Logging Out

A key Malaysian minister said this week that he hoped the government would move to ban imports of illegally logged Indonesian trees into his country within two weeks. Indonesia has banned the export of uncut logs from its rainforests, but its government has acknowledged that illegal logging continues and has asked other nations to step up to the plate by banning imports of the illegal timber. About 70 percent of Indonesian timber is estimated to have been illegally cut. Much of the timber is imported into Malaysia, where it is fashioned into wood products and then exported to Europe and the U.S.