13/05/2005 – WWF, together
with Conservation International and the American
Forest & Paper Association, has formed
a unique partnership to help the tsunami-stricken
people of Indonesia rebuild their lives without
destroying the already threatened tropical
forests of Sumatra.
Under a memorandum of understanding, the
partnership will seek donations of US timber
to be shipped to Indonesia’s Aceh province
for use in temporary shelter and in reconstructing
homes, schools, hospitals, and businesses
in the devastated region.
The unusual alliance is a response to Indonesia’s
appeal for donated building materials, particularly
timber, under the government’s new "Green
Reconstruction Policy Guidelines" for
environmentally sustainable rebuilding.
By arranging a supply of donated timber,
the partners will help Indonesia in a time
of crisis while preventing the increased destruction
of unique tropical forest that is habitat
for endangered species such as the Sumatran
orang-utan and Sumatran tiger, and numerous
plants species.
"This kind of partnership represents
conservation at its best – two sides, business
and the environment – coming together to help
people in need and save the endangered rain
forests of Sumatra at the same time,"
said Carter Roberts, Chief Conservation Officer
and COO of WWF-US.
The three organizations are working jointly
to mobilize an initial pilot shipment of lumber
and plywood from North American sources for
use in reconstruction of shelter in Aceh.
In addition to requesting contributions of
building materials from the American forest
products industry, the partners are seeking
government or private sector sponsors to cover
the costs of shipping donated building products
from the United States to Indonesia. They
also intend to work in collaboration with
leading humanitarian relief organizations
capable of handling the secure receipt and
distribution of donated lumber arriving in
Aceh.
"We are conducting the pilot program
to ensure that the donated timber will arrive
and be used appropriately by those who need
it most," said W. Henson Moore, President
and CEO of the American Forest & Paper
Association.
"Once that is established, we will have
a proven means to provide a long term supply
of responsibly and legally harvested wood
for the reconstruction of Aceh."
The December tsunami hit hardest along Aceh
province on Indonesia’s island of Sumatra.
Greenomics, an Indonesian research institute,
estimates that 1.1 million meters of sawn
timber will be required for reconstruction
over the next five years.
Domestic timber harvested from legal Indonesian
sources can meet only a small fraction of
the demand.
Without imported timber, pressure will increase
to illegally log the remaining tropical forests,
threatening their existence. The loss of such
biological treasures and the species they
harbor would be a conservation tragedy, and
increase the risk of mudslides and flooding
that uncontrolled deforestation invariably
causes.
"One of the biggest challenges of the
21st century is to provide opportunity and
hope for the world’s needy, in this case the
millions who lost their homes and villages
to the tsunami, while protecting the natural
assets of biodiversity that are crucial for
life on Earth," said Conservation International
Chairman and CEO Peter Seligmann.
"We recognize that imported timber donations
are only one piece of a much larger strategy
to assure enduring conservation and sustainable
reconstruction in Aceh."
NOTES:
• The American Forest & Paper Association
is the US's national trade association of
the forest, paper, and wood products industry.
Its represents more than 240 companies and
related associations that engage in or represent
the manufacture of pulp, paper, paperboard
and wood products. The Associations's members
sustainably manage more than 150 million acres
of forestland in North America, promote sustainable
forestry around the world, are world leaders
in recycling and paper recovery, and produce
thousands of wood and paper products.
