GREEN GROUPS SLAM EU ILLEGAL TIMBER LAW

The European Commission has finally come up with plans to combat the trade in illegal timber. But environmental organisations say they don't go far enough to save the tropical rain forests. There should be a ban on chopping down tropical rain forests, says Gerard Romijn, floor manager at the Broekman furniture store in Utrecht. “Without it, the environment has had it,” he says.

Romijn points to the tables and chairs in his showroom. “All the wood comes from Europe, with the exception of a few tropical cherry wood cupboards,” he says. He does not know if the wood in his shop has been cut down legally. “Timber importers always say they deliver legal wood, but I can't check up on them,” he points out. read more (nrc.nl)

more features

November 3, 2008