegal and destructively logged timber into the EU. The organization is also calling for merbau to be listed on Appendix III of the CITES.

Notes to editors:
(1) Merbau's Last Stand: How Industrial Logging is Driving the Destruction of the Paradise Forests of Asia Pacific. Greenpeace (2007). For copies of the report please call the Greenpeace press office on 0207 865 8255

(2) IUCN, Red List of Endangered Species, 2006. IUCN. www.iucnredlist.org.; Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna, Twenty Second Meeting of the Animals Committee, 2006 3(b)(i) Review of Appendices. http://www.cites.org/eng/com/AC/22/E22-05-02.pdf

(3) http://www.greenpeace.org/merbaumaps

  • Merbau is a highly prized tropical hardwood that costs more than US$600 per cubic metre roundwood and is used to manufacture high-end luxury wooden products. Global demand for merbau products has already wiped out most of the world's merbau forests. China is now the world's largest market for merbau and the largest consumer of tropical logs in the world.
  • Read the report briefing and the full report at www.greenpeace.org.uk/media/reports/merbaus-last-stand

For more details please call the Greenpeace Press Office on 0207 865 8255

Tags: forests, press releases, indonesia, china, papua new guinea, merbau, new guinea, allied carpets, floors-to-go, tarkett, junkers, boen
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Prestigious Edinburgh arts projects built with rainforest timber

9 Nov 2004
The Playfair Project, Edinburgh

The Playfair Project, Edinburgh

THE PLAYFAIR PROJECT in Edinburgh and the North Edinburgh Arts Centre were today declared 'Forest Crime Scenes' by Greenpeace for using timber from the endangered rainforests of South East Asia and Africa in recent construction work, which was funded with over £10million of National Lottery money.

Timber from the rainforests of Central Africa, which is home to chimpanzees and gorillas, was used in the Playfair Project, which received £7million of National Lottery funding. Doors at the project are made from sapele timber, which is being pushed towards extinction due to commercial exploitation.

The North Edinburgh Arts Centre received over £3million from the National Lottery and used a tropical hardwood, merbau, in the floors and wall panelling. Merbau is at risk of extinction due to destructive and unsustainable logging. It is regularly sourced from the last rainforests of Indonesia, where nearly 90 percent of all logging is illegal and the critically endangered orangutan is being driven to the brink of extinction.

This morning, activists from Greenpeace exposed the use of rainforest timber on both sites by delivering plaques reading 'National Lottery: Funding Rainforest Destruction' to the Playfair Project and the Arts Centre.

Greenpeace will also be visiting Edinburgh City Council to urge them to take action to implement timber purchasing guidelines to ensure that this does not happen again. Last month the Greenpeace Forest Crime Unit halted work at Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow after it was exposed for also using merbau in its refurbishment, demanding that it be replaced with timber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) as being from legal and sustainable sources.

Nathan Argent, Greenpeace Forests Campaigner, said: "The National Lottery should be using people's money to support good causes, not supporting the destruction of the world's last ancient forests.

"If we don't want to confine the world's rainforests to history, it is essential that in the future all National Lottery and Local Authority projects in the UK insist on the use of FSC timber - the only way to guarantee that your timber has come from legal and well-managed forests."

Since 2000, Government departments have been expected to buy timber from legal and sustainable sources. Whilst Government ministers claim that they do issue guidance to Non-Departmental Public Bodies, like the National Lottery, to take sustainable developments into account, little effort has been made to translate these objectives into practice.

Recently the £40 million Lottery funded Cardiff Millennium Stadium was found to have used uncertified timber decking from Africa's Forest of the Great Apes where illegal logging is rife and many gorillas and chimpanzees are at risk of being wiped out. In 2002 a Lottery grant went on new lock gates for the Kennet and Avon canal, which were built from rainforest timber sourced from a company involved in illegal arms dealing in Liberia, fuelling civil war.

For more information, contact the Greenpeace press office on 020 7865 8255.

Tags: FSC, scotland, forests, press releases, indonesia, south east asia, edinburgh, national lottery, central africa, gorillas, merbau