In a press conference earlier this week, Alexander von Bismarck, managing director of the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), presented the results of investigations that had been conducted during the past two years under the title "Stealing the last forest". He raised serious allegations against Holzindustrie Schweighofer concerning the alleged processing of illegally harvested timber in Romania. Environmental organizations Agent Green, WWF Austria and WWF Romania criticized the company's methods. WWF Austria announced that they had filed a complaint with the Austrian Research Centre for Forests. According to the environmental organization, Schweighofer is violating the EU Timber Regulation.
"As one of Europe's largest timber groups, Schweighofer unfortunately also acts as one of the main drivers of illegal logging in Romania", Alexander von Bismarck explains in a press release. In the recently published EIA report "Stealing the last forest" it is assumed that 50% of the total logging volume in Romania is illegal. The report lists timber from national parks, clear cuttings, quantity exceedances, forged papers and wood from areas that have not been restituted properly. Cases where that kind of timber was delivered to Schweighofer plants have been uncovered.
"Two thirds of the last remaining jungles are threatened" warns Gabriel Paun, director of NGO Agent Green. He also accuses Holzindustrie Schweighofer of illegally acquiring a forest in one of the last remaining forest landscapes; municipalities are not actually allowed to sell those areas. By harvesting wood there, the areas are being devaluated, explains Paun. Furthermore, he pointed out criminal structures in Romania: According to the NGO director, forest wardens, foresters, employees of companies and the state are working together to legalize illegal practices. Three methods have been observed: To be able to log more wood, it is common practice to bypass or change applicable cultivation plans. Secondly, clear cuttings are performed where the executing parties remain unknown. Calamities like windthrow increasingly affect national parks and unspoilt forests.
"We are not in a position to judge whether these accusations are legally relevant. However, as WWF and therefore as an international environmental organization it is our role and responsibility to address accusations of illegal cutting", Andrea Johanides, managing director of WWF Austria, explains. She demands the immediate and complete clarification of all accusations raised. This is the reason why the WWF filed a complaint linked to the European Timber Regulation (EUTR) at the Austrian Research Centre for Forests. This regulation prohibits putting timber and timber products from illegal cuttings on the European Single Market. At the same time, Johanides points out weaknesses of this policy, for instance, loopholes and exemption clauses.
Holzindustrie Schweighofer however rejects all allegations. "Timber from sustainably managed forests has top priority for us", Georg Erlacher, board member of the Schweighofer foundation, assures after the press conference. He elaborates that this is the very reason why Schweighofer holds FSC and PEFC certificates. The Chain of Custody certificate by PEFC is valid for their entire production, and the FSC certificate applies to 2% of the utilized log wood that stems from their own forests. For the remaining 98%, Schweighofer places great emphasis on the origin, according to Erlacher. "The deficiencies are to be found outside of our group", Erlacher emphasizes. Furthermore, he criticizes that the EIA still hasn't provided the uncut version of their video foootage. From Erlacherspoint of view, this would accelerate clearing the accusations raised against Schweighofer employees. "The provided video edited and statements have been taken out of context. An independent person who viewed the entire footage confirmed our assumptions", Erlacher informs. Upon inquiry by Timber-Online, von Bismarck explained that the uncut version of the video footage will not be made public. He stated that it was common practice to edit videos without altering the contents. Concerning the land acquisitions, a written statement had been issued. Prior to all property purchases, the ownership structures of buyers had been checked legally and approved by authorities, and subsequently all purchases had been approved for the cadastral register. Erlacher is taking the recent appeal procedure calmly.
Since the end of April, Holzindustrie Schweighofer has been confronted with allegations concerning knowingly processing illegally cut timber from Romania. EIA manager von Bismarck claims that a video filmed with hidden camera - in which von Bismarck acts as timber dealer - provides clear proof that illegal timber had been purchased. These allegations have been rejected by Schweighofer ever since they first emerged.
