Vietnam has become an Asian center for processing illegal cut timber that is then sold to the US under the shape of outdoor furniture.
A report presented by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) from Great Britain with support from its Indonesian partner Talapak, clearly shows the dangerous situation the last virgin forests in Southern Asia are put because of illegal timber trade.
“Despite the fact that illegal cutting has become an important issue for government authorities, the demand for wood still “fuels” the destruction of important tropical forests”, states Julian Newman, chief of the The Forest Conservation Program.
Currently, the import of stolen wooden products is legal on US territory. But the future legislation approved by the American Congress will ban imports for illegal manufactured wood products.
EIA estimates that the illegal cut timber business, conducted by corrupt unions with help from government officials, produces costs up to 10 to 15 billions of dollars/ year.
The rise of timber costs has driven wood manufacturing countries, such as Indonesia, to cut down on illegal cutting.
Other countries, such as China and Vietnam, have taken measures to considerably reduce all cuttings from their own forests, while raising the imports from neighbouring countries.
Almost 60% of tropical wood commerce takes place between countries from southern and eastern Asia.
“One of the great changes in Asian the wood industry, in the last decade was caused by the emergence of a great wood manufacturing industry in China and Vietnam”, declared Newman.
The Mekong region – which includes Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and China – there are the most valuable and vulnerable species of trees sought after by international commercial companies: rosewood, teak, keruing and yellow balau. |
