"At a press conference in Beijing, Greenpeace today released
"Merbau's Last Stand"(1), an investigative report which reveals the
smuggling methods being used to bring the endangered tree species
merbau (known as kwila in New Zealand), into China. The report
sounds the alarm bell for the future of kwila and the Paradise
Forests of Asia Pacific. "
Despite Indonesia banning the export of logs, Greenpeace
researchers found that in 2006 thousands of cubic meters of logs
entered ports in China from Indonesia. They are containerized and
falsely labelled as sawn timber; imported with forged documentation
labelling the timber as Malaysian, (despite the fact that Malaysia
has virtually wiped out its own kwila) and kwila logs are also
imported from illegal logging concessions in Papua New Guinea (2).
"
New maps produced by Greenpeace (3) show that 83% of the forests
housing the last healthy populations of merbau on New Guinea island
have already been allocated for logging, and only 17% is, for the
moment, not on the chopping block
New Zealand
Greenpeace New Zealand forests campaigner Grant Rosoman said
kwila is by far the main tropical timber imported into New Zealand;
virtually all of it is illegal from Indonesia and Papua New Guinea,
but NZ customs codes and statistics don't record it separately.
"Neither the Government nor the timber trade knows how much
illegal timber and wood products are imported into New Zealand
every year. Not only is the Government complicit in this illegal
trade by doing nothing to stop it, but they also have no data on
the scale of the problem."
Greenpeace estimates that at least NZ$15-20 million of kwila
sawn timber, decking and outdoor furniture is imported into New
Zealand every year. According to the Ministry of Forestry
statistics the imports of wooden furniture have increased four fold
in recent years to a value of over $150 million annually.
"New Zealand is part of this potential species extinction
– but the Government doesn't even track it. Even
Australian customs has a specific number and category for kwila
imports – but our Customs codes are stuck back in the
1970's," he said. "It's clear that both Customs and the timber
importers do not want to deal with this problem, which is why we
need strong regulation," he said. "Even if the Government wanted to
control the import of kwila, it wouldn't have a clue how much is
coming in," he said.
"If the current trends are not reversed, even at the current
legally approved rates of logging, kwila will be extinct in the
wild within 35 years. The global illegal trade means we'll lose it
much sooner than that – and New Zealand's imports
contribute to the problem."
Other contacts: Media contact: Cindy Baxter 021 772 661
Campaigner: Grant Rosoman: 03-3825476 mob: 021-428 415
Notes: (1) "Merbau's Last Stand: How Industrial Logging is Driving the Destruction of the
Paradise">http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/merbau-report-2">Paradise Forests of Asia Pacific." Greenpeace (2007)
(2) Merbau is only found in commercial-sized quantities on the island of New Guinea, comprised of the Indonesian provinces of Papua Land and the independent nation of Papua New Guinea. Illegal logging in both countries is considered rampant, with as much as 80 per cent of the logging that occurs being in violation of the law.
(3) Maps available