Few signs of cutting back on damage<\/p>\n
John Vidal, Guardian News Service, London<\/p>\n
Late last year more than 200 people were killed and 400 houses
\ndestroyed when hundreds of illegally felled trees in the Leuser
\nnational park in northern Sumatra crashed down a mountain side,
\nsmashing their way into the town of Gunung Leuser.<\/p>\n
The "natural" disaster was a direct result of the rampant
\nillegal forestry in the national park, which can expect to have
\nfew trees left within a few years. The situation is so serious
\nthat the UN fears most of Indonesia will be treeless within a
\ngeneration.<\/p>\n
Every month several ships loaded with thousands of tonnes of
\nthe cheap Indonesian plywood and timber arrive in European ports.
\nGovernments and timber merchants are well aware most of the wood
\nhas been illegally felled, but no action has been taken to stop
\nthe trade.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian government is also concerned that cutting back
\non timber permits has not been effective. Last year the
\nenvironment minister, Nabiel Makarim, admitted he did not know
\nhow to combat illegal logging.<\/p>\n
In response to international concern, the British and
\nIndonesian governments last year signed a memorandum of
\nunderstanding under which they agreed to work together on forest
\nlaw enforcement and to develop an identification method. This is
\nnot yet in place.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the European commission is also preparing measures
\nto combat the trade but none is expected before next year. Parts
\nof the European timber trade have responded through their own
\ninitiatives to try to identify "legal timber" for the
\nmarketplace, focusing initially on Indonesian mills.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for the British Timber Trade Federation, which
\nrepresents all Britain's major timber dealers, said yesterday
\nthat some of its members had agreed to stop sourcing wood from
\nIndonesia, but others wanted to continue.<\/p>\n
"We cannot (yet) identify what are the legal and illegal
\nstreams of timber. We are trying to get independent
\nverification," a spokesman said.<\/p>\n
After exhausting most of Indonesia's primary rainforests,
\nillegal loggers have turned to national parks, and are now
\nthreatening indigenous people and wildlife, including the orang-
\nutan. More than 40 percent of all Indonesia's forests have been
\nfelled in the past 50 years.<\/p>\n
Up to 50 percent of all tropical plywood in the UK comes from
\nIndonesia, but the British government and several timber
\nimporters have been shown to be using illegal timber.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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