Illegale Holzschlägerungen

JAKARTA: The European Union (EU) and Indonesia are preparing to sign a Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade - Voluntary Partnership Agreement (FLEGT-VPA), a joint statement said Wednesday.

“We are nearly there,” Forestry Ministry business development director general Iman Santoso said in the statement. It is expected the agreement will be concluded in the next two to three months.

A paradigm shift in global forest management is needed to halt tropical deforestation, said Global Witness at the start of the UN’s International Year of Forests. The status quo effectively legalises the destruction of natural forests by logging operations, subsidised by tax-dollars. Without efforts to overturn this, international action to prevent irreversible climate change will founder and the livelihoods of over a billion forest-dependent people will be at risk.

AGRICULTURE Minister Robert Persaud said, Wednesday, that the Government has led efforts to strengthen forest legality to ensure access to traditional and new markets and is pursuing avenues to build on what was previously achieved. He was speaking to stakeholders at a European Union (EU) Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Awareness Workshop at Grand Coastal Inn, East Coast Demerara.

Europe has passed new legislation to counter the flow of illegal timber into its markets. With Guyana last year exporting timber to the tune of US$5M ($1B) to the European Union, the market is one that the country could ill-afford to lose.
Next Wednesday, the Forest Products Association of Guyana (FPA) will be holding a workshop with the assistance from the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) of the United Nations, to increase awareness of the EU’s Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) new measures which have implications for exporting countries.