Ed,
This proves once again that FSC "green certification" is a joke. (Home
Depot has subscribed to FSC).
There is a very simple way the US can do its part and that is to put a
ban on all mahogany and pine imports from Honduras. As a matter of fact,
I would go further, I would ban all wood imports from tropical
rainforests throughout the world. We have a ban on hunting whales so why
not have this ban too? It's the right thing to do. We don't need that
wood. Then we can adjust our foreign aid programs to help the rainforest
countries manage their remaining forests for other products as well as
small local sustainable harvesting for their local needs.
Mike
-----Original Message-----
From: [email protected]
[mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Edward Frank
Sent: Saturday, July 25, 2009 7:07 PM
To: ENTS Google
Subject: [ENTS] Honduras and Home Depot
HONDURAS: Greasing Palms to Plunder Forests
By Jim Lobe, http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=30876
WASHINGTON, Nov 3 (IPS) - Illegal logging by corrupt
interests tied to major political figures is devastating the rapidly
disappearing pine and mahogany forests of Honduras, particularly in
northeastern Olancho province, according to a major report released here
Thursday by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and the Centre
for International Policy (CIP).
The report is based on a series of trips to Honduras
over the past year in which EIA investigators posed as investors or
buyers of illegally logged timber. It identifies the major companies
involved, foremost among them Jose Lamas S. de R.L., a major supplier of
pine products to the U.S. home-furnishing giant, Home Depot.
At the current logging rate, mahogany in Honduras may
become all but extinct within 10 to 15 years, according to the 45-page
report, which added that illegal operations now threaten the Rio Platano
Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage site.
Meanwhile, the Honduran government, which has failed to
provide adequate funds to enforce logging laws, is losing as much as 18
million dollars a year in lost stumpage fees and other forest-based
revenue, according to the report, "The Illegal Logging Crisis in
Honduras".
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