France: Greenpeace uncovers EU involvement in illegal logging

A cargo ship loaded with timber sourced from companies with links to illegal logging operations in the Amazon was blocked in France today by Greenpeace activists.(1) The action comes as the European Commission is preparing to announce legislation against illegal timber in May.

As the 16,000 tonne cargo ship, the Galina III, entered the port of Caen, five activists from the UK, Germany, Italy and Chile boarded the vessel and attempted to stop the unloading of its cargo. Greenpeace is urging the owner of the shipment to return the timber from illegal loggers until it can be proven that it has been legally sourced.

The Greenpeace action exposes how the EU, the world?s leading importer of Brazilian Amazonian timber, is fuelling the destruction of the Amazon rainforest by buying illegally logged timber. Greenpeace calls for new laws to ensure that all timber products placed on the European market are from legal sources and well managed forests.

?The Amazon rainforest is being eaten away by illegal loggers(3) and this in turn is driving global climate change, harming biodiversity and local communities,? said Marcelo Marquesini, Greenpeace Amazon campaigner.

?Because of the laxity of EU legislators, rogue companies can flood the European market with timber plundered from dwindling forests. European consumers should be allowed to buy timber products safe in the knowledge that they have not contributed to forest crimes,? said Sébastien Risso, Greenpeace EU forest policy campaigner.

The action came on the back of a new Greenpeace report, ?A Future for Forests,? uncovering the illegal timber trade from the Amazon into Europe. It is estimated that between 63-80% of timber from the Amazon is illegally logged (4). As well as destroying large areas of tropical forest, illegal logging encourages land grabbing by farmers and speculators and fuels corruption and violence.

Deforestation is responsible for about one-fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions, more than the emissions of the world?s entire transport sector, and is fuelling biodiversity loss on an unprecedented scale. ?The EU must take swift action to protect forests and contribute to a sustainable and fair use of forest resources globally. New laws are needed to regulate wood products,? said Risso.

Last month, the Brazilian government admitted that the rate of deforestation in the Amazon was again speeding up, rather than slowing down.(5) Deforestation is the main source of Brazil?s greenhouse gas emissions, making it the most important contributing factor to the country?s position as the world?s fourth-largest climate polluter.

More info:
www.greenpeace.eu

Notes:
1) The six rogue logging companies are: Madesa-Madeireira Santarém Ltda, Estância Alecrim, Pena Agro-Florestal Madeireira Ltda, Madeireira Rancho da Cabocla Ltda, Industrial Madeireira Curuatinga and Tradelink Madeiras Ltda. Part of the Amazon timber cargo from the Galina III was first offloaded in Portugal and Spain, and is now due to head to the Netherlands. The companies have been fined a number of times, with the biggest offender receiving two fines worth over one million US$ in 2007. Their forest management plans have been cancelled and they are facing prosecution for a range of illegal activities, from illegal logging (such as laundering timber, processing fraudulent documents and breaching forest laws) to land-grabbing and logging forest areas on public land. This situation is exacerbated by some companies engaging in violence and intimidation (including death threats), corruption and evading penalties.
2) The EU accounts for 49% of timber exports from the Brazilian Amazon by value and 47% by weight – Brazilian Ministry of Development, Industry and Trade (2007).
3) The Amazon is home to the world?s largest tropical forest. In Brazil alone, the ?legal Amazon? has lost some 700,000 square kilometres of its original forest cover in the last four decades, an area bigger than France.
4) Veloso, J. (2006) ? ?Estimating legality in timber production in the Amazon,? Brazilian Ministry of the Environment, National Forest Plan. 37% is the maximum estimated level of legality in timber production in the Amazon.
5) Preliminary data from INPE (Brazil?s National Institute of Space Research) revealed a dramatic increase in deforestation between August and December 2007 compared to the same period in the previous year. Source: INPE (2008) ?INPE estima que Amazônia perdeu cerca de 7 mil km2 de floresta entre agosto e dezembro de 2007?. Press release, 24 January.