(This article was first published in kabar-irian.com and in The Indonesian Conservation News Letter. It was then distributed over news networks worldwide, in 2002 and 2003)
The lobbies of upper class hotels in this provincial town at the Bird Head of Indonesian New Guinea in recent months became the meeting place of East Asia’s logging firms – from Malaysia and China in particular. After having largely depleted the timber resources of western Indonesia, the wave of destruction now has reached out to the eastern-most Province of Indonesia: Papua (formerly Irian Jaya). Business is in full swing for the companies and government agents, but certainly NOT for the local village communities - the traditional owners of the rainforest. The attractiveness of Sorong is no secret: The Regent (Bupati), Mr John Piet Wanane and his regional government care little about government laws and issue logging permits even for Strict Nature Reserves ( Cagar Alam ) ! ...weiterlesen "SORONG (PAPUA): A haven for illegal logging – with full government support"