Should the furniture industry be concerned about using imported tropical wood products?
Import statistics suggest that the U.S. furniture industry’s role =0) || (navigator.userAgent.indexOf(“WebTV”) >= 0)) { document.write(”); document.write(”); } //–> in tropical deforestration is negligible. It has been estimated that mature tropical forests once covered 1.5 billion hectares, but now only 900 million hectares of forest remain. Some suggest that at the present rate of deforestation, estimated at 1.8 percent per year, the remaining tropical forests will be consumed in another 55 years. However, much uncertainty surrounds both the extent and rate of decline of the tropical forest. This makes accurate analysis concerning the impact of logging on deforestation difficult. The uncertainty over the impact of logging tropical forests has made the importation of tropical hardwood a controversial issue in the United States. Some environmental organizations have called on some governments to ban all imports of tropical timber. These organizations have also urged consumers to boy
