Nature Alert: Illegal Logs, Ships Seized in E. Kalimantan

Monday 18 February 2008

Illegal Logs, Ships Seized in E. Kalimantan

Illegal Logs, Ships Seized in E. Kalimantan

Source: The Jakarta Post - February 16, 2008 PASER, East Kalimantan

Police arrested Wednesday an Indonesian citizen and confiscated 720 cubic meters of illegal logs allegedly stolen from rainforest in Paser regency.

The man identified as JD was detained and the logs and three ships used to transport the logs were seized as material evidence for further investigations. East Kalimantan Police water police chief Sr. Comr. Harris Fadillah said the arrest was made on the Kerang River on a routine patrol of the regency.

"The logs and the ships were confiscated because they had no necessary documents from local forestry and transportation authorities," he said. Over the last two weeks, the military confiscated more than 32,000 logs allegedly stolen from rainforests in West Kalimantan. Illegal logging is still common in Kalimantan, despite tough laws and increased surveillance from security authorities. --JP

Hall of Shame for President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and the Palm Oil Industry.

Nothing can prepare one for the sight of the systematic extermination of orangutans by the government of Indonesia.

Look at the photos and news articles on these pages in the context of a statement the President made to the media on 10th December 2007.

“In the last 35 years about 50,000 orangutans are estimated to have been lost as their habitats shrank. If this continues, this majestic creature will likely face extinction by 2050,” President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said at the launch of an orangutan conservation plan at the climate talks in Bali.

“The fate of the orangutan is a subject that goes to the heart of sustainable forests … To save the orangutan we have to save the forest.”

Statements like these are most welcome, but unless backed up by action, such words fall on deaf ears within the Ministry of Forestry....who are busy granting licences to cut down the very forests the President says they should protect!

When you think you are to busy to help, please could you reflect for a moment on .........

The following extract refers to environmental problems in general. I just hope you find it as thought provoking and relevant to orangutans as I have.

"This is such a shocking and unpalatable fact that most people deny it, or they just don't want to think about it. They believe as individuals, they can do little about it, so push it to the back of their minds. But I can't do that.

When something has to be done, we need to do it. It doesn't matter how big the challenge is or how hard the solution; if I know something is wrong, and I am in a position to help, I will do my best to make it right." Duncan Bannatyne, successful British businessman.