WASHINGTON – Several U.S. companies help to fuel violence and
rainforest destruction in the Brazilian Amazon by buying and/or
distributing wood from Grupo Madenorte, a logging company that
engages in corrupt practices in Brazil’s conflict-torn Par· state.
As detailed in the Greenpeace report State of Conflict, Madenorte
and other timber companies use fraud, intimidation, slavery, and
murder to usurp land from Par· residents and decimate the
rainforest. An annex to the report identifies Center, Texas-based
Ihlo Sales & Import Company as the single largest importer of
wood from Madenorte, and lists several other U.S. companies that
either import from Madenorte directly or distribute Madenorte wood
from Ihlo.
Other importers identified in the annex include Columbia Forest
Products (Portland, Ore.), Dantzler (Miami Lakes, Fla.), DLH
Nordisk (Greensboro, N.C.), John S. Connor, Inc. (Baltimore, Md.),
McCausey Lumber (Roseville, Mich.), Robinson Lumber (New Orleans,
La.), and Sabra International (Miami Beach, Fla.). Distributors
that routinely purchase or have purchased Madenorte wood from Ihlo
include Acadian Hardwoods & Cypress (Ponchatoula, La.), Boom,
Inc. (Newtown Square, Pa.), Central Wholesale Supply Corporation
(Norfolk, Va.), Diamond Hill Plywood (Darlington, S.C.), Dixie
Plywood (Savannah, Ga.), and Tech Products (Miami, Fla.).
Today Greenpeace delivered copies of State of Conflict to every
company named in the annex along with a letter, asking them to stop
doing business with Madenorte. Greenpeace also delivered copies to
the U.S. Justice Department, State Department, Commerce Department,
Fish & Wildlife Service, U.S. Customs, and other government
agencies responsible for enforcing the President’s Initiative on
Illegal Logging.
“By doing business with Madenorte, U.S. companies directly
contribute to environmental destruction, slavery and death in the
endangered Amazon rainforest,” said Scott Paul, Coordinator of
Greenpeace’s Forest Campaign. “The U.S. is the largest importer of
forest products worldwide and too many U.S. companies don’t bother
to look into the practices of the companies from which they buy.
With this report, the federal government and companies such as Ihlo
can no longer plead ignorance to the criminal activity of
Madenorte.”
The Greenpeace report also shows that Ihlo imports wood from
Indonesia, where more than 80 percent of logging is illegal. The
U.S. release of State of Conflict comes as world leaders and
scientists are meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, at the Convention
on Biological Diversity (CBD). The conference is a key step in
protecting the world’s forests, including the Amazon and the
rainforests of Southeast Asia. The United States is still not a
signatory to the CBD.
Pressuring Madenorte’s U.S. customers is the latest step in a
larger movement to bring justice and stability to the Brazilian
Amazon. Ironically, Greenpeace has been indicted in Miami by the
U.S. government for a protest that took place in April 2002 against
a ship carrying illegal mahogany from Brazil. Undeterred by this
unprecedented prosecution, which has been widely condemned by
numerous leaders and organizations, Greenpeace continues to
campaign globally to protect the world’s forests and to expose
those who are part of their destruction.
