To download an executive summary of the response, click here.

It’s been more than two years since Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced a plan to reduce the use of tropical hardwoods by New York City. Rainforest Relief marked the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day by releasing a draft response to the City’s plan.

The report, entitled “The Rainforests of New York: a Trail of Destruction” and written by Tim Keating, executive director of Rainforest Relief, spells out inaccuracies about alternative materials, and missed opportunities for agencies to use them immediately.

Not only does the plan ignore new uses of tropical hardwoods by the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) but also allows for the continued use of these materials by city agencies until at least 2030.

Public benefit corporations such as Hudson River Park Trust and New York City Transit Authority, a division of the MTA, which build major City infrastructure using tropical hardwoods, are also ignored in the Plan.

“The Rainforests of New York: a Trail of Destruction” shows that in every case where a city agency or public benefit corporation is using tropical hardwoods — even for large-scale outdoor infrastructure — an alternative material could be substituted immediately. Thus, Rainforest Relief’s plan would end the City’s use of tropical hardwoods in two years, rather than 20.

To download an executive summary of the response, click here.