world news - 20.06.2007
Rainforest furniture
A growing number of shoppers are doing just that when buying furniture
because of concerns about the effects of shrinking rainforests on
global warming and the extinction of rare species of flora and fauna
that inhabit these forests.
“There’s a lot of inexpensive places where you can get furniture from,
but I ask myself – where is it being manufactured, where does the wood
come from?” said Stephanie Zhong, a 38-year-old designer from Los
Angeles. “If people were more aware of it, they would
choose to be a little bit more informed about what they are sitting on,
the table they are working at,” Zhong added.
Around 8% of timber which entered European Union countries in 2004 was
probably illegal and could have landed up as tables and chairs,
according to estimates by World Wide Fund for Nature researcher James
Hewitt.
Experts say the best way of clamping down on illegal logging of
rainforests in Asia, Africa and Latin America is to educate consumers
in the West to make sure they buy furniture made from sustainable
sources such as plantation wood.
If consumers ask about the sources of wood before they buy furniture,
then prices might come down and there would be no financial incentives
for locals to cut down these unique and irreplaceable tropical forests,
they say.
“I think that people probably don’t think about it on their own, but if
they were presented with a clear choice, they would choose the
sustainably-sourced option,” said Joanna Southernwood, an environmental
adviser in Britain.
To this end, the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) issues a logo for
furniture made from approved plantation wood as opposed to wood from
rainforests, which are ruined forever once chopped down even when
loggers attempt to replant secondary forests.
Identifying growing consumer demand for sustainable furniture, Swedish
furniture giant Ikea has set itself a goal of ensuring that at least
30% of its wood comes from FSC-approved sources by next year.
“People ask where does the product come from? What kind of wood is it
made from? Is it coming from tropical rainforests?” said Sofie Beckham,
a forestry coordinator for Ikea.
But some green shoppers say that mass-produced, “disposable furniture”
sold by large-scale outlets like Ikea, which lasts a few years before
it is replaced with new fashionable decor, leaves an unnecessarily
large environmental footprint.
Shoppers concerned about the environment should instead opt for
long-lasting furniture made from approved or recycled wood, they say.
Love your new dining room table ... but did you ask the salesman whether it’s made from chopped up rainforest trees?
See also:
- — County's timber harvest declines
- — More wood than ever growing in Swedish forests
- — New species of tree discovered
- — FPA against 'indiscriminate' restrictions on log exports
- — Congo to Cancel Logging Deals to Protect Forests
