Minister Al-Samaani inaugurates technical office to enhance judicial quality in Qassim    Riyadh Metro ticket prices starts at SR4    Saudi Arabia retains its seat on OPCW Executive Council    Saudi Transport Authority cracks down on foreign trucks violating rules    Saudi Arabia's R&D expenditure hits SR22.61 billion in 2023    Saudi Arabia, Comoros strengthen economic ties with new MoU    Saudi Arabia receives extradited citizen wanted for corruption crimes from Russia    Ukraine fights to keep the lights on as Russia hammers power plants    Sweden asks China to cooperate over severed cables    Childcare worker who abused more than 60 girls jailed for life    Indian airlines hit by nearly 1,000 hoax bomb threats    K-Pop group NewJeans split from agency in mistreatment row    Defending the Truth: Saudi Arabia and the 2034 World Cup    Culture minister visits Diriyah Art Futures    GCC Preparatory Ministerial Meeting discusses developments in Gaza and Lebanon    Al Taawoun seals AFC Champions League Two knockout spot with 2-1 win over Al Khaldiya    Al Hilal advances to AFC Champions League knockout stage despite 1-1 draw with Al Sadd    Best-selling novelist Barbara Taylor Bradford dies    Most decorated Australian Olympian McKeon retires    Adele doesn't know when she'll perform again after tearful Vegas goodbye    Order vs. Morality: Lessons from New York's 1977 Blackout    India puts blockbuster Pakistani film on hold    The Vikings and the Islamic world    Filipino pilgrim's incredible evolution from an enemy of Islam to its staunch advocate    Exotic Taif Roses Simulation Performed at Taif Rose Festival    Asian shares mixed Tuesday    Weather Forecast for Tuesday    Saudi Tourism Authority Participates in Arabian Travel Market Exhibition in Dubai    Minister of Industry Announces 50 Investment Opportunities Worth over SAR 96 Billion in Machinery, Equipment Sector    HRH Crown Prince Offers Condolences to Crown Prince of Kuwait on Death of Sheikh Fawaz Salman Abdullah Al-Ali Al-Malek Al-Sabah    HRH Crown Prince Congratulates Santiago Peña on Winning Presidential Election in Paraguay    SDAIA Launches 1st Phase of 'Elevate Program' to Train 1,000 Women on Data, AI    41 Saudi Citizens and 171 Others from Brotherly and Friendly Countries Arrive in Saudi Arabia from Sudan    Saudi Arabia Hosts 1st Meeting of Arab Authorities Controlling Medicines    General Directorate of Narcotics Control Foils Attempt to Smuggle over 5 Million Amphetamine Pills    NAVI Javelins Crowned as Champions of Women's Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS:GO) Competitions    Saudi Karate Team Wins Four Medals in World Youth League Championship    Third Edition of FIFA Forward Program Kicks off in Riyadh    Evacuated from Sudan, 187 Nationals from Several Countries Arrive in Jeddah    SPA Documents Thajjud Prayer at Prophet's Mosque in Madinah    SFDA Recommends to Test Blood Sugar at Home Two or Three Hours after Meals    SFDA Offers Various Recommendations for Safe Food Frying    SFDA Provides Five Tips for Using Home Blood Pressure Monitor    SFDA: Instant Soup Contains Large Amounts of Salt    Mawani: New shipping service to connect Jubail Commercial Port to 11 global ports    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Delivers Speech to Pilgrims, Citizens, Residents and Muslims around the World    Sheikh Al-Issa in Arafah's Sermon: Allaah Blessed You by Making It Easy for You to Carry out This Obligation. Thus, Ensure Following the Guidance of Your Prophet    Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques addresses citizens and all Muslims on the occasion of the Holy month of Ramadan    







Thank you for reporting!
This image will be automatically disabled when it gets reported by several people.



Criminal gangs plunder Madagascar forests -report
Published in Saudi Press Agency on 28 - 11 - 2009

Criminal gangs are stripping Madagascar"s poorly-protected national parks every day of precious hardwood worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, Reuters quoted two environmental campaign groups have as saying.
In a report issued this week, Global Witness and the Environmental Investigation Agency said between 100 and 200 rare rosewood trees were cut down each day with only a fraction, about 1,000 cubic metres, being exported each month.
Much of the wood was being stored until further export authorisations were granted for illegally cut timber, the report said. "Timber traders have effectively bought the right to pillage the country"s parks with impunity. They are extracting up to $800,000 a day worth of timber," said Reiner Tegtmeyer of Global Witness.
In September, the government authorised the export of 325 containers of timber. Conservation groups say the order legalised the sale of illegally cut wood and collected wood. The government denies legitimising the plunder of the forests.
Conservationists say Madagascar"s biodiversity is being wiped out at an alarming pace as gangs profit from a security vacuum to pillage rosewood and ebony from supposedly protected forests and trap exotic animals, mainly for Asia"s pet market.
Eco-tourism has become the backbone of the Indian Ocean island"s $390 million-a-year tourism industry, but months of political turmoil this year have devastated the sector.
The report accused members of the forestry administration, the police and the authorities of complicity with the traffickers.
Rosewood furniture sells for tens of thousands of dollars in Europe and Asia, with local communities seeing few benefits.
"Some of the world"s unique forests, and the communities that rely on them, are being degraded beyond repair to feed our demand for luxury goods," said Andrea Johnson, director of Forest Campaigns at EIA.
Conservation groups last month accused the government of legalising the sale of illegally cut timber and said it opened the door to the embezzlement of funds in the name of environmental protection.
The authorities have denied legitimising the plundering of the forests. Decades of logging, mining and slash-and-burn farming have destroyed up to 90 percent of the ecology on the world"s fourth largest island.
The report called on the government to place rosewood and ebony under the protection of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
--SPA


Clic here to read the story from its source.