Japan urged to stop using deforestation-linked wood for Kengo Kuma's Olympic stadium
The Japanese government has been accused of using timber linked to deforestation and human-rights violations to build its Kengo Kuma-designed stadium for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
A petition with 140,000 signatures was delivered to Japanese embassies in Switzerland and Germany this week, demanding the government rethink its use of cheap tropical wood.
Bilong Oyoi, the former head of a rainforest village in Sarawak, Borneo, delivered the petition to the embassy in Bern. He claimed that the wood being used to build the Olympic stadium was destroying the way of life for the island's indigenous Penan people.
"I would like to forward a message from the Penan to the respective Japanese authorities: In Sarawak, our forests have been logged, and there are very few trees left,"Â he said. "Please help us to protect what is left of the rainforest." An investigation by a group of over 40 charities found that tropical plywood was being used to build the Kengo Kuma-designed Olympic Stadium
The petition was launched following an investigation last month by a group of over 40 charities, which found that tropical plywood was being used as a mould for concrete.
Switzerland-based Bruno Manser Fund claimed the wood could be traced back to Shin Yang, a Malaysian logging giant accused of human-rights violations, illegal logging and rainforest destruction.
The allegations threaten Tokyo 2020's stated vision, to address "the growing global focus on sustaina...
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