Nature Alert: Organised Syndicates Behind Illegal Logging

Monday, 23 November 2009

Organised Syndicates Behind Illegal Logging

November 23, 2009 16:40 PM

Organised Syndicates Behind Illegal Logging - Kurup

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 23 (Bernama) -- Organised syndicates using sophisticated communication and tontos (lookouts) are behind illegal logging in the country.

Deputy Minister of Natural Resources and Environment Tan Sri Joseph Kurup said the illegal loggers' modus operandi and strategy were revealed after intelligence work and investigation by the Forestry Department.

"Their modus operandi is organised, bold, involves outsiders (tontos), use sophisticated communication and diversion tactics," he said in reply to a question by Che Uda Che Nik (PAS-Sik) in Dewan Rakyat here on Monday.

Che Uda had asked why illegal logging could not be reduced or wiped out as the heavy machines deployed and logs make detection easy.

"We need assistance and cooperation from the public to inform us of illegal logging activities," Kurup said.

The government viewed illegal logging seriously due to the negative effects on biodiversity, forest quality and the environment and was always monitoring the situation.

He said as of Oct, the Forestry Department detected 76 cases of illegal logging and that 143 cases were detected last year.

-- BERNAMA

http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=457351

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.