Wednesday 16 February 2005

A new report by WWF Indonesia and policy research institute Greenomics Indonesia estimates that as much as 8 million cubic metres of logs will be needed to rebuild houses, schools, offices, fishing boats, hospitals and bridges in Aceh over the next five years. This is equivalent to nearly 270,000 ha of forest - an area more than four times the size of Singapore.

Tessa Robertson, Head of the Forests Programme at WWF-UK, said: "The island of Sumatra has already lost the majority of its natural forest, and what does remain is mainly in uplands and conservation areas, home to rare species such as the orang-utan. Logging these areas to supply timber for Aceh not only would have a devastating impact from a conservation point of view, it could also trigger additional human disasters."

In September 2003 a flood in the area killed several hundred people. That flood was explicitly linked to illegal logging that had occurred in the highlands.

WWF is also concerned that if all the wood required for Aceh comes from Indonesia, it will exacerbate the already severe problem of illegal logging.

It is estimated that as much as 80 per cent of the wood used by Indonesia's wood-based industries comes from illegal sources. WWF believes that in order to avoid the clearing of hundreds of thousands of Indonesian forests, alternative foreign sources of timber should be provided by donor governments and aid agencies. Companies can also help by donating timber from well managed sources.

WWF's 'Timber for Aceh' is an international initiative aimed at governments and companies around the world. WWF has written to the President of Indonesia and key ministers in his cabinet with a number of recommendations on how to facilitate the use of imported timber for the reconstruction.

Tessa Robertson added: "We are very encouraged by the positive responses we have already had from the Indonesian Government, the UN, development charities and governments and companies from all over the world. The UK government has an important role to play in supporting 'Timber for Aceh' and in encouraging UK companies to contribute. We will be contacting members of our Forest and Trade Network (FTN) to see if they can help."