Senior forestry officials in Papua, Indonesia who face charges of violating forestry law by issuing logging permits for protected tribal territories could be jailed for up to five years.
Regulations state that tribal forestry land can only be logged with the consent of the indigenous tribe.
Environmental groups believe the export of illegal merbau from Papua to China represents the world’s biggest timber smuggling of a single wood species.
The Environmental Investigation Agency claims that 300,000m3 of merbau is being smuggled out of Papua to China every month.
It says Indonesian military and civilian officials are involved in illegal logging.
