Hardwood hit by Wikileaks scandal
Wikileaks has continued to shock the public since its very first revelations and now the solid wood flooring industry has been rocked by scandal.
The Peruvian government admitted in a leaked embassy cable that up to 90% of its mahogany wood exports in one year were from illegal sources.
Peruvian mahogany is exported in large amounts and is often used to make beautiful hardwood flooring across the world so these newest latest revelations have caused shock throughout the wood flooring sector.
Stephen Corry, Director of the charity Survival International, said: “Consumers in the US and Europe simply can’t rely on documents that purport to show Peruvian mahogany is sustainably sourced, as these are clearly not worth the paper they’re written on.”
Although legislation was introduced to protect trees from illegal felling and timber extraction in 2000, five years later the illegal practices were still taking place and mahogany was especially under threat.
The scandal is a massive blow to the flooring industry which is working harder than ever to find ways to create more environmentally friendly floors and flooring accessories.
Mahogany is favoured for flooring because of the sumptuous rich shade and Peruvian mahogany floors are known for being exceptionally high quality.
