Tropical timber
Timber from domestic forests is a natural and renewable resource which is both modern and environmentally friendly. But is that also true of tropical timber from rainforests?
Tropical timber is a popular material that is still quite common in our home-improvement stores. Its use entails many problems and disadvantages, however. Numerous studies have shown that most of it – in some source countries up to 90 percent – was felled illegally, destroying ecosystems forever. Furthermore, trade in illegal timber still has not been banned in the EU.
Every year, 13 million hectares of rainforest disappear worldwide. These figures show that not buying tropical timber at all is still the most effective way to counter the trade in illegally logged timber. Timber grown locally is a sound alternative.
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Glossary
FSC: The seal of the Forest Stewardship Council, which purports to certify sustainable forestry. In the past, however, the FSC has often certified dubious projects or wood from demonstrably illegal logging operations. We therefore advise consumers to avoid tropical timber altogether.
Your signature can make a real difference. Our petitions expose destructive projects and name the perpetrators. Together we can have an even greater impact!
Related news
The Indigenous Ka’apor, partners of our organization, are resisting the trend of increasing deforestation in Brazil and are sucessfully defending their forest.
The indigenous Pataxó want to protect their land from further destruction by the paper and pulp industry by occupying a eucalyptus plantation.
The Indonesian palm oil and timber company Korindo is losing its FSC seal after clearing forests for oil palm plantations.
We asked for your help in protecting koalas in a call to action on our website. The response was loud and clear: more than 83,000 people from all over the world signed our petition to save the Australian marsupials.
On January 17, 2013, Rainforest Rescue had an appointment at the Colombian Embassy in Berlin. We presented senior embassy staff a petition with 72,877 signatures protesting the impending illegal clearance of 4,000 rainforest trees in Colombia’s Atrato region.