Major Countries Seek Proper Forest Trade

Deforestation in Cambodia (Photo: AP)

Kong Sothanarith, VOA Khmer
Phnom Penh
Tuesday, 04 May 2010

Representatives of sixteen countries from the EU and Asia met Tuesday in a bid to improve regional forestry protection and promote timber trade between Asia and Europe.

“Forest products, timber products, contribute a very important and large share of the plate between the Asian region and the European Union,” said Tim Makela, director of the office for Sustainable Development and Integration at the European Commission’s General Environment Directorate. “So timber products, forest products, they are important for our economy.”

The Food and Agricultural Organization estimated in 2001 that the total value of word trade in forest products had reached $140 billion, linking Asian, North American and European markets. But a World Bank report on illegal logging in 2006 said annual global losses from illegal cutting were more than $10 billion, more than eight times the development assistance for sustainable forestry management.

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