Wal-Mart buys illegal logs

Wal-mart Destroying Rainforests

Now that K-mart has announced an end to the sales of outdoor furniture made of nyatoh, logged from the old growth rainforests of Indonesia, it's time to turn our attention to the really big guys. Wal-mart stores carries three lines of outdoor furniture made of nyatoh.

Logging for nyatoh and other high-value woods is driving Indonesia's rainforests to extinction. Logging is the largest cause of destruction of rainforests in Southeast Asia, with the wood going to everything from plywood to pencils.

With teak supplies dwindling and prices for that wood rising, everyone is trying to get into the game of supplying outdoor furniture retailers with tropical hardwood patio and garden furniture.
Woods such as nyatoh, balau and kapur are now being heavily targeted in Indonesia and Malaysia and jatoba and garapera in Brazil, as replacements for teak. These products should be avoided by the consumer and the retailer.Illegal logging in rampant in Indonesia, estimated at between 75 – 90% of exports.

Illegally-procured logs are laundered through the mills. Even the Indonesian government admits that illegal logging is out of control. One government official was prompted to call on other countries for help in stemming the flow of illegal wood by not buying wood from Indonesia.
Send a message to Wal-mart to ask them to stop selling nyatoh outdoor furniture and other wood products from old growth rainforests.

http://www.rainforestrelief.org/