10/03/2006 - Manila, Philippines
— More than four years ago, East Asian governments
promised to take “immediate” steps to stop
illegal logging. Yet the Paradise Forests
are no better off than they were on September
13, 2001 when delegates to the East Asia
Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (FLEG)
ministerial meeting promised to take action.
Greenpeace has called on participating FLEG
countries to put words into action and address
the problem of illegal logging in the region
– before it’s too late.
Although the FLEG declaration promised
to address forest crime at all levels, logs
that have been illegally harvested still
find their way to countries like Japan and
China. Some logs are used domestically,
others are processed and sold on to markets
in Europe and the USA, where demand for
cheap timber and wood products is high.
FLEG must target both the producer countries
(like PNG and Indonesia) and consumer countries
(like China, Japan and the EU), ensuring
governments prosecute individuals and companies
involved in the illegal timber trade.
The Paradise Forests are among some of
the most heavily logged areas on earth.
Much of the intact areas of these forests
have already been logged. In Indonesia the
figure is as high as 72 percent, in Papua
New Guinea (PNG) it is 60 percent.
At this rate, the Paradise Forests and
the unique plants and animals that live
there could be gone in ten years.
Greenpeace ship, the Rainbow Warrior, is
on ‘Forests Crime Patrol’ from PNG, through
Indonesia and on to Japan to show that,
despite commitments from governments, illegal
logging continues.
At the same time, our volunteers are living
and working alongside local landowners to
showcase community forest solutions at the
Global Forest Rescue Station (GFRS) at Lake
Murray in Western Province, PNG.
