Africa's last remaining forests are disappearing due to illegal logging
The MV Zini loaded at the Liberian port of Buchanan, which is largely controlled by the logging company Oriental Timber Company (OTC) (1). OTC is run by a close business associate of the President of Liberia, who has granted the logging rights to at least one third of Liberia´s remaining 4.8 million hectares of ancient forest to the company.
"Each year, hundreds of thousands of cubic metres of Liberia´s remaining forest are exported to countries in Asia and Europe by logging companies linked with the illegal arms trade. Liberia is aggressively preventing focused international action to combat illegal logging and related trade here at the meeting, said Filip Verbelen, Greenpeace Forests Campaigner speaking from the Ancient Forests Summit in the Hague. "This alone is criminal behaviour while the irreversible destruction of Africa´s ancient forests continues unabated. The Great Apes are threatened with extinction and these governments do nothing, when positive decisions are urgently needed here and now."
In reaction to the Greenpeace action in the port of Kalamaki, the Greek Ministry of Environment today committed itself to keep a very clear and strong position for the protection and sustainable management of the last ancient forests of the world. The Deputy Minister of Environment, Mrs. Rodoula Zissi, will arrive in the Hague tomorrow and will support the initiative undertaken by other European governments such as France and Germany. This initiative calls for effective measures to combat illegal logging and related trade, procurement from ecologically sound forest management via FSC® certification (2) and a network of protected forest areas. Further, this initiative asks for the necessary international funds to implement protective measures and the elimination of perverse subsidies.
In the Hague, the Netherlands, delegates from over 180 governments around the world are meeting at the Ancient Forest Summit to decide on the future of the world's ancient forests. On April 17th and 18th the Environment Ministers at the Summit must decide on an effective working programme with a clear focus and strong language for the protection of the last ancient forests.
"Greek imports of Liberian wood from ancient forests have increased by approximately 10 times in the last years," said Nikos Charalambides, Executive Director for Greenpeace Greece. "It is time for the Greek government to clean up this destructive timber trade and seize the opportunity to take decisive action against illegal logging and related trade issues at the Ancient Forest Summit negotiations in the Hague. We judge the Greek government's announcement today as a first step into the right direction."
Today, Liberia's forests are under enormous pressure from the logging industry, fuelled by the international market´s greed for cheap timber resources and driven by the Liberian government´s policy of funding sanction busting arms trafficking into this region of conflict. Recent reports by a Panel of Experts to the UN Security Council (UNSC) reveal that the Liberian timber industry is involved in both environmental destruction and human rights abuses. The same panel describes the manager of OTC, Gus van Kouwenhouven, as the key person for the logistics of illegal imports of arms.
Liberia's ancient forests have been identified as one of 25 threatened biodiversity "hotspots" globally and now represent almost half of what remains of the Upper Guinean Forest Ecosystem, a rainforest belt that once covered the whole of Liberia, plus parts of Sierra Leone, Guinea, the Ivory Coast, Ghana and Togo. They represent the last strongholds for forest elephants and the Pygmy hippopotamus in West Africa. The forests harbour species only found in Liberia and many more that are nearly extinct elsewhere.
Only 20 per cent of the world's original forests are left as large intact tracts of ancient forests. Those forests that remain are also in danger of disappearing with industrial logging posing the single largest threat to their survival. Today's action is one in a series of Greenpeace protests throughout Europe against Liberian and other ancient forest timber in recent weeks.
At this week's Ancient Forest Summit, Greenpeace is urging governments of all importing countries to end their role in the destruction of ancient forests by committing to stop further industrial activities in intact ancient forests until responsible plans for forest conservation and sustainable use have been agreed; ensuring that timber is produced and traded in a legal and ecologically responsible way and providing at least US$15 billion each year to pay for forest conservation and sustainable development Greenpeace welcomes the initiative taken by the governments of Greece and France and is asking the other governments represented in the Hague to follow their example.
Notes: 1. OTC has been exposed by the United Nations Security Council for illegally supplying arms to Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels fighting the government forces and UN Peacekeepers in the war-torn neighbouring country of Sierra Leone. For further reading see Greenpeace briefing: Forest Crime File: Liberian timber trade fuels regional insecurity. 2. The FSC®, Forest Stewardship Council™, is the only independent certification system that meets credible international ecological standards, incorporates balanced interests of social, economic and environmental groups, and has a widely supported and globally recognised label. The FSC® system assures integrity of the chain of custody from the extraction of wood, through processing to the final consumer. The FSC® offers the best available guarantee that logging practices are legal and do not lead to ancient forest destruction.