– Am I cynical about announcements like these?  You bet.  We see them over and over again.  And then, a year or so later, the other shoe drops and we find that nothings been done and the situation is worse than before.  Indonesia, Brazil, Africa – same story again and again.
– I’m tired of all the stories that folks are going to ‘do something’. Â Let’s get to the part where something’s actually being done.
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Interesting developments in Indonesia on the deforestation front! An editorial in the Jakarta Post discusses a recent announcement from the Indonesian Forestry Ministry to require forest certification. As the editorial outlines this:
bold move to require forestry companies to have their wood stocks audited throughout the supply chain to ensure the wood is derived from sustainably managed forests could go a long way in reducing illegal logging in the country.
Addressing illegal logging must be one of the central elements in the efforts to address global warming pollution from deforestation. And, consumer demand is definitely a factor that needs to be a part of the solution on illegal logging (as I discussed in Illegal (B)Logging). As the editorial highlights:
It is international market forces (consumers and traders) united into a global green consumer campaign that have forced wood-based companies to have their wood certified as green by independent certifying companies.
There are various “tools” under discussion to address illegal logging and its related exports. Certification systems as announced by the Indonesian government are one such solution to illegal logging and provide consumers in the importing countries with the information to only buy sustainably sourced wood. This new Indonesian program will reportedly be third-party certified, which will add more credibility to the system which has had poor past performance in addressing illegal logging.
More… ➡