[imagesource:youtube]

Jeff Bezos’ plentiful pledges in support of the environment – including, but not limited to, a $1 billion pledge to combat climate change via his so-called ‘Earth Fund’ – seems completely pointless next to his massive $723 million superyacht.

While the Amazon founder apparently dabbles in a new endeavour aimed at halting deforestation and desertification by planting twenty million trees across Africa in an initiative known as ‘The Green Wall Initiative’, a little-known theory about Bezos’ new yacht kind of flies in the face of all these seemingly progressive promises.

In an op-ed for Mongabay, John Woolwich revealed that Bezos’ yacht Koru may be constructed from so-called “blood timber”, per DMARGE:

In short, the yacht — which features a steel hull with three giant stainless steel furlers weighing around 900 kilograms and named after the Māori fern-leaf motif, a symbol of creation and new beginnings to the native people of New Zealand — is adorned with decks crafted from highly sought after teak timber, known around the world for its durability and elegance.

This timber, however, could be linked to some pretty grim events at its point of origin. The most quality teak is generally considered to come from Myanmar (formerly Burma), an area plagued by issues when it comes to its wood exports so much so that it garnered the nickname of “blood timber”.

Having cut down an area the size of Switzerland since 2001, the country is accused of unparalleled amounts of illegal and uncompensated deforestation, relative to its total land area. “Bloody timber” is in reference to the bloody coup that took place in February 2021 and the ongoing genocide of the Rohingya people.

Despite stern stances taken by both the EU (where Koru was assembled) and the US in relation to imports from Myanmar, several sources claim that vast amounts of their timber are still being imported with the help of corrupt practices in the supply chain. Though there is currently no hard evidence directly showing that the timber in Koru has come directly from Myanmar, there is also no hard evidence to suggest that it has not come from the politically embroiled nation.

Bezos’ shipbuilder cites so-called DNA testing on the timber via a firm called Helix Tracking Technologies, but there are doubts about the validity of this and the integrity of the company.

For now, then, the shadow of suspicion lingers, leaving us to wonder if “blood timber” is staining the luxurious veneer of Jeff Bezos’ superyacht.

Not to mention that sailing a yacht of any size or material is super bad for the environment. Bezos may be offsetting, but he could just lay off completely, and do the world more good.

[source:dmarge]