Studies on habitat loss, resource depletion and biodiversity decline over the past ten years have highlighted the inextricable link between good forest stewardship and poverty eradication in the developing world.

Ireland's booming construction industry uses vast amounts of tropical timber. Our insatiable appetite for tropical hardwoods like Iroko is having a negative effect on Africa's rainforests. An estimated 35-50 acres of African forests are chopped down every day to meet our growing dependence on tropical timber. It is also estimated that 60% of all tropical timber entering Ireland is coming from un-managed forests in Africa and is often illegally logged.

An estimated 35,000 homes will be built in Ireland annually over the next 10-15 years.

In addition it is reported that 2.3 BILLION Euros will be spent by Irish homeowners on home improvements as a result of payouts from SSIA accounts. All this construction activity will make further demands on already over-exploited forest resources as demands for tropical timber grows.