Greg Higgs, FAN campaign director, told a press conference Thursday that customers and timber importers in China, a fast growing importer of forest products, will contribute a lot to ancient forest protection if their awareness of this issue is improved.

An increasing number of companies, such as IKEA and Mitsubishi, have promised not to buy timber products from ancient forests, he said, adding that Chinese companies can join them.

The total area of ancient forests in the world shrinks by 10 million hectares annually due to logging, said Shen Xiaohui, senior engineer with the State Forestry Administration (SFA).

"Everyone in every country is responsible for the protection of ancient forests as it is a global issue," he said. "We shall not only care about the quality and price of timber but also where they come from and whether they are produced in an eco-friendly way."

China is trying to introduce a certificate system put forward by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), which ensures timber products are produced in an eco-friendly way and not, for instance, logged from ancient forests, Shen said.

The FSC will be viable in China though the work has just started, he added.

Canada has the world's largest temperate rainforest, which is rare in the world, but the forests shrink rapidly due to the extensive logging, Higgs said.

As one of the importers of timber from Canada, China will help protect the rainforest there by cutting down on the import of ancient forest timber, he added.

(Xinhua News Agency April 18, 2003)