Logging Tropical Forests: Social and Environmental Effects
By | Mar 3, 2008
A Parable
Once there was a family doctor who lived all his life in one community. He was much loved by the people who came to him for healing. He also had a great love for the forests and mountains and went tramping when he could find the time. He was greatly concerned about the destruction of the Earth’s forests and supported those working to protect the forests, with time and money. Everyone knew that this man lived his life for his people and his trees and he was much respected for it.
While he was generous he was also prudent and saved money for his retirement. It seemed to him that the most appropriate place to invest his money was in a retirement fund. He did not ask any questions about the money for he said, ”I care about people’s health and about forests, I do not really care about money.” And the people who managed his retirement fund believed they must get the best return they could so they invested his money in tobacco and logging companies.
And when the man saw the people dying from lung cancer, and the rain forest being destroyed, he wept and said, “What more could I have done?”
Patricia Scott
What is the issue?
The world’s ancient forests are still being destroyed, even though we know that they provide the world with clean fresh water, support as much as 90% of the Earth’s land-based plants and animals and play a critical role in shaping the world’s climate. They are also home to millions of forest dependent people. Yet every 2 seconds a forest the size of a soccer pitch is logged or burned. Less than 20% of the Earth’s original forest cover remains and more than one third of this is under threat.
Illegal logging occurs when timber is cleared from lands owned by traditional owners, or taken from official reserves, without obtaining lawful consent, often as a result of corruption by government officials. In Indonesia, Malaysia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, the level of illegal logging is estimated to be between 50% and 90% of all logging, and the Solomon Islands are expected to lose all their forests within seven years.
Why does it matter?
Deforestation of tropical forests:
- accounts for 20% of all greenhouse emissions.
- is destroying the livelihoods of the one billion people who depend on tropical forests to some degree. For example, 70 million people, among whom are the Penan in Sarawak (Malaysia), are entirely dependent on the forests and are left homeless and destitute by logging. Often indigenous people have their human rights violated when they resist and there are many reports of murder and intimidation.
- is destroying the great biodiversity found in tropical forests. For example, logging in Indonesia is seriously endangering the last wild habitats of the Orangutan, so that their natural habitat can be turned into palm oil plantations (see http://www.orangutan.org).
How much NZ outdoor furniture is from illegally and unsustainably logged timber?
In 2006, New Zealand imported around $236 million in wood furniture and furniture parts, including $108 million from China (an importer of substantial quantities of illegally logged timber), $35 million from Malaysia (many of the companies involved in illegal logging in South East Asia are Malaysian), and $12 million from Indonesia (where illegal logging is pervasive).
The NZ Government itself says between one quarter and one third of timber products coming out of China are illegally sourced. It is probably higher as China’s second biggest timber source is Papua New Guinea, where the level of illegal logging is 75-90%. China buys 75% of all Papuan and Solomons timber exports and half of Myanmar’s exports. Most of the logging in those countries is illegal. China is the principal destination for logs considered high risk.
What can we do?
Sometimes it seems there are few options, yet shopping around is worth the extra effort, and well-chosen wood products can be very environmentally friendly, especially when compared with products made from plastic, aluminium and steel. Avoid buying outdoor furniture made from tropical timbers, such as kwila or ramin, and make sure that any timber or outdoor furniture you do buy is certified sustainable by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) (www.fsc.org/en). Greenpeace has started compiling a “good wood guide” – a list of outlets stocking environmentally friendly wood. It is good to know the Warehouse does not purchase from high-risk categories and all other wood it imports is certified. Greenpeace also have a “wood selection guide” which rates timber, manufactured boards and panels (as well as paper and cardboard). If FSC certified timber is not available look for furniture made from New Zealand sourced plantation timber such as macrocarpa (cypress) or eucalypt, which is durable and locally sourced. It is not enough that the sales assistant tells you it is sustainable: demand to see the paperwork, and if there is no paperwork, refuse to buy it.
Remember paper is also manufactured from tropical forest timber. Only buy and use paper made from recycled sources. Try to reduce your paper usage, and make sure you recycle any paper you have finished with. If your workplace doesn’t yet have a paper recycling programme, start one.
Try also to avoid using products that have been produced on land that has been cleared of its forests, palm oil being an obvious example.
Other actions you can take.
- Send a message to the Minister of Agriculture and Forestry urging the government to adopt a policy to stop the importation of illegal timber and wood products.
- Contact your local MP and let them know that you care about this issue.
- Make your money work for sustainability. Check your bank’s policy on illegal logging. For example, ANZ (of which The National Bank is a subsidiary) financially supports Rimbunan Hijau, a logging corporation which is the main logger in Papua New Guinea and is prominent in West Papua and Borneo. They are thus complicit in illegal logging and human rights abuses.
- If you have shares in a company, ask for an ethical investment portfolio to make it clear that you will not invest in a company that is involved in socially or environmentally unjust practices, such as native forest destruction (or gambling, tobacco or alcohol production, and so on).
Sources used for this document: Greenpeace and Russel Norman co-leader of the Green Party
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Jim Hunt
March 4th, 2008 at 7:30 pm
I am copying what you say about a bank supporting Rimbuan Hijau, and I shall ask the local branch to check on it for me. Jim Hunt.