Luon­non­suo­je­lu­liit­to vaatii venäläisen ja val­ko­ve­nä­läi­sen puutavaran tuonnin kieltoa

To all friends of Ukraine all over the world
3rd March 2022

SUPPORT UKRAINE! BAN RUSSIAN AND BELORUSSIAN WOOD NOW!

Joint statement of Ukrainian, Belarussian, EU, UK and US environmental and human rights NGOs and activists

Russia, along with Belarus, is waging an aggressive war against Ukraine. The Russian military are firing missiles and bombs on urban settlements, killing hundreds of Ukrainian defenders and civilians, including children. The EU has called Belarus ”the other aggressor in this war” and ”complicit in the attacks” on Ukraine. The terrible toll of deaths and injuries will grow in the coming days, as fear, grief and anger continue to spread throughout Ukraine.

But we are not helpless.

Both Russia and Belarus rely heavily on the export of timber and wood products. In 2021, the export of timber and wood products from the Russian Federation was $13.9 billion USD. Western countries are the major markets for this wood, either directly or indirectly, including the United States of America, the European Union (EU), the United Kingdom, as well as countries such as Japan and China. Wood from these regions is used to make buildings, paper, clothes and furniture, and to fuel your power plants.

The financial resources the Russian and Belarussian governments gain from wood exports help to equip the Russian invaders, fuel their tanks and produce their bombs. Therefore, consuming Russian and Belarussian wood and timber products means supporting death and destruction in Ukraine.

While new sanctions on Belarus, announced by the EU in late February in response to the Ukraine invasion, now include wood it is not clear that they include all timber-both raw materials as well as higher processed goods such as furniture. Therefore besides the demands for support for Ukraine’s government, we, environmental and human rights NGOs and activists from Ukraine, Belarus, the United Kingdom, United States and European Union, appeal to all the governments of countries friendly to Ukraine: please, ban import of all types of Russian and Belarussian timber and wood products (including all paper products, furniture and furniture parts, pellets and sawn wood) now!

We also appeal to international certification schemes, namely FSC (Forest Stewardship Council), SBP (Sustainable Biomass Programme) and PEFC (Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification): please, wake up and terminate all forest management and chain of custody certificates for forest concessions and companies from both Russia and Belarus with immediate effect. Not a single stick of wood from these countries is sustainable when it is used to finance overwhelming destruction of a peaceful country.

We also affirm our support for all those affected by this attack, including those stranded at the Ukraine’s border and denied safe passage because of the colour of their skin.

We need your support right now! Please, stop Russia and save the free people of Ukraine!

Signed by:
Ukrainian Nature Conservation Group (Ukraine)
WWF-Ukraine
Nashi.Groshi Lviv (Ukraine)
AntAC (Ukraine)
Environment-People-Law (Ukraine)
Earthsight (UK)
Civil Protection (profi) Manager’s Association (Ukraine)
Ozero Supii (Ukraine)
Peli can live (Ukraine)
Sad Istoriy v Rivnomu (Ukraine)
Ecoclub(Ukraine)
ForestCom (Ukraine)
Ecopark Osokorky (Ukraine)
Ecopark Vyrlitsia (Ukraine)
Chysta Ukraina (Ukraine)
ANTS NGO (Ukraine)
Green World (Ukraine)
Asociatsia ukrainskoi presy (Ukraine)
Actyvna Hromada (Ukraine)
Fortress heritage (Poland)
Space (Poland)
Toruńska brygada feministyczna (Poland)
Manifa Toruńska (Poland)
Białorusini Kujawsko-pomorskie (Poland/Belarus)
Belarusian Association of Workers (Belarus)
Ecoplatform (Ukraine)
Misto Soncia (Ukraine)
Ukrainian Climate Network (Ukraine)
Agency for economic development (Ukraine)
Children’s Ecological Association “Green Country” (Ukraine)
Unique Planet (Ukraine)
U-Cycle (Ukraine)
OPORA (Ukraine)
Eremurus (Ukraine)
National Ecological Center of Ukraine (Ukraine)
Ukrainian Ecological Club “Green Wave” (Ukraine)
Board of environmental education (Ukraine)
Kryvyi Rih City Human Rights Society (Ukraine)
Flora (Ukraine)
Voice of Nature (Ukraine)
Legal Analytics (Ukraine)
Bureau of Environmental Investigations (Ukraine)
Ecoltava (Ukraine)
Black Sea Women’s Club (Ukraine)
Children’s independent eco-center ”Romantic” (Ukraine)
Our Home Manyava (Ukraine)
Ekosphera (Ukraine)
FORZA, AGENCY FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT OF THE CARPATHIAN REGION (Ukraine)
Eco-right-Kharkiv (Ukraine)
Khmelnytsky Regional Organization of the Ukrainian Society for Nature Protection (Ukraine)
Zero Waste Lviv (Ukraine)
Zero Waste Society (Ukraine)
Dziga (Ukraine)
Ecosense (Ukraine)
Center for International Cooperation and Project Implementation (Ukraine)
PLATO (Ukraine)
Renewable Energy Cluster (Ukraine)
Center for Environmental Initiatives Ecoaction (Ukraine)
Free Svydovets (Ukraine)
Ecozahiststarokostiantyniv (Ukraine)
Fondation Belarus 2020 Bialystok (Belarus/Poland)
Fondation Żywi (Belarus)
Freeshop Belarus (Belarus)
People’s embassies of Belarus (Belarus)
Belarusians of Krakow (Belarus/Poland)
Fundacja imienia E. Hutten-Czapskiego (Belarus/Poland)
Belarusians of Frankfurt (Belarus/Germany)
Stowarzyszenie Białoruski Związek Solidarności (Belarus/Poland)
Belarusians of Wroclaw (Belarus/Poland)
Society for Threatened Peoples (Switzerland)
Biofuelwatch (UK/USA)
Open Cages (Ukraine)
Simon Counsell, Independent consultant (UK)
Environmental Investigation Agency (UK/USA)
Bruno Manser Fonds (Switzerland)
WOLF Forest Protection Movement (Slovakia)
Leefmilieu (Netherlands)
Envol Vert (France)
Association Workshop for all Beings (Poland)
Institute for Sustainable Development Strategy (Kyrgyzstan)
Terra-1530 (Moldova)
NGO Gamarjoba (Georgia)
Ukrainian Helsinki Human Rights Union (Ukraine)
Media Club of Zaporizhia Oblast(Ukraine)
Hanna Radziuk (Belarus)
Instytut na rzecz Ekorozwoju (Poland)
Społeczny Instytut Ekologiczny (Poland)
We Are the Forest (Slovakia)
Fundacja GAP Polska (Poland)
Foundation Belarusians of Lodz (Belarus/Poland)
Aeris Futuro (Poland)
EuroNatur (Europe)
Stowarzyszenie ”Wspólna Ziemia” (Poland)
Fundacja Otwarty Plan (Poland)
Fundacja Ekologiczna „Zielona Akcja” (Poland)
Stowarzyszenie Ekologiczne EKO-UNIA (Poland)
Związek Stowarzyszeń Polska Zielona Sieć (Poland)
Rainforest Foundation (UK)
Climate Alliance of European Cities with Indigenous Rainforest Peoples (Germany)
Green Wave (Poland)
Assocation MULTIFORM (Poland)
Civic Monitoring of Trees (Poland)
Partnership for Policy Integrity (US/EU)
NESEHNUTI (Czech Republic)
Centrum Współpracy Międzynarodowej (Poland)
Foundation for Sustainable Development (Poland)
Fundacja na rzecz Efektywnego Wykorzystania Energii (Poland)
Save the Mokrzańskki Forest (Poland)
Polski Klub Ekologiczny Okręg Mazowiecki (Poland)
Rainforest Action Network (United States)
Aevis Foundation (Slovakia)
Save the ravines of Kleszczow (Poland)
United forest (Poland)
Camp for Forest (Poland)
Wild Carpathians Initiative (Poland)
Fern (Belgium)
Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) (UK/USA)
Working Group on Rainforests and Biodiversity (ARA) (Germany)
Tim Keating, Rainforest Relief (USA)
Südwind (Austria)
Europe Beyond Burning (Europe)
Global Witness (UK/USA/EU)
Suomen luonnonsuojeluliitto (Finnish Association for Nature Conservation) (Finland)
Luonto-Liitto (Finnish Nature League) (Finland)
Primary Forest (Association) (Slovakia)