The United States and Indonesia have launched talks aimed at reducing illegal logging that threatens the Southeast Asian country's vast rain forest, the US Trade Representative's office said on Tuesday.
"The United States and Indonesia are committed to concluding a landmark agreement to combat illegal logging and illegal trade in endangered species," US Trade Representative Rob Portman said in a statement.
Negotiations started this week present "a unique opportunity to strengthen our cooperation with Indonesia to better protect Indonesia's parks, forests and sensitive habitats from illegal logging," Portman said.
Nearly 80 percent of Indonesia's annual timber harvest is estimated to be illegal, threatening the environment of indigenous tribes and many rare species.
At present cutting rates, natural forests in Indonesia will be logged out in 10 years, according to a report released last month by the Environmental Investigation Agency, a independent organization with the self-described mission of "investigating and exposing environmental crime."
The report identified the United States, Japan and the European Union as major markets for furniture and wood products made from illegally logged timber. China imports much of the wood and transforms it into furniture, plywood and other processed products for exports, the report said.Reuters via Planet Ark
