Indonesia's Crackdown On Illegal Logging Under Fire

WOOD PILE

Indonesia's government has promised to crackdown on illegal logging, but the practice continues, leading authorities charged with stamping it out to publicly rebuke each other. The government estimates illegal logging has cost the country about four billion dollars and some 2.8 million hectares of forest cover per year over the past decade.

by Staff Writers
Jakarta (AFP) May 17, 2007
Environmentalists condemned Thursday Indonesia's crackdown on illegal logging in the wake of revelations many suspects in timber-rich Papua province were escaping punishment. Police complained this week that courts had thrown out almost half of the cases of illegal logging that they had investigated in Papua.

"The problem not only lies with the justice system, but the whole chain of forest management," Greenpeace forest campaigner Hapsoro told AFP.

Hapsoro blamed a weak justice system for the acquittals, but said Papua's thousands of hectares of forests also needed to be better managed with tighter security to deter illegal loggers.

Police said they were becoming increasingly frustrated with the number of illegal loggers who were inexplicably being acquitted.

"Seventeen out of 29 cases of illegal logging in Papua have been acquitted and the rest were only given minimum punishments," said Hadiatmoko, the national deputy chief of special crime, on Wednesday.

"Police cannot do anything about the courts' decisions. We only hope that prosecutors will appeal the verdicts," Hadiatmoko said.

Indonesia's government has promised to crackdown on illegal logging, but the practice continues, leading authorities charged with stamping it out to publicly rebuke each other.

The government estimates illegal logging has cost the country about four billion dollars and some 2.8 million hectares of forest cover per year over the past decade.

Greenpeace has nominated Indonesia in the Guinness World Records in 2008 as having the highest deforestation rate in the world between 2000 and 2005.

The group said the country has lost more than 72 percent of its intact ancient forests and much of the rest is threatened by commercial logging and clearance for palm oil plantations.

Ten countries account for 80 percent of the world's primary forests, of which Indonesia, Mexico, Papua New Guinea and Brazil saw the highest losses in the five years from 2000 to 2005, the UN has said.

Source: Agence France-Presse

Memory Foam Mattress Review

SPACE MEDIA NETWORK PROMOTIONS
Solar Energy Solutions
Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison ...

Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News

WOOD PILE

Brazil Demonstrating That Reducing Tropical Deforestation Is Key WinWin Global Warming Solution

Woods Hole MA (SPX) May 16, 2007
Tropical deforestation is the source of nearly a fifth of annual, human-induced emissions of heat-trapping gases to the atmosphere. Recent studies by Woods Hole Research Center scientists demonstrate that during years of severe drought, tropical rainforest fires can double emissions from tropical forests.

INTERNET SPACE Satellite Enables Mobile Wireless Broadband Services To Conventional Devices Singapore Airlines Selects Rockwell Collins Satellite Communications Couch Potatoes On Track For Virtual World All Of Russia Will Have Internet And Phone Access	LAUNCH PAD Russia And ESA Sign Contract For Four Soyuz Launches From Kourou Ariane 5 Achieves Record Performance With Geostationary Transfer Orbit Ariane 5 Launches Twin GEO Birds Lockheed Martin-Built Astra 1L Satellite Ready For Launch
AEROSPACE Australia Fears Jet Flight Guilt Could Hit Tourism Nondestructive Testing Keeps Bagram Aircraft Flying New FAA Oceanic Air Traffic System Designed By Lockheed Martin Fully Operational NASA Seeks New Research Proposals	MILITARY COMMUNICATIONS General Dynamics To Provide Ku-Band Satellite On-the-Move Antenna System To Army Raytheon Awarded USAF Global Broadcast Services Contract Newest Navy Aircraft Unveiled by Northrop Grumman TSAT Team Moves Closer To Developing Flight-Ready Laser Terminals
TECH SPACE Improving Security Through Satellite Telecommunications From Ink To Optics, Study Of Particle Mixtures Yields Fundamental Insights The Case For T-SAT Space Tether For Satellite Navigation Sans Rocket Motors And Fuel	APPOINTMENTS Hall Appoints Feeney To Top GOP Position On Space And Aeronautics Subcommittee Dodgen Joins Northrop Grumman As Vice President Of Strategy For Missile Systems Business Townsend To Lead Ball Aerospace Exploration Systems In Huntsville NASA Nobel Prize Recipient To Lead Chief Scientist Office
EARTH OBSERVATION MetOp-A Takes Up Service General Dynamics Awarded Contract For NASA's Landsat Data Continuity Mission Study ESA Presents The Sharpest Ever Satellite Map Of Earth Transcontinental Wildfire Emissions Monitored From Space	GPS NEWS EU Sees Public Money Saving Galileo From Drifting Off Course Hyper-Accurate Clocks - The Beating Heart Of Galileo Germany Confident EU Will Take Over Galileo Project GIOVE-A Transmits First Navigation Message

The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright Space.TV Corporation. AFP and UPI Wire Stories are copyright Agence France-Presse and United Press International. ESA Portal Reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space.TV Corp on any Web page published or hosted by Space.TV Corp. Privacy Statement