Illegal Indonesian ramin logs seized in Malaysia
Illegal Indonesian ramin logs seized in Malaysia
KUALA LUMPUR (DPA): Malaysian authorities, acting on a tip-off from a London-based green group, have seized an illegal shipment of Indonesian ramin logs, which are banned from export to protect the habitat of orang-utans, a news report said Tuesday.
The valuable logs, which can fetch up to US$1,000 per cubic metre in Western markets, were seized in Malacca state last week by forestry authorities.
Following the seizure, Malaysia authorities have intensified checks on all timber imports entering the country to prevent more ramin wood being smuggled into the country.
"Now we are checking to see if the seized logs had export permits. If they do not, Malaysia would have broken the CITES agreement," forestry department head Zul Mukhshar Mohamed Shaari told the New Straits Times daily newspaper.
Malaysia, which is a party to the U.N. Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), could be found guilty of breaking the pact's regulations by allowing the ramin logs to enter the country without proper permits.
Ramin joined the list of species under CITES last month. Indonesia banned its export in April.
The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), a London group that monitors environmental crimes, alerted the Malaysians claiming most ramin shipments to the country were illegal.
EIA director Dave Currey said Malaysia was a major ramin trafficking hub and processing center.
"Malaysia's role in this business is tantamount to state- sanctioned theft of a neighbor's natural resources," he said, adding that about 5 million cubic metres of illegal ramin is smuggled into Malaysia annually.
Ramin is a hardwood found in Malaysia and Indonesia that is widely used to make furniture, picture frames, window blinds and snooker cues.
However, environmentalists warn that illegal logging of ramin wood was threatening the survival of the already endangered orang-utans on Borneo island, as the trees are the apes' prime habitat.