RAINFOREST ACTIVISTS CONVERGE IN WINSTON-SALEM;
BRING MESSAGE, "STOP THE MASSACRES FOR MAHOGANY!"
December 2, 1996

Winston-SalemÐ EarthCulture kicked off its nationwide Action for Mahogany Week on Sunday, with a demonstration in Charlotte, and is bringing their message to Winston. The demonstration will be held at Haverty's on Executive Park Rd., near the corner of Stratford Rd. & Silas Creek Pkwy on Wednesday, December 4 from 3:30-4:30 PM. The protesters will unfurl a gigantic 50' banner which reads, "Save the Amazon! Don't Buy Mahogany!" They will also hand out literature to customers.

Latin American Mahogany is becoming endangered. 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 EarthCulture1s Brendan Gannon. Luxury furniture items should not cost the lives of indigenous peoples.

The US imports more than half of all Brazilian mahogany, most of which is stolen. Haverty's has been selected as a target, because they are a large dealer of mahogany furniture. Major users of mahogany include: Hickory Chair, Lexington, Drexel Heritage, Universal, Karges, La-Z-Boy, Bernhardt, Lane, Kimball, Cabot Wrenn, and BakerÐ many of which are North Carolina-based companies. EarthCulture met with Thomasville Furniture executives last month, and were told, As long as consumers buy it, and Brazil allows us to use it, we will use mahogany, by Senior Vice-President Chuck Gordon.

Activists are not too discouraged by Thomasville's shortsighted stance, however. Mahogany use is on its way out, declares Rick Spencer, of EarthCulture. The mahogany boycott is spreading, the Brazilian government has just passed a moratorium restricting its trade, and we feel CITES will declare it an endangered species in six months. The Convention on the International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) nearly listed mahogany under Appendix II in 1994, and support for its listing in 1997 is growing. The Appendix II listing 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 and should next year as well.

We are asking consumers to stop buying mahogany, in order to help save an endangered species, the Amazon rainforest, and its indigenous peoples, says Spencer.

The Action for Mahogany Week is bringing similar demonstrations to over a dozen cities across the country, and will end with a demonstration at the White House, urging Al Gore to support the CITES listing.

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