Aceh: "unemployed" ex rebels take to illegal logging
Ex separatists are earning a living by logging in the world's third largest tropical forest. The demand for wood has shot up thanks to post-tsunami reconstruction projects.
Lam Kabeue (AsiaNews/JP) Peace in the Indonesian province of Aceh has prompted the rebels to lay down their arms, but it has also paved the way for deforestation in the world's third largest tropical forest. With the end of hostilities between separatists of GAM (Movement for Free Aceh) and the government, the territory's virgin forests have become accessible to all and are being exploited for illegal trafficking in timber. Numerous reconstruction projects in the area, planned after the 2004 tsunami that destroyed about 130,000 homes, have created an insatiable demand for wood.
"Everyone is getting into the logging business," says Taydin, 25, a former rebel. When peace was reached a year ago, the rebels found themselves "unemployed" and desperate for money. So they got together in work gangs and started to cut down prized trees. The youth admitted he has no permit to cut trees, but he bribes police to let him transport it to the provincial capital, Banda Aceh. "People have no work, so selling the wood is a good way to make money," said Taydin.
Indonesia's forest reserves are the world's largest after the Amazon and the Congo basin. However, around 40% has been destroyed by illegal loggers in the last 50 years. The WWF said that if the rate of deforestation did not let up, the lowland trees of Sumatra and the nearby island of Kalimantan would disappear by 2010. Yesterday the Indonesian Forestry Minister, M.S. Kaban, said the country's deforestation was so extreme that at least 120 years were needed to recuperate the 60 million hectares lost so far.
Commercial logging has been illegal in Aceh since 2001 so many have turned to other parts of Indonesia for construction timber, but the WWF said up to 70% of Indonesia timber is protected. To avoid resorting to illegal sources, many post-tsunami aid agencies have had to review their housing projects, using less wood or delaying construction to use legally acquired material.
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11/11/2021 11:42
