Greenpeace occupies timber ship in Belgium in bid to save orang-utans and tigers from extinction
Greenpeace calls on Belgian Government to seize shipment and stop illegal timber trade
Brussels, Amsterdam, 19 March 2004 - Greenpeace today demanded that the Belgian Government seize a huge cargo ship in
the port of Antwerp loaded with timber from Indonesia's rainforests where logging is threatening the survival of
orang-utans and tigers. Greenpeace boarded the ship at 15:00 hrs this afternoon in an attempt to stop it delivering its
cargo to the Belgian port of Antwerp. Greenpeace researchers have been tracking the cargo ship since it was loaded with
rainforest timber in Indonesia in early February.
The Greenpeace ship the MV Esperanza has been following the MV Greveno for several days after it entered European
waters. Greenpeace volunteers have today used inflatables, launched from a second Greenpeace ship, the MV Argus, and
caving hook ladders to board the Greveno. Two activists are currently on board the ship. This was the sixth attempt to
board the ship this week. The load is destined for Antwerp, from where some of the timber will be transported to The
Netherlands.
The timber onboard is being supplied by Korindo, a company proven to be using illegal timber from the last rainforests
of Indonesia and Tjipta, whose logs come from an area where illegal and destructive logging is threatening the survival
of the Sumatran tiger. An Indonesian Government investigation has found that Korindo buys from notorious timber barons
commonly known to obtain timber from an orang-utan refuge, Tanjung Puting National Park (2), where aerial photography by
Greenpeace has recently revealed further evidence of illegal clear-cutting. Latest estimates show that nearly half the
national park has been damaged.
Greenpeace International forest campaigner, Gavin Edwards said, 'The logging, export and sale of this timber is nothing
short of organised crime. Behind each sheet of plywood that originates from Indonesia's rainforests there is a web of
criminal activity, corruption and bloodshed. Governments worldwide must reject this criminal timber and shut down the
market for illegal wood before the Indonesian rainforest is gone and orang-utans and tigers are only found in zoos.'
In Indonesia up to 90% of all logging is illegal and the industry is linked to corruption, violence and human rights
abuses (3). A World Bank/WWF report concluded that probably every single log in Indonesia is 'characterised by the
breaking or manipulating of some regulation' (4). Mr Prakosa, Indonesia's Minister of Forestry, admitted on 11 March
2004 at a press conference, that illegal logging was out of control.
Indonesia's rainforest is disappearing faster than any other rainforest in the world. An area the size of Belgium is
destroyed every year and experts predict that by 2010 most of Indonesia's lowland rainforests will be gone from Sumatra
and Borneo. The Indonesian rainforest is a haven for wildlife, with the longest list of endangered species in the world.
This includes the orang-utan, which is only found in Sumatra and Borneo (5) and whose numbers have halved in just 10
years and the Sumatran tiger, of which less than 500 remain. The World Bank has described Indonesia as facing 'a species
extinction spasm of planetary proportions' (6).
Fifty million people depend on the rainforest for hunting, fishing and making rattan and honey (7). If the forest is
lost, their livelihoods will be too.
While many European Governments have spoken out against the illegal trade in timber, tougher rules are required to stop
illegally logged timber being imported. Greenpeace believes that the EU must introduce new legislation under the FLEGT
Action Plan (8) to make it a crime to import and market illegally logged timber and wood products. Hapsoro, a campaigner
from the Indonesian environmental group Telapak (9), said: 'Cargoes of timber like this one are driving rainforest
destruction and human rights abuses in Indonesia so that rich countries can get cheap plywood. Indonesia needs help to
enforce its laws, that is why European Governments must now take action to ban the import of illegal timber.'
Editors Notes:
(1) The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) label provides the only truly independent guarantee that timber products have
come from well-managed forests.
(2) Korindo's Ariabima Sari mill, where this plywood was loaded, was inspected by Indonesian Department of Forestry
Inspectors in May 2003 and found to be using illegal logs purchased from the notorious Rasyid family, well known for
trade in illegal timber from Tanjung Putting National Park (see for example 'Illegal Logging in 'Tanjung Puting National
Park' at http://www.eia-international.org.) The mill is also breaching Indonesian regulation PP13 1995, through
operating at approximately 165% its licensed capacity. In late 2003 Korindo refused to participate in a UK trade
initiative to assess the 'legality' of Indonesian timber operations. This was confirmed in a meeting with the UK Timber
Federation in February 2004. The mill has also been supplied by Muslim Halim, another company previously known to be
using illegal timber from Tanjung Puting National Park. The second company who's plywood is onboard, is Tjipta who
operate in Sumatra without access to their own forest concession. The company purchases timber from the open market in
an area renowned for illegal logging.
(3) 'Partners in Crime: A Greenpeace Investigation of the links between the UK and Indonesia's timber barons' at
www.saveordelete.com
(4) 'Partners in Crime: A Greenpeace Investigation of the links between the UK and Indonesia's timber barons' at
www.saveordelete.com and D W Brown WWF/World Bank Alliance, 17 October 2002.
(5) WWF estimate, Press release 'Orang-utans face extinction' 12 January 2004.
(6) 'Partners in Crime: A Greenpeace Investigation of the links between the UK and Indonesia's timber barons' at
www.saveordelete.com
(7) World Bank (2001), Indonesia: Environment and Natural Resource Management in a Time of Transition.
(8) The European FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement, Governance & Trade) Action Plan was presented by the European Commission to the European Member States in May 2003. It aims at
developing a new set of measures to combat illegal logging and related trade. http://europa.eu.int/comm/external_relations/flegt/intro/ip03_718.htm
(9) Telapak is an Indonesian NGO working on environmental issues including illegal logging.