Tropical Timber

The destruction of tropical forests is accelerating. The demand for timber, pulp and palm oil is leading to the unsustainable and often illegal logging of the last 50% of the tropical forests remaining. This is resulting in the loss of species in these biodiversity hotspots, as exemplified by the plight of the endangered urangutan. It is resulting in loss of livelihood for the hundreds of millions of people dependent to varying degrees on the forests to live, as exemplified by the Penan in Borneo. And it is the single biggest contributor to greenhouse emissions - fully 20% of all emissions are a result of tropical forest destruction.

The Greens are running a campaign to stop the destruction of these forests, especially focussed on South East Asia, Melanesia and the Pacific. Our campaign targets those financing the destruction such as ANZ, those importing the timber and outdoor furniture into New Zealand, and the New Zealand Government which has failed to stop the import of these products. We are working alongside other groups also campaigning on this issue such as Greenpeace, the Australian Conservation Foundation, the Indonesian Human Rights Committee and Finsec.