Cleaner Greener China

As China has developed, its need to scoop up the world’s natural resources to fuel its needs has affected nearly every market in the world.

China’s appetitite for wood is something that has been nearly as contriversial as its appetite for oil as large areas of Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Burma, and South American countries have cut down to feed the various wood product industries….furniture, flooring, finishing, MDF, Pulp & paper.

As a visitor to the Zhangjiagang port last year I saw this first hand as the hardwoods were laying on the dockside getting ready to become furniture and flooring, and while studying the softwood market 2 years ago for a Korean comoddity group I learned that 97% of all softwoods come by train over the Russian boarder.. and much of that wood is also coming from disputed areas under disputed conditions.

So, to see Greeenpeace out protesting this is no surprise to me.  What is a surprise is that it took the PNG government 3 days to negotiate the end of the protest:

Following the Greenpeace action, the ship’s owners, Turama Forest Industries promised to review a logging agreement for the Turama Extension, a concession covering 1.7 million hectares in Papua New Guinea.

Greenpeace stated that it will monitor the review process to ensure it follows Papua New Guinea forestry laws and delivers a just outcome for local people.

going forward, I believe that more pressure will fall on China to take a harder line against those who are importing illegal timber products.  To date, they have largely turned a blind eye to the issue, but international pressure will continue to mount and China will take the necessary steps.

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