Trade Me joins the fight to protect rainforest!

by Catherine Delahunty

You may recall back in May, I and a group of NGOs went to Trade Me to ask them to stop the sale of unsustainably and illegally logged kwila furniture and decking on their site.

Today we have great news!

Since then Trade Me have worked with us to change their rules, so that all new decking and furniture from kwila must be certified by the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) or the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

Of course, it could be better – we believe FSC is really the only truly robust certification.

Until the Government steps in with some regulatory teeth, companies like Trade Me who want to be ethical will have difficulty knowing what to accept.

Unstainable and illegal logging of the rainforest is bad for the planet, but it also hurts the New Zelaand forest industry. They are also calling for the Government to step in.

Many other countries have already regulated against endangered and illegally harvested rainforest timber, including the USA and the European Union.

The new government in Australia made an election promise to ban the importation of illegally logged timber.

So the next step will be getting our Government on board!