"I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree..."

But in the future we will only know the trees in lovely poems. 



Forestry Bribes Increasing

 
RFA 2010-01-27
 
BANGKOK—The number of forestry officials in Laos charged with taking
bribes is increasing despite an ongoing crackdown, according to a top
government lawyer.
 
Rangsy Sibounheuang, deputy chief public prosecutor, said logging
companies in central Laos have been bribing officials to cut logs
beyond their government-approved quotas.
 
“If a lumber company’s quota allows them to cut 1,000 cubic meters
(35,300 cubic feet) of wood, they will cut 1,500 cubic meters (53,000
cubic feet) instead and then bribe the inspectors for the difference,”
he said.
 
“This is happening primarily in Savannakhet and Khammuan provinces and
the recipients of the bribes are mainly middle-level officials—we’ve
convicted some of them already.”
 
But Rangsy Sibounheuang said the number of incidents involving bribery
of forestry officials is slowing after two to three years of increases
because stricter penalties are proving to be an effective deterrent to
would-be offenders.
 
“[The bribery] is now decreasing because we have been giving out stiff
penalties. If the incident is serious enough, it will merit jail time
and fines,” he said, adding that penalties differ from case to case
and also depend on the level of the official involved.
 
Rangsy Sibounheuang said that while the bribing of Lao forestry
officials is largely perpetrated by logging companies, widescale
illegal logging continues throughout Laos, including at the individual
level.
 
“It’s not just companies, but also citizens without permits. Citizens
continue to illegally cut logs in national forestry preserves as well
as in national parks,” he said.
 
Logging remains a problem
 
Despite a number of new regulations regarding the timber industry,
excessive logging remains a serious problem in Laos.
 
According to a recent World Bank report, a relatively low population
density and moderate rate of natural resource exploitation compared
with neighboring countries have allowed significant natural resources
in Laos to survive.
 
But the report added that natural resources play a significant role in
supporting rural livelihoods and contributing towards the national
economy.
 
While Laos enjoys forest cover that is substantially higher than in
surrounding countries, it is precisely this natural resource that
attracts investment from abroad.
 
The report named timber and hydropower as the country’s primary
exports, accounting for two-thirds of total export value.
 
“Forest cover has declined from 70 percent to 43 percent over the last
50 years, largely due to clearing of lowland forest for permanent
agriculture and unsustainable logging,” the report said.
 
Forest cover shrinking
 
The World Wildlife Federation (WWF) says forest cover in Laos is
currently shrinking by 0.6 percent a year.
 
“If no action is taken to change this trend, Lao’s forests will
dwindle to 31 percent by 2020,” the wildlife and environmental
protection organization said.
 
WWF called for strengthened management capacity for the country’s
extensive national protected areas and protection forests, which
encompass about 50 percent of national forest cover.
 
It said a wave of foreign investment from China, Thailand, and Vietnam
is bringing economic growth and job opportunities to Laos but also
increasing pressure on land and local communities who utilize the
country’s natural resources.
 
The Lao government has targeted a total area of 500,000 hectares (1.24
million acres) of industrial tree plantations by 2020 for pulp export,
part of insufficient land-use planning that is encroaching into local
community boundaries and protected forest areas, WWF said.
 
In other cases, agricultural production is moving into protected
forest areas leading to deforestation, wildlife trade and biodiversity
loss.