China's growing economy may fuel illegal timber trade<\/p>\n
Rendi A. Witular, The Jakarta Post, Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
A booming economy has not only made China thirsty for oil and
\nminerals but also forestry products, which could be fueling the
\nillegal trade of the commodity from Indonesia, according to a
\nnon-governmental organization.<\/p>\n
Director of the Center for International Forestry Research
\n(CIFOR) David Kaimowitz said China's astonishing economic growth
\nhad threatened the sustainability of the Indonesian forests as
\nIndonesian exporters were racing to tap market opportunities in
\nChina.<\/p>\n
\"An increase in China's imports of forest products has not
\nonly created an opportunity, but also a problem. It has greatly
\nincreased the pressure on most Indonesian forests,\" said
\nKaimowitz.<\/p>\n
A joint study conducted by CIFOR, Forest Trends and the
\nChinese Center for Agricultural policy shows that between 1997
\nand 2002, Chinese imports of forest products rose by 75 percent
\nfrom US$6.4 billion to $11.2 billion.<\/p>\n
Preliminary figures suggest the imports reached almost $13
\nbillion in 2003. By 2002, the country was importing the
\nequivalent of 96 million cubic meters of wood, or about one and a
\nhalf times Indonesia's total annual timber harvest, the study
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
\"We just can imagine how sensitive it is to try to solve these
\nproblems when a lot of the products are illegal. The business has
\ninvolved many jobs with the economy also depending on it,\" said
\nKaimowitz.<\/p>\n
According to the study, the majority of Chinese forest product
\nimports come from Russia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Canada.
\nIndonesia, Russia and Canada account for over 60 percent of the
\npulp and paper imports, while Indonesia is the largest source of
\nplywood and lumber products for the world's most populous
\ncountry.<\/p>\n
As the Chinese become richer, they build additional houses and
\nbuy more books and newspapers. And the nation has also become a
\nmajor exporter of finished wood-based products such as furniture.<\/p>\n
The country manages to keep more jobs at home by importing raw
\nmaterials and doing the processing themselves; importing more
\nlogs and less plywood, and purchasing pulp rather than paper.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, China has made several moves to protect its own
\nforests by putting a halt to most logging in many areas and
\nclosing down thousands of small factories and mills, resulting in
\nthe skyrocketing importation of timber, lumber and pulp.<\/p>\n
The country of 1.3 billion people ideally would like to get
\nmost of its forest products from its own reforestation
\nplantations in the future. However, it remains unclear when that
\nwill it happen.<\/p>\n
\"It will need a bilateral talk to solve this problem. We are
\nhoping that in the next Asian Forest Partnership (AFP) meeting,
\nIndonesia and China will have a common understanding to solve
\nit,\" said Kaimowitz.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/chinas-growing-economy-may-fuel-illegal-timber-trade-1447893297",
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