The report, entitled 'Sharing the Blame: Global Consumption and
China's Role in Ancient Forest Destruction' documents illegally
logged timber, particularly from the Paradise Forests of Asia,
being shipped to China. There, it is made into furniture, flooring
and plywood for domestic consumption and for export to satisfy the
rising global demand for inexpensive wood products.
Much of this wood comes from Indonesia and Papua New Guinea
where between 76 to 90 per cent of the logging is illegal. North
America, Europe, Japan and other developed countries are the
primary consumers of this wood.
"Illegal logging is rampant in many of the countries that supply
China with wood and this destructive trade is fueling a global
forest crisis," said Ginger Cassady, Greenpeace USA forests
campaigner, currently in Papua New Guinea. "The U.S. plays a key
role in this chain of custody. China has committed internationally
to tackle this problem and must, together with the United States
and all countries that import these wood products, take urgent
action to ban the trade in timber from illegal or destructive
logging."
China's demand for wood is driving this logging. In the last 10
years alone, China's total consumption of wood products increased
by 70%. The Greenpeace investigation reveals that if China were to
increase its per capita paper consumption to that of the USA, for
example, this would require approximately five billion additional
cubic feet of wood to be logged - equivalent to the Earth's entire
yearly harvest.
Recently, numerous companies in Europe have committed to stop
purchasing Chinese plywood made from illegally logged timber from
Papua New Guinea. These include Wolseley (UK), PontMeyer
(Netherlands), Castorama (France) and the French Federation of
Timber Importers (Le Commerce du Bois).
The solution is quite simple. "If the world's ancient forests
are to survive," continued Cassady, "consumption levels in the U.S.
and other countries has to drop dramatically."
This month, China acknowledged that the environmental impact of
consumption is a serious issue, with Premier, Wen Jiabao's, call to
the country to reduce consumption of wood. Just last week, the
Chinese Government announced a 5% consumption tax on hardwood
flooring and disposable chopsticks.
Greenpeace is urging China and the other 187 signatory nations
to the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD),
meeting in Curitiba, Brazil this week, to protect the world's last
ancient forests, by establishing a global network of protected
forest areas, to ban the trade in illegally and destructively
logged wood products and to introduce a legally binding mechanism
under the CBD to combat illegal and destructive logging.
Other contacts: 
Greenpeace Media Officer
Ginger Cassady is available for interviews in Papua New Guinea.
Exp. contact date: 2006-04-28 00:00:00