Amazon News
24 October 2001
Brazilian mahogany mafia exposed and the government suspends
all mahogany logging and transport
The mahogany trade is driving the destruction of the Brazilian
Amazon rainforest and is run by a corrupt industry that is undermining
traditional cultures, and leading the illegal destruction of the
world's most biologically diverse ancient forest.
Latest Update - Oct 29: Read about the attempts
to find the illegal loggers in the remote tribal lands of
the Amazon.
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Only a month ago, Greenpeace released photographs and video
images from a recent aerial reconnaissance clearly showing
sophisticated logging operations in lands belonging to the
Amazon's Kayapó Indians, an area where logging is strictly
prohibited. |
But now the Brazilian government has announced unprecedented
action suspending all logging, transport and trade of Brazilian
mahogany until it completes an investigation into the industry.
The mahogany logging on Kayapo Indian lands is just one example
of the rampant illegalities in the mahogany industry in Pará
state in the Brazilian Amazon. These illegalities include logging
in Indian lands which is strictly prohibited, obtaining fraudulent
authorisation papers and falsifying mahogany records.
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High quality mahogany is only found in pristine areas of
rainforest, and so the illegal mahogany trade is directly
responsible for the destruction of these areas as it leaves
behind a network of roads and trails that other loggers
can use to access the remaining forest.
The report released by Greenpeace details these illegal
acts and the two mahogany kings, Moisés Carvalho
Pereira and Osmar Alves Ferreira, who control most of the
trade. The mahogany paperwork is falsified and is then exported
by these companies to international markets, predominantly
to the US, the UK, the Netherlands and Germany.
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| Mahogany
tree (Swietenia macrophylla) |
Just four importers, DLH Nordisk, Aljoma Lumber, J Gibson McIlvain
Co Ltd and Intercontinental Hardwoods Inc accounted for more than
two-thirds of the mahogany export trade in one year from Moisés
and Ferreira. This mahogany is used largely in luxury goods such
as yachts, high-class furniture, musical instruments and coffins.
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The decision to suspend mahogany exports has come in the
wake of a series of Greenpeace exposés on illegal logging
in the Amazon, which two weeks ago resulted in a death threat
to Greenpeace campaign coordinator for the Amazon, Paulo Adario. |
The exposure of this scandal is part of Greenpeace's global campaign
for the protection of the world's last ancient forests. Approximately
80 percent of the original global forests have already been destroyed.
Greenpeace is calling on governments worldwide to seize Brazilian
mahogany and stop any further trade in such ancient forest products
unless independently certified legal and sustainable.
Read the update from the Greenpeace
team travelling to the Middle Lands to uncover illegal mahogany
logging.
Read the report executive summary
of Partners in mahogany crime.
Download the Greenpeace report: Partners
in mahogany crime: Amazon at the mercy of "gentlemen's agreements"
(942k)
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