As I’ve written before, legitimate protest by the environmental NGOs is one thing. But when the activists deliberately use the UK, and London in particular, to draw media attention to the issues of their choice (as they did with the recent protest at the Home Office building development), it concerns me – and it costs all of us, as taxpayers and timber suppliers, a considerable amount of time and money.
The basic problems that the environmentalists are flagging up are thousands of miles away. Not only that, they encompass farming, construction, urban expansion and all manner of other social and political issues that are way outside the timber sector’s control or sphere of influence. Yet time and again our industry is dragged through the mire and held up as the chief villain of the piece in terms of tropical deforestation, while we invest millions in supporting sustainable forestry and promoting timber as the renewable construction material.
We all know that it’s far harder (and riskier) for environmentalists to get publicity in many other countries and it’s tempting to suggest that the UK should consider taking similar action to the Spanish government, who play with a heavier bat and even sequester their assets when protesters try to use their country as an advertising billboard. Recently they seized an environmentalist group’s ship when they decided they had gone beyond legitimate protest.
Short of that, I believe every part of our industry should band together to defend and publicise our environmental performance. We should be ready to respond to the activists’ allegations and do so cohesively. Given the resources and media savvy of the greens, this is a major challenge and needs the input of all sizes and types of timber business working individually and through committees and trade associations for the common good of our industry.
