Law enforcement officials from Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Japan and four other countries on either side of the timber trade are meeting this week in Jakarta, Indonesia, to create a transnational plan to stop illegal logging and other forestry crimes, according to The Jakarta Globe.
Davyth Stewart, a criminal intelligence officer with Interpol's environmental crime program, argued that an open flow of information between timber-producing countries, such as Indonesia, and timber-consuming countries, such as Japan, was important in the fight against illegal logging and the smuggling of illegally felled timber.
"Many environmental crimes are transnational, which is why the exchange of intelligence and management of investigative information is crucial," he said.
Indonesian officials recently adopted a barcode system for all timber set to be exported to more easily identify illegally logged wood. Any timber without a barcode cannot be exported.
However, Diah Raharjo, director of the Multistakeholder Forestry Program, an initiative by the Forestry Ministry and the British Department for International Development, pointed out that such measures need to be perfected for preventing illegal timber from being traded domestically as well. The Jakarta Globe reported that 80 percent of Indonesian furniture is consumed within the country.
