Tokyo Olympics venues ‘built with wood from threatened rainforests’

Use of tropical plywood from Malaysia and Indonesia risks destruction of orangutan habitat, say NGOs

Wood from threatened south-east Asian rainforests has been used to build venues for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, according to complaints filed with organisers.

At least 134,000 large sheets of tropical plywood from Malaysia and Indonesia have been used as concrete moulds to build stadiums, causing what campaigners say is irreversible harm to precious biodiversity reserves.