Archived press release

Se asian forest campaigners attack UK Government's timber use

21 May 2004

Campaigners from Indonesia and Papua New Guinea, in London for International Biodiversity Day (Saturday 22^nd May), attacked the British Government for its failure to honour its promise to tackle its purchase of illegally and unsustainably logged timber.

In letters, delivered to Environment Secretary Margaret Beckett ahead of International Biodiversity Day, the campaigners highlighted the destruction caused by logging in Indonesia, where at least two million hectares of forest are lost annually, and Papua New Guinea, home to the third largest intact rainforest on the planet. The letters also highlighted the devastating impact of logging operations on local communities.

The UK Government is a major purchaser of timber and timber products and Central Government contracts account for 15% of timber use in the UK. A Friends of the Earth investigation in 2001 found that as much as 60% of the tropical timber sold in the UK is likely to be from illegal sources [1].

Four years ago, the then Environment Minister, Michael Meacher, committed the Government to only purchasing "legal and sustainable" timber, saying:

"Illegal logging damages both the environment and society. It reduces government revenues, destroys the basis of poor people's livelihoods and in some cases even fuels armed conflict…The Government is a major purchaser of both timber and timber products, and has a responsibility to ensure its own house is in order."[2].

The UK Government has received praise from the international community for its commitment to sustainable logging. But nearly four years later, it has taken minimal steps to implement this promise and assigned it no significant funding. The definition of "legal and sustainable" timber has not yet even been set and there has been virtually no impact on Government timber purchasing.

The letters were delivered by representatives from Walhi (Friends of the Earth Indonesia) and CELCOR (Friends of the Earth Papua New Guinea) who are in London on International Biodiversity Day to raise awareness of the impacts of forest destruction.

Friends of the Earth's corporates campaigner Robin Webster said:

"The UK Government is happy to take the credit for tackling the trade in illegally logged timber, but it is failing to follow up its words with action. It must honour its commitments to local communities in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea and act to protect rainforest areas, which are home to some of the world's most precious biodiversity."

Notes

[1] European League Table of Imports of Illegal Tropical Timber

[2] DTLR press release, 28^th July 2000
www.press.dtlr.gov.uk/pns/DisplayPN.cgi?pn_id=2000_0516

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Published by Friends of the Earth Trust