HOW ‘GREEN’ IS YOUR FLOOR?

The darker shades of exotic hardwoods are the new fashion in flooring and manufacturing companies are turning to tropical countries to satisfy consumer demand. One of the more popular species used for flooring is merbau.

This species, a valuable hardwood only commercially available in Indonesia’s Papua Province and the neighbouring country of Papua New Guinea, is being ruthlessly targeted by illegal loggers to supply the demand from the booming western flooring markets.

The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and Telapak conducted an investigation into the global merbau flooring trade, the results of which are documented in the report ‘Behind the Veneer’. For more information on this and how to buy ‘green’ wood, please visit: http://www.eia-international.org/ or www.telapak.org

Many of the world’s biggest flooring companies do not check that the merbau they use comes from legal sources. Until they do and can provide evidence of its legal origins, consumers are advised not to buy it.

Note: There is currently no merbau certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). If supplies of merbau which have been audited by credible, independent assessors become available in future, EIA will provide information on its website.

Huge volumes of illegal timber go into hardwood flooring. Incredibly, there is no law banning the import of illegal timber. So until such time as governments of western consuming countries stop stolen timber from reaching the shelves, the only incentive for companies to stop using illegal timber is if consumers refuse to buy it.