Following the recent uproar emanating from the construction works carried out at Floriana in preparation for the impending papal visit, fresh criticisms have recently surfaced.

Nature Trust Malta this week hit out at the fact that the Papal throne commissioned for the Pope's visit is being constructed from solid mahogany, which is derived from endangered tropical rainforests.

Nature Trust labels it shameful that the Catholic Church, who "shamelessly preaches the preservation of God's gift to mankind, buries its head deep into the proverbial sand and ignores the fact that God's creation is collapsing all around us."

What will happen to the throne afterwards?

Nature Trust comments that the Church, as with all public institutions, has a responsibility and should not be providing a detrimental example. The environmental NGO adds that wood from managed forests should have been used and that it should be stated that such lumber is being used out of concern for the environment and out of respect for life and conformity with fundamental principles.

Commercial logging is the single largest cause of rainforest destruction both directly and indirectly. By "not seeing the wood for the trees," the simple fact remains that the Amazon Rainforests are being destroyed by the logging industry.

Nature Trust questions what will happen to this throne after the Pope leaves and, somewhat cynically, whether it would be converted back into the grandiose tree it once was.

Nature Trust reflects, "The green faction within the Roman Catholic religion needs to expand. Harmony between humans will never be a possibility if harmony between man and Earth is completely ignored."

The NGO explains that the logging of tropical hardwoods such as teak, mahogany, rosewood and other timber for furniture, building materials, charcoal and other wood products means both big business and big profits.

Additionally, several species of tropical hardwoods are imported by developed counties, including America, only to build coffins that are then buried or burned.

The demand, extraction and consumption of tropical hardwoods has been so massive that some countries which have been traditional exporters of tropical hardwoods are now importing them because they have already exhausted their supply by destroying their native rainforests in slash and burn operations.