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A family stands by a logging road on Yokoname Mountain, Central Fly District, Western Province, PNG.
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Indonesia’s forests are being destroyed faster than any other on Earth.
A forest area the size of six football fields disappears every minute.
In total, Indonesia has already lost 72 per cent of its large
intact ancient forest areas. Papua New Guinea has lost 60 per cent.
Local communities suffer human rights abuses, great poverty and disease. Logging also destroys a uniquely rich biodiversity. Some species risk extinction.
Illegal logging is by far the main cause of deforestation in the Paradise Forests. When the bulldozers and chainsaws move in, the damage is staggering. Scientific studies show that the industrial loggers in Papua New Guinea destroy 17 trees for every one that is felled and removed. In Indonesia, an area of forest at least the size of Wales (around two million hectares) disappears every year.
Indonesia and Papua New Guinea have already lost around 65 per cent of their ancient Paradise Forests. It is estimated that up to 80 per cent of Indonesia’s forest is illegally logged. In 2001, the World Bank warned that some of the richest areas of the Paradise Forests could disappear by 2015.
A handful of international companies is cutting down the world’s last ancient forests at record rates.
Illegal timber smuggling operations involve many regional countries. For example, in Borneo’s Indonesian-owned south, Kalimantan, the illegal logging trade is thought to be controlled by the army. Logs are often smuggled into Malaysia, which controls most of northern Borneo. From there, the timber is shipped out, illegally relabelled as sustainably grown. Malaysia has recently moved to close illegal crossing points between the countries used by the loggers. But the trade continues and the only solution is for governments to ban illegal timber imports from countries like Indonesia and Malaysia.
China and Japan are the largest importers of illegal timber from the Paradise Forests. Much of this timber also ends up pulped for toilet paper and photocopy paper. Illegal timber from the merbau tree is highly prized in China for flooring. Merbau also finds its way to other countries, including Australia, the US and Europe.
Because forests help stabilise the world's climate, continued loss of the Paradise Forests will affect us all. Rivers will dry up, rainfall patterns will be disrupted and the global climate will change even more rapidly than it is now.
In Indonesia, where more species face extinction than in any other country, many mammals may disappear, including the orang-utan, Sumatran rhinoceros, clouded leopard, sun bear, proboscis monkey and Sumatran tiger. By 2054, experts predict a total world population of just 234 wild Sumatran orang-utans. If logging and orang-utan hunting were stopped today, that population would increase to 6570 orang-utans by 2054 (IUCN, Conservation Breeding Specialist Group, Orangutan Population and Habitat Viability Assessment, 2004).
For the forests’ human communities, logging means abuse, poverty and disease. Their fruit and nut trees are destroyed. Medicinal plants are crushed. They must travel longer to find food. Their drinking water is polluted by soil erosion. With less than five per cent of the logs’ value given back to the communities, the business of logging is moving landholders from subsistence affluence to a desperate type of poverty.
Local communities suffer human rights abuses, great poverty and disease. Logging also destroys a uniquely rich biodiversity. Some species risk extinction.
1) Cutting down ancient forests
Illegal logging is by far the main cause of deforestation in the Paradise Forests. When the bulldozers and chainsaws move in, the damage is staggering. Scientific studies show that the industrial loggers in Papua New Guinea destroy 17 trees for every one that is felled and removed. In Indonesia, an area of forest at least the size of Wales (around two million hectares) disappears every year.
Indonesia and Papua New Guinea have already lost around 65 per cent of their ancient Paradise Forests. It is estimated that up to 80 per cent of Indonesia’s forest is illegally logged. In 2001, the World Bank warned that some of the richest areas of the Paradise Forests could disappear by 2015.
A handful of international companies is cutting down the world’s last ancient forests at record rates.
2) Smuggling the illegal timber overseas
Illegal timber smuggling operations involve many regional countries. For example, in Borneo’s Indonesian-owned south, Kalimantan, the illegal logging trade is thought to be controlled by the army. Logs are often smuggled into Malaysia, which controls most of northern Borneo. From there, the timber is shipped out, illegally relabelled as sustainably grown. Malaysia has recently moved to close illegal crossing points between the countries used by the loggers. But the trade continues and the only solution is for governments to ban illegal timber imports from countries like Indonesia and Malaysia.
China and Japan are the largest importers of illegal timber from the Paradise Forests. Much of this timber also ends up pulped for toilet paper and photocopy paper. Illegal timber from the merbau tree is highly prized in China for flooring. Merbau also finds its way to other countries, including Australia, the US and Europe.
Watch the video: Greenpeace action against a logging barge
Global impacts of a disappearing forest
Because forests help stabilise the world's climate, continued loss of the Paradise Forests will affect us all. Rivers will dry up, rainfall patterns will be disrupted and the global climate will change even more rapidly than it is now.
In Indonesia, where more species face extinction than in any other country, many mammals may disappear, including the orang-utan, Sumatran rhinoceros, clouded leopard, sun bear, proboscis monkey and Sumatran tiger. By 2054, experts predict a total world population of just 234 wild Sumatran orang-utans. If logging and orang-utan hunting were stopped today, that population would increase to 6570 orang-utans by 2054 (IUCN, Conservation Breeding Specialist Group, Orangutan Population and Habitat Viability Assessment, 2004).
For the forests’ human communities, logging means abuse, poverty and disease. Their fruit and nut trees are destroyed. Medicinal plants are crushed. They must travel longer to find food. Their drinking water is polluted by soil erosion. With less than five per cent of the logs’ value given back to the communities, the business of logging is moving landholders from subsistence affluence to a desperate type of poverty.
