Nine countries from East Asia
reached a breakthrough in their fight against
illegal logging and destruction of forests following
the conclusion of a conference held in Bali,
Indonesia. The three day summit, entitled Forest
Law Enforcement and Governance was attended by
representatives of 15 countries from around the
world and international Nongovernmental Organizations
(NGO).
Hilary
Benn, Britain's Parliamentary Under Secretary of
State for International Development, welcomed the
declaration yielded by this conference, calling
it "an historic occasion." He drew attention
to the relation between illegal logging and climate
change.
Illegal logging causes the disappearance of forest
habitat and species of wildlife. This in turn leads
to the loss of biodiversity. He also said that
illegally logged timber can fuel violent conflict
and the loss of government revenue.
The declaration calls for action to be taken against
violations of forest law and forest crime. The
states aim to devise ways in which the export and
import of illegally harvested timber can be eliminated.
They intend to get local communities involved in
decision making for future forests.
Finally the declaration calls for the development
of a South East Asian task force to implement the
suggestions. The Department for International Development
(DFID) has Multistakeholder Forestry Program in
place in Indonesia that is worth approximately
45 million dollars. Benn met with Indonesian President
Megawati in Jakarta to discuss the program.
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