Green MEP to meet with EU Commissioner to crackdown on illegal logging and deforestation

2nd Apr 2008

Over-exploitation and illegal logging by the forestry sector has led to a dangerously unsustainable level of forest degradation and eradication.

A Green MEP is leading a delegation of European Parliamentarians to meet with the European Commissioner for the Environment today to discuss legislation to tackle illegal logging and deforestation.

Thirty-five fellow Members of the European Parliament signed up to a letter sent by Dr Caroline Lucas to several European Commissioners in February, welcoming the EU's proposed new 'forest package' and urging them to bring forward tough rules to prevent the sale of illegal and destructive timber on EU markets.

The Commission is currently preparing its proposals and Dr Lucas hopes that her meeting with Commissioner Dimas today, in the company of a cross-party cross-nationality group of other MEPs, will ensure that the terms of the package adequately protect forests and reward responsible forest owners and timber companies.

Dr Lucas, Green MEP for the South East, commented: "The European Commission' s progress on tackling deforestation up until now has been slow at best, so it is crucial that this new package of legislation signals a turning point at a time when the scale of the problem is becoming ever more serious.

"We must seize the opportunity to put in place measures which will be truly effective and ensure the EU leads the way in halting illegal logging and deforestation.

"Figures from the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation show that forest loss has reached levels of 13 million hectares a year, and just last month the Brazilian government announced that deforestation in the Amazon is once again on the rise.

"If this current level of deforestation continues, we could lose up to half of the Amazonian rainforests by 2050 and possibly all of those in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea by 2015 to 2020.

She continued: "The environmental, social and economic impacts of this destruction are huge. Deforestation causes a loss in biodiversity and is responsible for one fifth of global greenhouse gas emissions. Directly or indirectly, it threatens 90% of the world's 1.2 billion people living in extreme poverty.

"Over-exploitation and illegal logging by the forestry sector, combined with the expansion of intensive agricultural practises to cultivate soybean and palm oil for external markets, has led to a dangerously unsustainable level of forest degradation and eradication.

"As a global consumer and trade partner, the EU must seriously consider the consequences of its trading policies and put in place tough legislation which promotes responsible forest management and prevents further deforestation."