A loader sits atop a portion of the outward bound shipment onboard the ship MV Ardhianto as it is being loaded with a large consignment of plywood from some of the world’s most endangered forests, the Paradise Forests of Asia Pacific.
The ship is being loaded with up to 6,000 cubic metres of
plywood destined for Japan and Korea and 3,000 cubic metres for the
US. The timber is from the Henrison Iriana mill, a subsidiary of
one of Indonesia's largest logging companies, Kayu Lapis Indonesia
(KLI), and is destined for Japan, Korea and the US.
Papua is home to Asia Pacific's largest intact ancient forests
but they are being destroyed at an unprecedented rate by logging
companies, like KLI (2). At least 76% of logging in Indonesia,
including in Papua, is illegal. (3) Stolen timber is frequently
sold on to milling operations, like KLI, in Indonesia or
'disappears' offshore to feed the global market.
"Over the next couple of days a massive 9,000 cubic metres of
plywood, equivalent to 4,500 trees, will be loaded onto two ships
bound for markets in Asia and the US," said Greenpeace forests
campaigner, Hapsoro. "It's appalling to see unscrupulous companies,
like KLI, exporting Papua's precious ancient forests, fuelled by a
global market, hungry for plywood and other cheap timber
products."
Japan is the largest importer of Indonesian plywood, accounting
for over 60% of Indonesia's exports in 2005, followed by the US
(14%), the EU (13%) and China (9%).
Greenpeace has discovered that KLI's Henrison Iriana mill in
Sorong received timber from dubious and potentially illegal sources
in recent years. These sources supplied 53% of the mill's timber in
2002, 74% in 2003 and 70% in 2004 (4). Greenpeace is asking the
company for proof that all timber entering its mills is from legal,
well-managed sources and to provide documents that show exactly
where each tree was cut to make sure they are from responsible
logging operations and not from pristine forest areas. Greenpeace
is calling on the company to provide documents that show exactly
where each tree was cut to make sure they are not from pristine
forest areas.
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 more than 72% of
its large intact ancient forest areas and 40% of its forests have
been completely destroyed. (5)
"KLI and a handful of other logging companies have already wiped
out much of the Paradise Forests. If they carry on logging at these
rates, they will destroy all of Indonesia's large intact forests
within twenty years," said Hapsoro. "To protect these and other
ancient forests from companies like this, governments of countries
that produce timber must work together with countries that import
wood products, to ban the trade in illegal and destructively logged
timber."
Irresponsible logging not only impacts forests themselves, but
also millions of people who live in them and depend on them for
survival. Anger and resentment is building up in local communities
around Sorong who feel they have been inadequately compensated for
logging operations on their land. Most of the money made from
logging leaves the area and, once the trees are gone, all that is
left is seriously degraded land and waterways.
The Rainbow Warrior is on a 'Forest Crime Patrol' as part of a
Greenpeace campaign to highlight the crisis occurring in this and
other ancient forests. Greenpeace is in Indonesia at the invitation
of the Ministry of Forestry. It is bearing witness to, and
documenting, illegal and destructive logging in the region and
offering communities ecologically responsible alternatives to
industrial logging. (6)
Greenpeace is an independent, campaigning organization which
uses non-violent, creative confrontation to expose global
environmental problems, and to force solutions essential to a green
and peaceful future. It is committed to protecting the world's last
ancient forests and the people and animals that depend upon
them.
Other contacts: Hapsoro, Greenpeace Southeast Asia forest campaigner: + 62 812 110 8256 Tiy Chung: Communications officer on board the Rainbow Warrior: +61 409 604 010 Arthur Jones Dionio: Communications officer in Jakarta: +62 852 196 52330
Notes: (1) The Paradise Forests stretch from Southeast Asia through the islands of Indonesia and on to Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands in the Pacific.(2) http://www.greenpeace.org/international/press/reports/kayu-lapis-crime-file(3) Forest Futures Scenario Analysis, NRM-Bappenas-MFP, Jakarta, October 2004. This is a conservative figure because it does not even cover logs that are smuggled illegally to China, Malaysia and elsewhere. (4) KLI mill submissions to the Department of Forestry. (5) WRI 1997. The Last Frontier Forests. (6) On the other side of the island of New Guinea, in Papua New Guinea, Greenpeace volunteers are working with customary landowners in Lake Murray, Western Province, to mark the boundaries of their land, a first step towards protecting it from the logging industry and a basis for eco-forestry projects in the area.
Exp. contact date: 2007-04-11 00:00:00