The government of Indonesia earlier this month began implementing a ban on illegally harvested wood product exports, according to The Jakarta Post.
The move comes on the heels of a July decision by the European Union (EU) to ban the import of illegally harvested timber products; about 33 percent of Indonesia's timber exports are sent to market in the EU each year. The government made it mandatory for forestry companies to obtain official certificates to show that timber has been legally sourced without damaging forests. The policy has been deemed necessary since, according to official statistics, illegal logging activities have been destroying more than 1 million hectares of forests each year. The exact date of the full implementation of Indonesia's ban was not given, however, it will most likely coincide with the EU's plan to fully implement its import ban by 2013. Indonesia's ban was closely coordinated with EU input; the EU is currently negotiating similar agreements with "a number of other countries, including Malaysia." (Photo courtesy of Neil Franklin.)
