Fighting illegal loggers<\/p>\n
The Indonesian government mounted a fight on forest crimes by
\nmaking it extremely difficult for businesses and individuals to
\nlaunder money amassed from illegal logging through the financial
\nsystem, notably banks.<\/p>\n
This move was launched last week under cooperation between the
\nFinancial Transaction and Report Analysis Center (PPATK) and the
\nCenter for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), an
\ninternational research and global knowledge institution committed
\nto conserving forests.<\/p>\n
The partnership between the PPATK, which was set up in 2002 to
\nimplement the Anti-Money Laundering Law, and the Bogor-based
\nenvironmental organization is quite strategic in preventing
\nillegal logging proceeds from entering the financial system.<\/p>\n
As a center in charge of analyzing and investigating reports
\nof suspicious transactions and of persons and financial
\ninstitutions that fail to report suspicious transactions, the
\nPPATK is technically competent to help banks and other financial
\nservice companies detect and prevent money laundering.<\/p>\n
Since CIFOR is part of a vast network of national and
\ninternational environmental organizations, has connections with
\nhundreds of researchers in 30 countries and is adequately funded
\nand staffed to conduct high-impact forest research, it is capable
\nof assisting the PPATK and banks in detecting companies engaged
\nin illegal logging and other forest crimes.<\/p>\n
The latest move was made possible by amendments to the Anti-
\nMoney Laundering Law made last September, which include illegal
\nlogging and other crimes against forests and natural environments
\nas sources of dirty money that is the object of the law.<\/p>\n
While the anti-money laundering campaign won't provide a quick
\nfix to the country's problem of deforestation, it is still a very
\nimportant measure, as it will make it much less profitable for
\nlarge companies to engage in illegal logging.<\/p>\n
This move is part of a multi-pronged attack at illegal loggers
\nthat deploys market forces to curb deforestation through
\napproaches in both the demand- and supply-sides, mobilizing
\nconsumers and traders to boycott products that are not certified
\naccording to international standards of sustainable forest
\nmanagement.<\/p>\n
The increasing deployment of market forces against illegal
\nloggers has been prompted by the government's failure to cope
\nwith the problem. The government's institutional capacity to
\nprevent illegal logging has been utterly inadequate due to
\nrampant corruption and lack of financial and technical
\ncapabilities.<\/p>\n
CIFOR has estimated that, despite numerous laws and
\nregulations on sustainable forest management at central and
\nregional governments, illegal logging in Indonesia remains quite
\npervasive at 40 million cubic meters of annual deforestation.<\/p>\n
The PPATK-CIFOR cooperation will not only make it more
\ndifficult for illegal loggers to put their money into the legal
\nfinancial system; it will also step up efforts against lending to
\ncompanies engaged in illegal logging or damaging the environment.<\/p>\n
The rationale of this campaign is obvious: Businesses that
\ndamage forests and the environment are vulnerable to litigation,
\nsocial hostility and other risks that threaten their operations
\nand consequently impair their ability to repay bank loans. Hence,
\nthe basic principle of high-quality risk management requires
\nbanks to shun corporate borrowers and clients engaged in forest
\ndestruction.<\/p>\n
This measure will not immediately make the government or
\nforestry ministry more capable of preventing illegal logging. Big
\nbusinesses might still bribe their way into illegal logging
\noperations. However, the anti-money laundering and green-product,
\nor ecolabeling, campaigns could make illegal logging much less
\nprofitable or commercially unfeasible, because poaching trees has
\nno benefits if illegal loggers cannot obtain bank financing and
\ncannot market their logs or timber freely.<\/p>\n
All in all, the anti-money laundering and green-product
\ncampaigns strongly complement each other in the fight against
\nillegal logging. Both measures use sustainable forest management
\nas a tool to screen companies out of the market.<\/p>\n
_________<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/fighting-illegal-loggers-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }