UNODC: Stop Illegal Timber Trade To Save Orangutan

Jakarta, Dec 11 (ANTARA) - The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has called on the government to immediately crack down on illegal timber trade, corruption, and transnational organized crime in order to save the endangered orangutan, according to a UNODC press release received by ANTARA here on Tuesday. "Environmental crimes are often financed and organized by transnational organized criminal groups, who have destroyed and endangered various species around the world," the executive Director of UNODC, Yury Fedotov, said in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan, on Monday (December 10). A UNODC study estimates that up to 40 percent of wood products exported from East Asia and the Pacific may be produced from illegally harvested wood. Therefore, Fedotov urged policymakers to consider environmental crimes as a serious form of transnational organized crime. "Radical changes, good governance, and strong involvement of the criminal justice system are necessary to save endangered species, communities, and habitats," he said. "It is estimated that only 50,000 orangutans remain in the wild. The fate of the orangutans is tied to Indonesia`s forests," Fedotov noted. According to UNODC, Indonesia loses 1.6-2.8 million hectares of forests annually. "This is equivalent to losing four to seven football pitches per minute. To save endangered species like the orangutan, we must put a stop to illegal timber trade in order to save the forests of Indonesia," Fedotov stated. "Orangutan, through their activities, can help assess whether an area is vulnerable to deforestation," he said. "They always stay close to the place where they were born. When they start to migrate, it means their habitat is under severe stress," Fedotov pointed out. Fedotov noted that most orangutans that had come under the care of Kalimantan provincial authorities had been displaced by the destruction of their natural habitats through illegal logging and land clearing activities. "Today, the story of illegal timber trade is a story of violence, killings, corruption, and money laundering," he said. "Therefore, along with good governance in the forestry sector, we need better law enforcement," Fedotov added. Fedotov made the statements during his visit to Nyaru Menteng Orangutan Rehabilitation Centre in Central Kalimantan to commemorate the International Corruption Day on December 9 and demonstrate UNODC`s commitment to addressing environmental crimes. "Given the transnational nature of environmental crimes, it is necessary to forge partnerships to increase our reach and to speed up progress," he said. According to Fedotov, the creation of the International Consortium on Combating Wildlife Crime (ICCWC) - a collaborative effort of the UNODC, Interpol, World Bank, World Customs Organization and CITES - is "just one example of the coordinated response needed to save the earth". He praised the Indonesian government for its efforts to tackle environmental crimes, adding that the UNODC was ready to provide support. "For instance, Central Kalimantan has been selected as a pilot province for the Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+) initiative," Fedotov noted. Indonesia has become one of the world`s leading countries in the implementation of REDD+. The Indonesian government is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 26 percent by 2020 and to combating forest crimes. In doing so, the country has received support from UNODC Indonesia and the government of Norway. Currently, UNODC Indonesia is running conservation projects in Papua, West Papua, and Central Kalimantan. "Including the Kalimantan province was the last leg of our mission in Southeast Asia," Fedotov said. During his tour of Southeast Asia, he discussed and engaged with stakeholders on a broad range of human security threats, including illicit drugs, transnational organized crime, anti-corruption, as well as environmental crimes, such as illegal timber trade and destruction of wildlife.