New Zealand home owners contribute to destruction of world's forests

As summer approaches, New Zealand home owners are again poised to make their blind contribution to the further destruction of the world’s ancient forests a Christchurch based timber supply company says.

“We all recognise that tropical deforestation is a significant contribution to greenhouse emissions,” Managing Director of Buildpro Rodney McVicar said.

“Most imported hardwoods come from unsustainably and poorly managed tropical forests, and in many cases hardwood decking being sold in New Zealand is from illegal logging in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.”

Kwila is an endangered tropical hardwood used in decking and outdoor furniture, and McVicar says New Zealanders enjoying the summer sun on their kwila decks at home are simply not aware of how many people's lives have been destroyed.

McVicar says that with currently less than five per cent of forests credibly certified as responsibly managed, they continue to be at risk from accelerating rates of destructive and illegal logging.

Companies and some retailers are developing a corporate conscience and recognising the issues surrounding illegal and unsustainable logging.

He says his company’s new environmentally engineered Evoca bamboo products are a good example of this, and offer a far better sustainable alternative to Kwila and other timber imported from overseas and forested in New Zealand.

“Consumer demand can be met by well-managed forests, plantation, recycling and environmentally friendly engineered bamboo wood products.”

“Sustainability means meeting today’s needs while conserving the resources needed tomorrow, and that means using wood from credible sources.”

“We are depleting the earth’s natural resources at a rate that is well past what is sustainable but bamboo gives us real optimism about our prospects for making positive changes in our living habits, and it’s better looking, more durable and renewable.”

McVicars Company Buildpro has invested time, money and resources to develop Evoca, an engineered product made from select laminate strips of natural bamboo that is a renewable resource.

“Bamboo can be harvested in three to five years so Evoca is a fantastic ecofriendly alternative to hardwood decking,” he stresses.

“We are really excited about bringing this wood product onto the market; will it save the planet? Well we can’t answer that at this stage, but we do know it will change the face of hardwood decking in New Zealand for sure. We want to promote green building practices by offering some real alternatives.”

“Bamboo’s environmental benefits are numerous in relation to wood and other resources and as an attractive and sturdy alternative to hardwood flooring it is tough to beat.”

Greenpeace reports say that at the present rate of deforestation, the world’s tropical rain forests will vanish within 30 years.

Bamboo is the fastest growing woody plant on earth and bamboo groves release about 35 percent more oxygen into the air than similar sized areas of trees, and mature (and can be replanted) within seven years compared to 30 to 50 years for hardwood trees.

“Bamboo is so fast-growing that it can yield 20 times more timber than trees on the same area and as an engineered product it is splinter free, comes longer lengths and is harder than teak, maple and oak – its built to build fantastic decks and we know builders will love working with it.”

Last year, the Government agreed in principle that all kwila imports should carry a label saying whether the supplier can verify if the wood is legal.
 

Ends

For more information see www.evoca.co.nz  

Editor’s notes
• Look for, and ask for, products with credible certification such as Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified wood. The FSC logo on wood is a guarantee that the product comes from responsibly managed forests.
• Or, check the wood is from verified recycled, reused or recovered wood, or is community eco-timber.
• If it is not either of these then is it from a plantation (such as New Zealand grown eucalypts, cypresses, mahogany from Fiji, or rubberwood from Asia), a legal forest source, or in transition to FSC certification .Company’s should be able to provide credible proof of this.
• For all other wood products, especially hardwoods and New Zealand native timbers, if the company cannot provide information about the country of origin, species, legality and certification, then an assumption can be made it is from an illegal and destructive source.
• Evoca is available in New Zealand through Mitre10, Mega, and Placemakers.
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For more information please contact:
Rodney McVicar
021 355 667
03 384 8365

John McKenzie
enthuse ltd
021 384 730
03 384 7338