Indonesia Scores Big Win in Tropical Timber Conservation
Bangkok, Thailand—Parties
to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species
(CITES), meeting here today, unanimously agreed to new controls over
the international trade in ramin, a tropical hardwood found in
Southeast Asia. “Today’s decision is a victory both for ramin and
for southeast Asia’s unique and priceless forests,” said Carroll
Muffett, Director of International Programs for Defenders of
Wildlife, a wildlife conservation organization based in Washington,
DC.
Ramin has declined
dramatically and is commercially extinct throughout much of its
former range. The species (Gonystylus spp.), proposed for
protection by Indonesia, will be listed on Appendix II of CITES,
thus requiring appropriate export permits for trade. Exporting
nations will also have to conclude that the trade will not prove
detrimental to the species in the wild.
“Illegal logging of
tropical forests is among the most serious threats facing the global
environment—destroying forests, threatening wildlife, and bringing
violence and social unrest to indigenous peoples,” Muffett noted.
“Illegal logging has made consumers in the United States and Europe
unwitting accomplices in the devastation of Indonesia’s forests.
The high price of ramin on international markets, where a cubic
meter can fetch up to $1,000, has been driving the destruction of
rainforest habitats for far too long. Listing ramin under CITES is
a critical step toward controlling the illegal trade in this
species.’
The listing is also
vitally important for the protection of forest-dwelling animals,
including threatened and endangered species, whose habitat is
destroyed by illegal loggers. Critically endangered orangutans are
at particular risk, and today’s listing offers some hope for the
survival of the species.
A new report by the
Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), The Ramin Racket,
has exposed how ramin is being illegally logged in Indonesian
National Parks and laundered through neighboring countries,
including Malaysia. The wood eventually reaches international
markets in the form of products such as pool cues and picture
frames. “More illegal ramin is currently being traded than legal
wood,” said Sam Lawson, EIA Forest Investigator. “These new CITES
measures should help stop this destructive trade - but they will
only work if Parties make a serious commitment to enforce the
listing,” he added.
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