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Greenpeace has alleged that timber from trashed Indonesian rainforests is being used in new EU buildings in Brussels, threatening the survival of the orang-utan and the Sumatran tiger. Greenpeace investigators discovered that both the home of the EC - the Berlaymont - and the Economic and Social Committee building apparently use Indonesian rainforest plywood for walls and flooring. The plywood was supplied by companies known to have been trading in illegal timber. On Tuesday at 7am, 50 Greenpeace activists, including 15 from the UK, entered the Economic and Social Committee building to halt construction and highlight the plight of the ancient forests of Indonesia, home to some of the world's most endangered species. Greenpeace climbers scaled the building, while other activists attempted to replace rainforest wood with environmentally-friendly timber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). Meanwhile, more Greenpeace volunteers made an effort to blockade the entrance with FSC timber. Indonesian rainforest plywood used in the two buildings is being supplied by companies including Korindo and Asia Forestama Raya (AFR). An Indonesian Government investigation has found that Korindo buys illegal timber supplied by notorious timber barons known to obtain timber from an orang-utan refuge, Tanjung Puting National Park. AFR have been shown to be buying illegal timber from a protected refuge where some of the last 500 Sumatran tigers live. Greenpeace campaigner Andy Tait said: "The EU is responsible for trashing the last rainforests of Indonesia. These rainforests should be home to orang-utans and tigers, not Brussels bureaucrats in plush offices. "If these forests and the endangered species they support are to have any kind of future, the EU must act to stop the trade in illegal timber and clean up its timber buying." Indonesia's rainforest is disappearing faster than any other rainforest in the world. An area the size of Belgium is destroyed every year. This rainforest is a haven for wildlife, with the longest list of endangered species in the world, including both the Sumatran tiger and the orang-utan, whose numbers have halved in just 10 years. If true, the allegations would be an acute embarrassment for the EU. Last year the Commission launched its own action plan to combat illegal logging and the trade in illegal timber. Part of this action plan was to implement a public procurement policy to guide contracting authorities on how to deal with legality of supply in timber procurement procedures. Last summer the UK government was also accused of using illegally logged timber in the construction of the new Home Office building
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