The 90-mile-long Kennet and Avon Canal from Bristol to Reading is one of the most peaceful and picturesque stretches of water in the UK. Yet it is now at the centre of an international controversy linked to civil war, corruption and arms smuggling in West Africa.
An Observer investigation has discovered that the timber used to make new lock gates along the canal as part of a £30 million Lottery-backed restoration project has come from controversial logging in Africa's rainforests.
The operations have been condemned by environmental groups such as Greenpeace, which accuse them of 'pillaging West Africa's last natural resources', destroying natural habitats of endangered species and in some cases financing arms deals in the region.
Some of the tropical hardwood used to make lock gates is believed to have been been bought from a notorious logging corporation in Liberia.
The firm at the centre of the row, Oriental Timber Company (OTC), has been accused by the United Nations of corruption, illegal activity and using money raised by its logging activities to help fund the bloody civil war in neighbouring Sierra Leone that has killed thousands of civilians and left countless more maimed.
In 1998, British Waterways, which was supervising restoration of the canal, awarded a contract to Dutch timber company Wijma to make the lock gates. Traditionally, these are made with wood from European oaks, but Wijma chose a tropical hardwood, known as azobe or ekki, claiming that the timber is more durable.
Greenpeace has photographic evidence that when Wijma was making the lock gates for the Avon canal it had been buying azobe tropical hardwood from OTC. This company is owned by the controversial Liberian businessman Gus Kouwenhoven, who was censured by the United Nations last year.
The UN's expert panel report on Sierra Leone accused Kouwenhoven of being 'responsible for the logistical aspects of many of the arms deals' with the Revolutionary United Front in Sierra Leone. The report claimed that 'through his interests in a Malaysian timber company project in Liberia, he organises the transfer of weaponry from Monrovia [Liberia's capital] into Sierra Leone. Roads built and maintained for timber extraction are also conveniently used for weapons movement within Liberia'.
The UN imposed sanctions on Liberia after President Charles Taylor's government was found to be arming Sierra Leone rebels in exchange for diamonds. The sanctions included a ban on diamond exports, an arms embargo and curbs on travel by senior Liberian officials.
But the logging operations of OTC, which escaped the embargo, have enabled Taylor to continue funding rebels in Sierra Leone and suppress dissent in his own country. Last week Amnesty Interna tional accused Taylor's government of human rights abuses and torturing dissidents, a claim Taylor denies.
A businessman familiar with logging operations in Liberia told The Observer last week: 'Look, it's an open secret. Gus fronted Taylor up $5m for his logging concessions. They split the profits. Gus's ships take out the logs and they bring in the guns. It was the same deal with the diamonds.'
According to the environmental pressure group Global Witness, at the current rate of felling in Liberia the largest virgin tract of tropical forest in West Africa is in danger of being obliterated within six years.
The claims that the timber, dubbed the 'logs of war', has ended up as lock gates in the tranquil Avon canal will prove highly embarrassing for British Waterways and the National Lottery, which awarded its largest heritage grant to help fund the £30m restoration project.
A spokesman for British Waterways said its contract with Wijma demanded that any timber used would come from sustainable sources. He said it would launch an investigation and demand answers from Wijma.
Brian Passmore, managing director of Wijma's British operations, said the company was unable to confirm the origins of the tropical azobe wood used for the lock gates. He confirmed that over the past two-and-a-half years Wijma had bought tropical timber from OTC in Liberia, but after UN advice last autumn it had 'modified' its buying policies.
Passmore admitted it was 'possible' the wood for the gates had come from Liberia but said it was more likely it came from the company's operations in Cameroon as the timber from there would be of higher quality.
Andy Tait, of Greenpeace, said: 'Whether this timber is from Liberia or Cameroon, it comes from completely unsustainable sources. UK contractors and projects buying this are fuelling not only the destruction of the last ancient forests, but in Liberia arms trafficking and social repression.
'They have to take responsibility, stop trading in conflict timber and demand wood that is independently certified. British Waterways should cancel their contracts with Wijma.'
A statement from Wijma said: 'Wijma is very conscious about buying reliable timber and takes advice from industry bodies, NGOs and the United Nations.
'Wijma is conscientious and committed to African forestry.'