Greenpeace is urging Australia and New Zealand to crack down on illegal timber imports from Papua New Guinea (PNG).
The organisation claims many timber companies in Australia are selling wood originating from illegally-logged rainforests in PNG and wants the federal government to take action.
PNG loggers are opposing Greenpeace’s campaign, saying it will hit the country’s timber industry and affect landowners.
Australian forestry minister Ian Macdonald believes illegal logging should be dealt with by PNG authorities. But he called on Australia to be “self-sufficient” in forests and wood products so it would not have to import timber from PNG.
Meanwhile, a new report by the US-based Environmental Investigation Agency and Indonesian green group Telepak accuses Malaysia of being at the centre of a lucrative illegal trade in Indonesian ramin. The Malaysian Timber Council has rejected the publication as “grossly overstated”.
The report’s release coincides with Greenpeace’s claims of further evidence of illegal logging in Indonesia’s Tanjung Putting National Park, Kalimantan. It says suspected illegal plywood exports are destined for Tilbury Docks, near London, Holland and Belgium.
Japan plans to help reduce logging on the Indonesian island of Sumatra with help from WWF. Large areas of the island’s forests have been logged in recent years to make paper destined for the Japanese market.
