Home > Press releases > 1996
26 Jul 1996
Charles Secrett, Director of Friends of the Earth, said:
"The proposed controls on logging in Amazonia are a good step in the right direction. But they may be fatally flawed.
The Presidential Decree must be authorised by Congress. We fear that commercial loggers and powerful landowners will use their considerable political influence to have it thrown out. Friends of the Earth in Brazil and around the world will be fighting hard to ensure these measures become law [2]."
NOTES TO EDITORS:
[1] The President of Brazil, His Excellency Fernando Henrique Cardoso, issued a provisional Presidential Decree yesterday (25th July 1996) which cuts the amount of privately owned land that can be used for commercial logging from 50% of any property to 20%, and introduces a 2 year moratorium on felling mahogany and virola (both valuable tropical hardwood tree species). Copies of the Decree are available from Friends of the Earth.
[2] Friends of the Earth has been successfully campaigning to stop imports of Brazilian mahogany into the UK for the past 5 years. Since the launch of the campaign in 1991, UK mahogany imports have dropped by over 60% as the public and some retailers have refused to use mahogany products until the wood is grown and harvested in an environmentally sustainable manner. In 1991, the UK was the second largest importer of Brazilian mahogany, consuming 48,000 cubic metres (1 cubic metre equals roughly 1 tonne of wood) annually; by 1994, imports had dropped to some 18,000 cubic metres - a reduction of 62.5%.
Contact details:
Friends of the Earth
26-28 Underwood St.
LONDON
N1 7JQ
Tel: 020 7490 1555
Fax: 020 7490 0881
Web: www.foe.co.uk/feedback.html
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