UPDATE!!!
Greenpeace activists ended a blockade at Lumber Liquidators headquarters after Greenpeace Forest Campaigner Daniel Brindis spoke with company executives for over two hours. Brindis said:
The activists succeeded in showing Lumber Liquidators and its shareholders that they need to take a hard look at the companys supply chain. I spoke with company executives in-depth about the problem of predatory logging and how it is threatening the vital ecosystem of the Amazon rainforest and the people that call it home.
Greenpeace will be watching closely to see what steps the company takes in coming weeks to ensure that its wood is legally and responsibly logged, and if Lumber Liquidators implements a new global sustainability policy with real criteria.
A Lumber Liquidator employee talks with Greenpeace campaigner Daniel Brindis and a Greenpeace activist outside company headquarters.
The Forest Crimes Unit rides again, this time in Toano, Virginia, where Amazon destruction is bought and sold. This morning a group of 9 Greenpeace activists has barricaded the entrances to Lumber Liquidators headquarters, prior to the companys annual shareholder meeting.
The blockade at the main entrance features a banner that reads Brazilian Wood: Your $hare of Amazon Crime and the back entrance is blocked with a brand spoof delivery truck that read Rainforest Liquidators.
This shareholder meeting is the first one since Lumber Liquidators was raided by federal agents last September for allegedly purchasing illegal timber from the Russian Far East.
Just last week Greenpeace published an investigation that linked Lumber Liquidatorss Brazilian suppliers to illegal logging in the state of Para, where 78% of logging is estimated to be illegal. The report demonstrated how Brazil relies on a poorly designed timber control system that facilitates the laundering of illegal timber with official documents.
This protest comes after Brazilian activists occupied the facility of an exporter that sells to Lumber Liquidators. That exporter has also been cited by Brazilian Authorities for 1 Million USD in fines related to trade in illegal timber.
