Three Indonesian suppliers that feed merbau into the Australian market have had their Forest Stewardship Council certification suspended or terminated, casting a shadow over one of the tropical hardwoods commonly used for flooring and decking, according to a report by Wood Central.
California-based SCS Global Services, which audits the three East Java exporters, terminated PT Forest Indo Perkasa in April and suspended PT Wijaya Multi Sentosa and PT Kayan Jaya Tanjung on June 20. The companies' chain-of-custody certificates let a board carry the FSC label from mill to merchant; the register lists the withdrawals without giving a reason.
Merbau is valued as a dense, durable hardwood, and in Australia it has become the leading substitute for scarce native species such as spotted gum, jarrah and blackbutt, according to Wood Central. But it is listed as vulnerable on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, takes 75–80 years to mature, and its largest stands in Indonesia's West Papua province have long been stripped by illegal operators—Greenpeace has put the illegal share of Indonesian harvesting as high as 80%. With the genus not covered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, certification is the main assurance a board was legally cut.
The withdrawals come as Australia leans more on imports while winding back native harvesting—a shift University of Queensland forest economist Tyron Venn found has pushed timber demand offshore rather than lowering it.
