Europe must act on forest destruction

The installation highlights Europe's role in fuelling deforestation and the urgent need for a new law to ban illegal timber and establish high standards for wood products. Later this month the European Commission will vote on whether to put forward a new law against illegally harvested timber.

Sebastien Risso, Greenpeace EU forest campaigner said: "We urgently need this new law to regulate the timber market so that consumers are not made unwilling accomplices of forest crimes. It is unthinkable that forest ecosystems are degraded for the sake of cheap garden furniture, paper tissues and disposable construction material."

Every year the EU buys millions of tonnes of timber from areas, such as the Amazon, South East Asia and Congo, where illegal and destructive logging is rampant. These practices drive deforestation, which in turn leads to the dramatic loss of species and the upheaval of local communities, and accounts for one fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions.(2)

EU Environment Commissioner Stavros Dimas and other EU politicians will visit the installation later today, where they will receive a plywood postcard with the message: 'Stop the chainsaw massacre! Adopt EU timber law now.'

Ruben Gomes,(3) head of the global labelling scheme 'Forest Stewardship Council (FSC)' board in Brazil, said: "Illegal loggers in the Amazon and across the world are seriously undercutting prices and making sustainable products less competitive. We need effective market control to allow responsible wood producers to fully benefit from their investments."

In under three weeks, EU President Barroso has received over 66 000 letters in support of the new legislation by concerned citizens who want to make sure that the products they buy come from sustainable sources. The need for new legislation is also widely supported by progressive companies in the forest industry who want to tackle the impact of illegal logging on their businesses.

Risso continued: "The EU must take action to ban the sale of wood products that have come from illegal operations. Timber companies must meet strict environmental and social standards and implement a system that allows the authorities to trace the origin of timber."

The support for an EU timber law is part of Greenpeace's call for zero deforestation to protect the world's forests and save the climate.