by Catherine Delahunty
Yesterday the Green Party, Rainforest Action and the Indonesian Human Rights Group went to visit “Trade Me” headquarters in Wellington to ask them to stop the trade in illegal kwila (a tropical hardwood) on their site.
The group included a cassowary (native bird of West Papua under threat from rainforest destruction) and an orangutan from Borneo who said he was there to support his fellow endangered species in the forests where kwila (also known as marbau) is chopped down and sold to the unknowing consumer.
Our campaign to ban the illegal and unsustainable logging trade has a focus on kwila because 80% of the illegal imported timber is kwila, which is used for decking and furniture. My Members Bill was voted down last year, but the groups have continued protesting and pressure on retailers has brought some very positive results. We want to close the internet loophole and make sure companies that are using the “Trade Me’ site to trade in kwila are blocked.
There is a very small quantity of legal and properly certificated kwila being imported but our advice to “Trade Me” is: Don’t trade kwila until you can absolutely identify where it is from and if it is legal and sustainable. “Trade Me” has banned ivory and we asked their CEO Jon Macdonald today if he would maintain this ethical tradition. He promised to at least engage with us on the issue and we promised to follow this up with him very soon!
Kwila mainly comes from West Papua and Papua New Guinea. It is part of rainforests which contain unique animal, bird, insect and plant species and biodiversity only just being discovered by western biologists. The indigenous people of the forests have suffered extreme human rights abuses in their attempt to survive in their home lands.
Published in Environment & Resource Management | Featured by Catherine Delahunty on Fri, May 28th, 2010
More posts by Catherine Delahunty | more about Catherine Delahunty
on the trolls and those who are unable to keep on topic
About blinking time ! Kwila is blanket name for anything they cut.
Keep up the pressure please !
Like or Dislike:
7 
5 (+2)
!
Like or Dislike:
1 
1 (0)
We should be using good old NZ pine, we have Kwila Floors and Deck but know the importer and ensured it was sourced from Australian hardwood plantations.
Like or Dislike:
2 
2 (0)
It would be great if anyone who supports this camapign could go to the Trade me website and call for a ban on illegal and unsustainable imported timber and timber products such as kwila to be banned. Kwila is actually called “merbau” back in the rainforest, there is a spelling nistake in my blog. But lets do it, Trade me say they are not getting complaints!
Like or Dislike:
1 
7 (-6)
“…there is a spelling nistake in my blog…”
(i tried to fight it…but i just couldn’t resist..)
phil(whoar.co.nz)
Like or Dislike:
1 
2 (-1)
Could you explain to this (me) idiot how on earth would Trade Me know if any wooden product auctioned on their site was Kwila or not?
How on earth would the the sellers prove it was not kwila?
Do you expect Trade Me not to auction any wooden item?
Tell us your expectations of Trade Me.
Like or Dislike:
5 
1 (+4)
>Could you explain to this (me) idiot how on earth would Trade Me know if any wooden product auctioned on their site was Kwila or not?
How on earth would the the sellers prove it was not kwila?
Do you expect Trade Me not to auction any wooden item?
Tell us your expectations of Trade Me.
………………………………………………………..
…………………………………………………
How about a TM policy that only permits timber sellers to sell sustainably grown timber.
Sellers produce certificate for the timber.
No cert, no list.
Like or Dislike:
3 
2 (+1)
Heylin said…
>We should be using good old NZ pine
………..
………..
The Monterrey pine sadly is neither good nor of NZ.
Pity we picked a non-durable species for our nation plantations.
With hundreds of eucalypt types just over the ditch to to pick from, we went for cardboard.
Anyway it sure is better having arsenic drenched pine decking than orangutan blood drenched ‘kwila’
Like or Dislike:
3 
1 (+2)
Kia ora with regard to how “Trade Me’ could differentiate, the imported kwila or merbau is 90% illegal so the safest strategy at the moment would be for “Trade Me’ not to post any trade items which are called “kwila” unless than have Forest Stewardship Certification(FSC).
I agree with the comment about arsenic drenched pine (CCA treated)which is only just better than the PCP anti saptain treatment that was banned and is still causing illness and death. We have to grow a wider range of species and apply FSC to all forests and timber. Now is the time to watch Australia as they made an election promise to ban illegaltimber imports and Greenpeace Aus is holding them to it! Wake up Minister Carter USA and EU have already moved on this!
Like or Dislike:
1 
2 (-1)
The logistics involved in doing are so mind numbing that traders would not bother selling on TM but find other outlets. No one wins.
What about a seller who simply wants to sell their lovely headboard?
The certification to prove it English oak are some other timber would probably cost more than the damn thing was worth.
I really cannot see TM or their customers putting up with that kind of nonsense.
Like or Dislike:
4 
0 (+4)