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Hamburg, 11th December 2002 Resorts: News/Environment/Economics Hamburg's Financial Council considers controversial certificate for tropical timber ROBIN WOOD warns: Hamburg's directives still need to be observed/ Malaysian certificate is unacceptable There have been apparent attempts to loosen Hamburg's regulations on council purchases of tropical timber. The Council for Economics and Employment has invited representatives of the industry, trade unions, technical experts and environmental organisations to discuss the recognition of the Malaysian timber certificate MTCC this Wednesday in the Financial Council. ROBIN WOOD warns against Hamburg's returning to the public use of tropical timber of unknown origin. The certificate in question is awarded by the umbrella organisation of Malaysian forestry, the Malaysian Timber Council (MTC). ROBIN WOOD considers this certificate to be unacceptable as it has not been approved by any independent body. It was also introduced without consulting the native population and without any consideration to their land claims. In Malaysia, forestry for the greater part continues to be neither economically sustainable nor socially acceptable. According to the FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations) an area of 237,000 ha is lost each year due to uncontrolled commercial logging by those companies favoured by the Malaysian regime. The indigenous population, such as the Penan, a nomadic forest people, is desperately struggling against the destruction of their livelihood by the Malaysian forestry. When MTCC representatives visited Hamburg on a promotional tour in June ROBIN WOOD demonstrated the reasons due to which European as well as Malaysian NGOs refuse to accept this certification. In an open letter they asked the Mayor von Beust and the Economic Councillor Uldall to continue their close observance of the Council's decision of 3rd December 1996 - without exceptions. According to this regulation Hamburg's city council is only allowed to use tropical timber which is certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) - a label which is recognised by environmental organisations. "ROBIN WOOD has been fighting for years to ensure that Hamburg is not partly responsible for the over-exploitation of tropical rainforests", explains Jens Wieting, ROBIN WOOD's Expert on Tropical Forests. "We cannot comprehend why the council is planning to consider a certificate which has been clearly rejected by environmental organisations as well as by the indigenous peoples of Malaysia. We are expecting Beust and Uldall to show their commitment to the protection of tropical forests and not to undermine existing regulations." Should you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact us: Jens Wieting, Expert on Tropical Rainforests, tropenwald@robinwood.de, PH: +4940 / 380 892 18 Ute Bertrand, Press Officer, presse@robinwood.de, PH +4940 / 380 892 22 ROBIN WOOD's statement on MTCC as well as a declaration of international and Malaysian NGOs can be obtained from our Press Centre (presse@robinwood.de). ...auf deutsch