PROTESTERS TAKE MAHOGANY CRISIS TO GORE'S OFFICE;
URGE VICE PRESIDENT TO SAVE ENDANGERED AMAZON SPECIES
December 4, 1996

WASHINGTON, DC- Activists representing Greenpeace, Defenders of Wildlife, and EarthCulture cap off the national Action for Mahogany Week with a demonstration in front of Vice President Gore's office (insert location & time). The protesters urge Gore to support measures restricting the trade of endangered Latin American Mahogany.

Increasing international concern over the destruction of the Amazon rainforest caused by mahogany logging has prompted U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service scientists to consider proposing that the species be listed on Appendix II of the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES).

It was nearly listed in 1994, and support for its listing in 1997 is growing. The Appendix II classification would limit trade, allowing only sustainable operations. Although the US is the leading importer of mahogany, the US CITES delegation has supported the proposal in the past.

Because most of the legal stands of the wood have been cut, pirate loggers sometimes invade indigenous and wildlife reserves, killing those who stand in their way. At least eight Brazilian tribes have had people murdered at the hands of mahogany loggers. "The extreme social and environmental atrocities caused by logging mahogany make it impossible for a compassionate consumer to buy this rare wood," says EarthCulture's Rick Spencer. "Luxury furniture items should not cost the lives of indigenous peoples."

"Mahogany use is on its way out," declares event organizer, Paul Martin. "The mahogany boycott is spreading, the Brazilian government has just passed a moratorium restricting its trade, and we feel with Al Gore's support, CITES will declare it an endangered species in six months."

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