Nature Alert: No evidence of illegal Indonesian timber

Monday 10 November 2008

No evidence of illegal Indonesian timber

Personal note. It is common knowledge in Borneo that illegal timber is routed through Sarawak.

The StarOnline 10th November

Published: Monday November 10, 2008

No evidence of illegal Indonesian timber
By SHARON LING

KUCHING: There is no evidence of illegal timber from Indonesia being shipped to Sarawak for re-export as legal timber as has been alleged in an Indonesian newspaper, Second Minister of Planning and Resource Management Datuk Awang Tengah Ali Hasan said.

He said the state government had not received any official complaint from Indonesian authorities on the alleged export of illegal timber from Indonesia to Sarawak.

“As such, we ought not to accept what had been alleged in the Indonesian newspaper (Tribun Pontianak) as the truth,” he told the Sarawak State Assembly on Monday when winding up the debate on matters related to his ministry.

He said although the state government did not permit the import of logs from Indonesia into Sarawak, it allowed small sizes of sawn timber to be imported subject to certain conditions.

The sawn timber, which can only enter Sarawak through authorised entry points, must have supporting documents issued by the relevant Indonesian authorities permitting its export.

In addition, it must be handled by Harwood Timber Sdn Bhd at designated timber depots to be tagged and issued with a removal pass from the Sarawak Timber Industry Development Corporation (STIDC) before it can be taken elsewhere.

“These procedures enable the government to identify timber products from Indonesia so as to exclude any illegal timber taken into Sarawak from our neighbouring country,” Awang Tengah said, adding that the state government would never allow Sarawak to be used as a conduit for the illegal timber trade.

http://www.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2008/11/10/nation/20081110135202&sec=nation

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.