Illegal logging

Efforts to stem illegal logging by requiring Indonesian timber exports to be certified will prove futile if cheaper, uncertified wood continues to be available on the market, officials said on Tuesday.

Diah Raharjo, director of the Multistakeholder Forestry Program, a collaboration between the Indonesian and British governments, said progress was being made in getting logging firms to comply but there was still much work to do.

THE House of Representatives has passed on third and final reading a proposed law imposing life imprisonment to people engaged in illegal logging.

Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara said the measure would strengthen government’s campaign against illegal loggers which is now causing serious flooding in the country, recently in Northern Mindanao.

New regulations banning sale of illegal timber in consumer countries will force companies to move away from business-as-usual practices, part of a two-pronged approach to ensure the sustainability of supply for wood products.

IT will be interesting to see whether Malaysia will finally decide to support the European Union's (EU) new timber regulation that will come into force in January next year.

The town of Ayun, home to 16,000 people in the Chitral district of Pakistan, has been rocked by large-scale protests and mass arrests over the issue of corruption and deforestation in recent days.