The single most important contribution you can make towards saving the Brazilian rain forest is to make sure you buy only wood products from certified sustainable forests - specifically products certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), and which carry the FSC logo (www.fscus.org/).

Several websites can direct you to sources of certified wood, for example Smartwood (www.smartwood.org). The FSC has a useful listing about 'what you can do' (www.fscus.org/do/do.html).

One useful option is to signal your concern by writing your local supplier and requesting that they only stock wood that has been certifiably sourced in sustainable forests, using this draft letter.

Despite clear commitments by the G8 governments to combat illegal logging and other corrupt and illegal activities within the international timber trade, consumers within the nations that make up the G8 continue to play a major role in supporting this trade, directly via their purchase of such items as garden furniture, and indirectly through the use of products that contain illegally sourced wood. Greenpeace is targeting both the supply and demand sides of this market, by helping local environmental authorities in the Amazon to identify illegally sourced wood, and by putting pressure on governments to stop the illegal timber trade. You can advance this strategy by pressuring your local suppliers, and by reminding them of your concern that the Amazon needs to be kept alive.