The UK is the second largest importer of Brazilian mahogany in the world. But the environmental and social price for obtaining this beautifulwood is higher than you might think. The felling of mahogany is one of the most destructive activities in the rainforest ­ for every mahogany tree extracted, 26 other trees will be damaged.

The logging industry is felling mahogany at an astonishing rate but the legal stocks are rapidly dwindling ­ it is estimated that there are only 35 years worth of legal mahogany stocks left. Desperate to find more mahogany, logging companies are moving into Indian reserves where they illegally fell the timber and inflict a horrifying catalogue of abuse and violence on the indigenous people. Logging companies have been shown to be involved in intimidation, bribery and even murder in their rush to get mahogany. And quite apart from direct acts of violence, the loggers bring diseases such as tuberculoses and venereal infections as well as social problems such as alcoholism.

Friends of the Earth launched the Mahogany is Murder Campaign in 1992 and is calling for a complete ban on imports of Brazilian mahogany to the UK. We are also asking the European Union to ban mahogany imports under wildlife trade laws. The campaign highlighted the terrible costs of the mahogany trade and featured a leaflet and cinema advertisement.

Unfortunately, the trade body for the timber industry in the UK (the Timber Trade Federation) and the Brazilian Government complained to the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) about our work and the ASA has ruled against our advertisements. The ASA claimed that Friends of the Earth had not proved that there really were that many murders as part of the mahogany trade ­ a claim that was clearly contradicted by the documentary evidence that we provided.

As a result of the ASA s ruling, Friends of the Earth cannot show the cinema advertisement any more or distribute the leaflet via newspapers and magazines. However, we intend to fight the ASA s ruling and force them to retract. The mahogany trade in Brazil is destroying the environment and devastating people s lives and we will continue to use every legal avenue to reveal the truth about this deadly trade ­ mahogany is STILL murder.