Nature Alert: Illegal Logging In Orang Asli Reserve Land Halted

Friday, 5 February 2010

Illegal Logging In Orang Asli Reserve Land Halted

February 04, 2010 22:53 PM

Illegal Logging In Orang Asli Reserve Land Halted

KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 4 (Bernama) -- The Hulu Selangor District and Land Office halted an illegal logging activity in the Orang Asli reserve land in Sungai Remuk, Batang Kali with the arrest of six men in a raid yesterday.

Hulu Selangor District Officer Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan said the men were busy felling timber when were the district land office enforcement officers closed in.

The men, who were all locals, were employed by a logging syndicate, he added.

He said the enforcement officers seized 400 logs worth about RM400,000 in the raid.

"The logs, which were found about 50 metres from Jalan Kampung Congkak, Batang Kali, were ready to be taken out of the forest in a few days time," he added.

He said the case was being investigated under Section 40 of the National Forestry Act 1984 and Section 425 of the National Land Code.

-- BERNAMA

http://www.bernama.com/bernama/v5/newsindex.php?id=473550

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.