August 2, 1997
Raleigh, NC

Unfurling a huge 50' banner which reads, "Save the Amazon, Don't Buy Mahogany!" and staging a "die-in," environmental and human activists from all over the state are converging on a major mahogany user. The protest will be at the Ethan Allen showroom at 7010 Glenwood and will be from 1:15-2:15 PM on Sunday, August 3.

A recent document leaked by the Brazilian government confirms what international activists have known for yearsÐ at least 80% of all mahogany exports from Brazil are illegally obtained. Because mahogany is a threatened rainforest species, pirate loggers often invade indigenous and wildlife refuges, sometimes killing those who stand in their way. At least 8 Brazilian tribes have had members killed at the hands of mahogany loggers and Brazil is the largest supplier of mahogany to the US. The US is the world's leading consumer, where the wood is used in furniture, shipbuilding, doors, panelling, caskets, and even toilet seats.

The Greensboro-based EarthCulture has revamped the boycott of all temperate and tropical rainforest woods including mahogany, teak, lauan, ramin, redwood, meranti, rosewood, ebony, and others. In the past year, EarthCulture activists have taken over a ship carrying illegal mahogany, scaled a 14 story building to drop a 40' banner, locked themselves to mahogany furniture, and seized illegal teak cut using slave labor in Burma. The organization has also met with the presidents of several furniture companies, but Ethan Allen still refuses to respond.

"We're out here to tell people mahogany furniture costs the lives of indigenous peoples and destroys the Amazon rainforest," says Programs Director, Rick Spencer. "People will join our rainforest woods boycott when they realize luxury furniture is not worth killing people for."

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EarthCulture
PO Box 4674
Greensboro, NC 27404
Phone & Fax: 910-854-2957