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The Paradise Forests of Papua New Guinea and Indonesia’s Papua are
being destroyed through illegal and destructively logged timber, which
is flooding the Australian market.
This morning, a protest action by Greenpeace at a Sydney outdoor furniture outlet exposed the wide availability in the Australian market of timber furniture products sourced from suspected illegal and stolen tropical hardwood timber, such as merbau/kwila and rosewood.
Greenpeace activists wrapped ‘Forest Crime Scene’ tape around timber furniture at retail outlets in the Homeworks Caringbah shopping complex, and placed stickers on timber furniture with the message “Is this timber stolen from rainforests?” and hung a banner that read “Illegal Logging Destroys Lives”.
At the Outdoor Furniture Specialists retail outlet activists attempted to confiscate a table made from suspected stolen timber, replacing it with one made from Solomon Islands community eco-timber. Irate store owners temporarily closed the outlet and police were called to the scene. Greenpeace cordoned off the store as a ‘Forests Crime Scene’ and presented a letter to the police outlining the reasons why the timber being sold is suspected as being illegal. Activists then left the scene peacefully.
In just one shopping centre, Greenpeace identified eight stores stocking merbau/kwila and rosewood timber furniture without credible certification. These hardwood timber species are from tropical rainforests in PNG and Papua, Indonesia, where over 80 per cent of the logging is illegal. Most retailers do not know if their timber comes from ecologically sustainable sources.
The illegal timber trade is destroying lives, fuelling human rights abuse and causing environmental destruction in producer countries.
Today’s protest coincides with the announcement of new government policy on illegal timber imports entering Australia by the Minister for Forestry, Senator Eric Abetz, to be released later this month.
Greenpeace expects the Australian government will propose self-regulation by the timber industry, but we believe this will fail to stop the trade in illegal and destructively logged timber: Retailers who stock suspected illegal timber products will not voluntarily stop doing so when they are undercutting the good wood market.
The Australian government must stop illegal timber at the border. Anything short of a legislative ban on illegal timber and wood products will not end the problem.
Greenpeace forests campaigner Kieran Longridge said Australia had a moral responsibility to do the right thing.
“There is a clear solution for both the timber industry and consumers on this issue.
“Consumers should only buy timber with credible certification such as the Forest Stewardship Council, as listed in the Greenpeace Good Wood Guide. People are unknowingly purchasing timber products derived from illegal and destructive logging practices.
“The Australian timber furniture industry must put in place purchasing policies to ensure they are not fuelling the problem of illegal and destructive logging,” she said.
The Australian Government has committed to introducing laws to stop the importation of illegal and destructively logged timber and timber products. However, illegal and destructively logged timber and wood products are still being imported into Australia - and the Australian government still does not have the laws to be able to stop it.
This morning, a protest action by Greenpeace at a Sydney outdoor furniture outlet exposed the wide availability in the Australian market of timber furniture products sourced from suspected illegal and stolen tropical hardwood timber, such as merbau/kwila and rosewood.
Greenpeace activists wrapped ‘Forest Crime Scene’ tape around timber furniture at retail outlets in the Homeworks Caringbah shopping complex, and placed stickers on timber furniture with the message “Is this timber stolen from rainforests?” and hung a banner that read “Illegal Logging Destroys Lives”.
At the Outdoor Furniture Specialists retail outlet activists attempted to confiscate a table made from suspected stolen timber, replacing it with one made from Solomon Islands community eco-timber. Irate store owners temporarily closed the outlet and police were called to the scene. Greenpeace cordoned off the store as a ‘Forests Crime Scene’ and presented a letter to the police outlining the reasons why the timber being sold is suspected as being illegal. Activists then left the scene peacefully.
In just one shopping centre, Greenpeace identified eight stores stocking merbau/kwila and rosewood timber furniture without credible certification. These hardwood timber species are from tropical rainforests in PNG and Papua, Indonesia, where over 80 per cent of the logging is illegal. Most retailers do not know if their timber comes from ecologically sustainable sources.
The illegal timber trade is destroying lives, fuelling human rights abuse and causing environmental destruction in producer countries.
Today’s protest coincides with the announcement of new government policy on illegal timber imports entering Australia by the Minister for Forestry, Senator Eric Abetz, to be released later this month.
Greenpeace expects the Australian government will propose self-regulation by the timber industry, but we believe this will fail to stop the trade in illegal and destructively logged timber: Retailers who stock suspected illegal timber products will not voluntarily stop doing so when they are undercutting the good wood market.
The Australian government must stop illegal timber at the border. Anything short of a legislative ban on illegal timber and wood products will not end the problem.
Greenpeace forests campaigner Kieran Longridge said Australia had a moral responsibility to do the right thing.
“There is a clear solution for both the timber industry and consumers on this issue.
“Consumers should only buy timber with credible certification such as the Forest Stewardship Council, as listed in the Greenpeace Good Wood Guide. People are unknowingly purchasing timber products derived from illegal and destructive logging practices.
“The Australian timber furniture industry must put in place purchasing policies to ensure they are not fuelling the problem of illegal and destructive logging,” she said.
The Australian Government has committed to introducing laws to stop the importation of illegal and destructively logged timber and timber products. However, illegal and destructively logged timber and wood products are still being imported into Australia - and the Australian government still does not have the laws to be able to stop it.
Learn more about what wood is good to buy
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