Vietnam Becoming Major Hub For Illegally Logged SE Asian Timber - BBC

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Vietnam has become a major South-East Asian hub for processing illegally logged timber, according to a report from two environmental charities. The trade threatens some of the last intact forests in the region, say the UK-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and Indonesia's Telapak.

Because Vietnam has increased measures to protect its own forest, producers are getting timber from other nations. The authors add that some of the timber is reaching the UK as garden furniture. "Over the last decade, governments around the world have made a raft of pronouncements regarding the seriousness of illegal logging and their determination to tackle it," the authors of the Borderlines report say.


"Yet the stark reality is 'business as usual' for the organised syndicates looting the remaining precious tropical forests for a quick profit." The report says that an increase in the price of raw timber has prompted some wood producing countries, such as Indonesia, to take steps to combat illegal logging.

But, they explain, as tougher measures were enforced by one country, the problem shifts to another.

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http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7302732.stm