Australian furniture and electrical retailer Harvey Norman is under fire from environmentalists who say its products include timber from the country’s old-growth forests.
Campaigners from Markets for Change recently scaled the Sydney Opera House to unravel a banner reading “No Harvey No – stop selling Aussie forest destruction”, while another group has launched a petition asking Harvey Norman not to source timber from high conservation value forests.
The company says it does its best to ensure its timber is recycled or from plantations but the environmentalists believe its procurement practices are not rigorous enough.
“It is the responsibility of retailers to implement procurement policies that rule out selling high conservation value Australian native forest products,” said Markets for Change campaigns manager Louise Morris.
She added that well-managed plantations were a viable alternative to logging native old-growth forests.
