Greenpeace activists dump three tonnes of tropical timber in front of the Agricultural Ministry building in Paris to protest against the flood of illegal timber from the world's last rainforests into France and Europe. Volunteers dressed as gorillas are crushed amongst the piles of illegal timber.
In a new report (1), Greenpeace reveals how European owned
companies SFID, of the Rougier Group and Italian owned Patrice Bois
are complicit in destroying the tropical rainforests of Cameroon,
which lie in the Congo Basin. The rainforests of the Congo Basin
are rapidly being decimated by the logging industry.
Greenpeace International Forest Campaigner, Sue Connor said:
"Stolen rainforest timber is flooding into ports in France and
Europe almost daily (2). It ends up on construction sites and is
being sold in stores across Europe. Just one week ago a shipment
arrived in Sete, France, from Cameroon carrying timber from Patrice
Bois, one of the companies exposed as being involved in illegal
logging activities.(3) If this criminal activity is not stopped,
the world's rainforests look set to disappear in our lifetime,
destroying the homes of millions of forest dependent peoples, plant
and animal species, including threatened lowland gorillas,
chimpanzees and forest elephants."
SFID and Patrice Bois are exposed in their involvement in
illegal logging activities through the use of suspect and illegal
"salvage" logging permits.These companies supply timber to traders
such as Danish based DLH, French traders such as Rougier, Bois des
Trois Ports and the Reseau Pro distribution chain, part of the UK
based Wolseley Group.
Greenpeace France forests campaigner, Illanga Itoua said: "The
French Government, has made repeated statements that it will take
action against illegal and destructive forest exploitation. To
date their action has run counter to those declarations. France
continues to open the borders to illegal timber and to support
forest industry involved in illegal logging activities, such as
Rougier/SFID. This timber is freely available on the French and
European market."(4)
Despite years of talk by EU Governments there is still no
mechanism to stop the flood of illegal and unsustainable timber
into ports and stores across Europe. Greenpeace is calling on
European governments to outlaw all imports of illegal timber and to
promote environmentally and socially responsible forest management
worldwide.
Greenpeace is an independent campaigning organisation that uses
non-violent creative confrontation to expose global environmental
problems to drive solutions that are essential to a green and
peaceful future.
Other contacts: Sue Connor Greenpeace international campaigner +316 46162024Illanga Itoua , Greenpeace France campaigner +336 3023 5278Natalia Truchi, Greenpeace International communications + 31 64618 4250
Notes: (1) Illegal Logging in Cameroon: How French Government action is fuelling rainforest destruction. http://www.greenpeace.org/logging-cameroon(2) Europe is one of the largest global importers of forest products. Last year, France was the largest importer of timber from Africa, and the third largest importer from Cameroon. (3) The ship Riomare arrived in Sete on 8 December and was documented offloading Patrice Bois timber.(4) Global Witness report number 22. http://www.globalwitness.org/projects/cameroon/downloads/022En-F.pdf