Olympic venues not using virgin timber
(BOCOG)
Updated: 2006-05-31 17:00
The Beijing Organizing Committee for the Games of the XXIX Olympiad (BOCOG)
announced today that a review by the government agency responsible for
supervising the construction of the venues for the 2008 Olympic Games has
confirmed that none of the venues is using or will use virgin timber from
Indonesia, as has been alleged.
In fact, the review found that no wood products are being procured from
Indonesia.
BOCOG requested the Beijing 2008 Venue Construction Administration Office,
the relevant government agency, to conduct this review after allegations
circulated that virgin timber was being ordered from Indonesia for use in
Olympic venues.
In conducting its review, officials from the Venue Construction
Administration Office contacted each company that owns the 24 venues under
construction to inquire about their plans for the use of wood.
As stated above, the Venue Construction Administration Office notified BOCOG
that none are sourcing wood products from Indonesia. (Seven venues have yet to
begin construction.)
BOCOG took these allegations seriously and conducted this review because it
is committed to hosting green Olympic Games and opposes the use of virgin timber
in the construction of Olympic venues, a position that BOCOG has consistently
maintained. BOCOG published guidelines outlining the environmental standards for
Olympic venues in the Olympic Projects Environmental Guide distributed at the
outset of construction in 2002.
The guide mandated the use of sustainable materials and prohibited the use of
virgin timber products. This policy opposing the importation or use of virgin
forest products for Olympic venues was reiterated in
2004.
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