The occupation by Greenpeace of Kelvingrove Art Gallery and Museum in Glasgow on September 6 has been welcomed by John Woolmore, managing director of flooring company Junckers Ltd, which was accused of supplying merbau timber from endangered rainforests for the refurbishment project.
However, Mr Woolmore also criticised the environmental activists for “taking the easy option”. He said: “Their efforts should be spent lobbying governments both here and in Malaysia to reduce the amount of unsustainable wood and cheap imports currently flooding into the UK.
“We would welcome government intervention to implement more stringent guidelines and regulations.”
Greenpeace claimed it entered the site after Junckers said documentation regarding the source of the timber “does not exist”.
But Mr Woolmore denied that the merbau flooring was illegal, saying it had been sourced and manufactured in accordance with all current guidelines, recommendations, legislation and certification.
He added: “Our partner in Malaysia is a well respected company which is following the working procedures as stated within the sustainable forest management cerrtification issued by the Malaysian Timber Industry Board.”
He said Greenpeace’s wish that all National Lottery funded projects in the UK insist on timber from legal sources, such as FSC, was not realistic given current availability of certified material.
However, he added, improvements were being worked towards and the introduction of new legislation in Malaysia and Indonesia plus the setting up of improved chain of custody by the Malaysian Timber Certification Council would improve this further.
Greenpeace, which is calling on the National Lottery and major construction companies to implement timber procurement guidelines immediately for projects it funds, also gave notice that it was monitoring at least 11 other Lottery-funded projects including Wembley Stadium.
