January 24, 2003
At a meeting of international donors this week, the Indonesian Minister of Forests has called on major consuming countries to take urgent action to curb imports of illegal Indonesian wood, claiming that their failure to do so is making them accessories to forest crime.
The remarks came in the wake of the publication at the meeting of a new EIA/Telapak report detailing how corruption within the Indonesian government agencies, coupled with unrestricted international trade in illegally sourced wood, is allowing rampant illegal logging to continue.
The report, entitled "Above the Law: Corruption, Collusion, Nepotism and the Fate of Indonesia's Forests" chronicles the case of Abdul Rasyid, the timber baron held to be responsible for the ongoing destruction of the world famous Tanjung Puting National Park in Indonesian Borneo.
Despite the international donors having made Tanjung Puting a test case for the Indonesian Government's willingness and ability to act, when three cargo ships owned by Abdul Rasyid were caught red-handed loading illegal logs in waters near the National Park the ships were eventually released as a result of the failure of corrupt officials to prosecute the case.
Illegal logging was high on the agenda at the meeting held in Bali, and EIA/Telapak were putting the pressure on for urgent action by the Indonesian government, as well as by consuming countries.
The US and Europe are two of the largest consumers of Indonesian timber and wood products, but neither currently has any legislation to ban the import of wood which was illegally cut. The European Commission is currently due to release a Communication detailing proposed actions to deal with the problem of illegal logging and the illegal timber trade.
This damning statement from the Indonesian government will add renewed pressure for the European Union to include the enactment of new legislation to prevent the import of illegally sourced timber and timber products.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This page contains copyrighted material the use of which has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. Global Policy Forum distributes this material without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. We believe this constitutes a fair use of any such copyrighted material as provided for in 17 U.S.C íŸ 107. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes of your own that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
