Groups seek to combat illegal timber trade<\/p>\n
Rendi A. Witular, Yogyakarta<\/p>\n
Top government officials and environmentalists gathered here
\non Monday for a three-day conference to address the problems of
\nillegal timber product trading, trans-border haze pollution and
\nthe reforestation of degraded land.<\/p>\n
The Ministry of Forestry's director general of forest
\nconservation and rehabilitation, Koes Saparjadi, said the
\nworkshop, which is organized by the Asian Forest Partnership
\n(AFP), was expected to address regional forestry problems faced
\nby members of the AFP, including Indonesia, Malaysia, China and
\nJapan.<\/p>\n
\"Through this forum, we will ask Asian countries, such as
\nChina and Malaysia, to cooperate in preventing trading in illegal
\ntimber given that these countries often import such timber from
\nIndonesia,\" said Koes on the sidelines of the forum on Monday.<\/p>\n
He said that many Asian countries were reluctant to cooperate
\nin tackling these problems as they involved businesses worth
\nbillions of dollars.<\/p>\n
Indonesia and Malaysia have often been at odds with each other
\nover the issue, with Indonesia refusing to hold bilateral talks
\nunless Malaysia admits that it imports and trades in timber
\nillegally felled in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
Koes said the conclusions of the workshop would be brought up
\nat the fourth AFP meeting in Japan from Dec. 8 until Dec. 10.
\nThere, members of the organization were expected to agree on a
\nnumber of issues including the certification of wood-based
\nproducts, synchronization of customs procedures for the trade in
\nthese products, and a uniform definition of illegal wood-based
\nproducts.<\/p>\n
The AFP promotes sustainable forest management in Asia,
\nfocusing particularly on five pressing issues, namely, the
\ncontrol of illegal logging, control of forest fires,
\nrehabilitation and reforestation of degraded land, good
\ngovernance and forestry law enforcement, and developing
\ncapacities for effective forest management.<\/p>\n
The partnership acts as a catalyst for the initiatives that
\nare now in progress in the region by increasing synergies and
\nreducing program duplication. It provides a formal framework for
\nthe exchange of information and experiences in an effort to
\ncombine national, bilateral or multilateral and regional
\ninitiatives.<\/p>\n
The AFP was launched at the World Summit on Sustainable
\nDevelopment in Johannesburg in 2002. It is one of over 200
\npartnerships for sustainable development registered with the
\nUnited Nations Division for Sustainable Development.<\/p>\n
Partners of the AFP include governments, intergovernmental
\norganizations and members of civil society, with leading partners
\nincluding the government of Japan, the government of Indonesia,
\nthe Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), and The
\nNature Conservancy (TNC).<\/p>\n
Cifor director general David Kaimowitz said the trade in
\nillegal timber was a complex problem to solve as it was related
\nto strong economic interests and international relations between
\nneighboring countries.<\/p>\n
\"To meet real progress you have to build strong confidence and
\ntrust between countries to sit in a dialog. The very positive
\nthing in this forum is that all the countries have been open with
\neach other and all recognize that the illegal trading of timber
\nis a problem,\" said Kaimowitz.<\/p>\n
Kaimowitz said the progress made so far by the AFP forum was
\n\"slow but solid\", given the fact that as yet there had been no
\nconcrete actions agreed upon by its members to tackle the trade
\nin illegal timber.<\/p>\n
However, each member country had agreed that a dialog was
\nnecessary, and more groups were becoming involved in the effort
\nto define the specific actions that each country should take to
\nresolve the problems, he said.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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