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Greenpeace Aims to Halt Trade in Ancient Forest Wood
AMSTERDAM, The Netherlands, March 8, 2002 (ENS) - Brazilian mahogany
filled the cargo hold of the ship MV Enif as she entered the Port of
Hamburg, Germany last week.
To protest the mahogany trade continuing despite a Brazilian government
ban, on Thursday seven Greenpeace climbers chained themselves to the two
cranes of the Enif. Ten Greenpeace swimmers and two divers took to the
water.
 Ancient forests of the Brazilian Amazon become
logs for the timber trade. (Photos courtesy Greenpeace)
Greenpeace International Executive Director Gerd Leipold, one of the
activists at the scene, said the mahogany aboard the Enif comes from some
of the last intact areas of ancient forest in Brazil, which provide the
critical habitats for animals like jaguars and sloths. There is also a
serious question over the legality of the export of this mahogany from
Brazil, following a ban on cutting, transport and trade of mahogany in last
December, he said.
The ban was imposed by Brazil in order to stop mahogany sales into
countries like Germany, said Greenpeace forests campaigner, Thomas
Henningsen. The German government must act now and stop this trade which
fuels environmental destruction and human misery, he urged.
Off the coast of the Netherlands on Sunday, Greenpeace activists boarded
the Agat, carrying a shipment of ancient forest timber from Liberia. Two
activists on the fore crane, two on the mid-crane, two on deck and one on
the anchor chain prevented the Agat from hauling up anchor and sailing into
the Port of Ijmuiden. Activists painted "Stop Forest Crime Now" on the
ship's hull.
"These companies are logging in some of Africa's most endangered ancient
forests. Forests which provide the last refuge for threatened animals like
the forest elephant, the chimpanzee and the pygmy hippopotamus," said
Greenpeace forest campaigner Catherine Cotton.
 Greenpeace activists survey Liberian logs aboard
the Agat.
"If Europe and other importing nations continue to buy logs and wood from
companies like these, companies that have no regard for either the
environment or the law," Cotton said, "these forests will not survive nor
will the plants, animals or human cultures that depend on them."
In recent weeks Greenpeace activists have protested in Chile, Spain, France,
Italy, Russia and Finland against ancient forest destruction.
The Greenpeacers are taking action in advance of the Sixth Conference of
Parties to the Convention
on Biological Diversity taking place in The Hague, Netherlands April
7-19. Forest biological diversity and the survival of ancient forests is at
the top of the conference agenda.
Greenpeace is urging governments of all countries to take action to
immediately
stop their role in the destruction of the worlds ancient forests by
committing to:
- Stop any further industrial developments in intact ancient forests
until responsible plans for forests conservation and sustainable use have
been agreed.
- Clean up the timber trade by ensuring that timber is being produced and
traded in a legal and ecologically responsible way.
- Refuse to trade with companies known to be operating illegally or
destructively, and demand that all wood and wood products entering national
ports must come from legal forest operations managed according to high
social and ecological standards.
- Provide at least US$15 billion each year to pay for forest conservation
and sustainable development.
Greenpeace is pushing for greater use of sustainably harvested wood with
proper
certification by organizations such as the Forest Stewardship Council. With
only 20 percent of the world's original forests left, Greenpeace warns,
those that remain are in danger of disappearing, with industrial logging
posing the single greatest threat to their survival.
Copyright Environment News Service (ENS) 2002. All rights reserved. |
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