15 December 2006
Gov't on right track with illegal logging policy
The Forest Owners Association has endorsed the government's new policy on illegal logging and the trade in products made
from wood from illegally logged forests. NZFOA president Peter Berg says New Zealand forest products compete overseas
with illegally logged timber from other countries.
In New Zealand, they compete with imported tropical hardwood products such as outdoor furniture and decking which
sometimes comes from questionable sources. "This trade not only disadvantages those forest owners around the world who
are committed to sustainable forest management, it is also highly unethical," he says.
"A huge toll is being exacted on endangered wildlife, fragile ecosystems and the global environment. Public revulsion
at the wholesale clearance of rain forests in Indonesia and Brazil, for example, has tended to reflect unfairly on all
forestry everywhere.
"In fact, best-practice forestry as carried out in New Zealand and by many plantation forest owners world-wide, can be
highly beneficial to the environment and to rural communities." Forestry minister Jim Anderton says the government's
policy is based on six objectives which include championing the issue of illegal logging as a key focus point for
international discussion, advocacy and action.
He also says the government is committed to leading by example, by making it mandatory for government departments and
agencies to seek timber and wood products that are sourced from legally harvested forests. Mr Berg says consumers can
play their part by buying New Zealand produced timber products, looking for Forest Stewardship Certification on imported
wooden products to confirm that they have been sustainably produced, or by asking retailers to prove that wooden
products are from legally harvested forests. "If in doubt, buy New Zealand wood products," Jim Anderton said.
ENDS