Greenpeace accuses UK govt of using banned timber<\/p>\n
Reuters, London<\/p>\n
Activists of the environmental group Greenpeace abseiled off
\ncranes on a British government construction site on Thursday,
\nsaying timber used there was logged illegally in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
A government spokeswoman said an investigation would be
\ncarried out to check whether the wood being used on the London
\nconstruction site was legal<\/p>\n
The 11 Greenpeace activists began their protest at dawn on
\nWednesday, climbing the 40-foot (13-meter) cranes on a Home
\nOffice building site to call attention to the use of what they
\nsaid was illegal Indonesian plywood. Work at the site was halted.<\/p>\n
\"Because of the allegations, the Home Office asked for a full
\ninvestigation that the government may have inadvertently
\nsponsored wood from unsustainable forests,\" a Home Office
\nspokeswoman said.<\/p>\n
She also said that all contractors are required to supply
\ndocumentation that the wood they use is legal. The government has
\npledged not to purchase illegally logged timber.<\/p>\n
Greenpeace said the British government should halt all plywood
\nimports from Indonesia, one of the world's largest timber
\nproducers, since it was virtually impossible to certify that wood
\nfrom the country had not been logged illegally.<\/p>\n
The environmental group said it had evidence that two
\nIndonesian companies supplying plywood to the site were selling
\nillegally logged rainforest timber.<\/p>",
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