Illegal Logging
DNA testing catches up with illegal logging trade
Ben Cubby ENVIRONMENT EDITOR A SINGLE splinter of wood can now be traced back, via its DNA fingerprint, to the site of its parent tree on the other side of the world with a powerful new tool designed to stop illegal logging.
US urges more action on illegal logging imports
Tom Arup ENVIRONMENT CORRESPONDENT STRONG Australian laws should be established to stop imports of illegally logged timber, often connected to organised crime and in some cases the Taliban, US campaigners and politicians are urging.
Odd tale of activist's forest death
A CAMBODIAN military police officer shot himself twice in the chest after gunning down a prominent activist, officials say, in a surprise explanation for the two deaths in a remote forest.
Telltale diaries put Collins on the spot
Ben Cubby An investigation has shown that paper from illegal logging in a tiger sanctuary in Indonesia is showing up in products around the world, including in the pages of Australia's biggest maker of diaries.
Meet cash deadline or the drillers move in
Melissa Fyfe Luis Garcia was close to tears. For three days, he had guided eight international journalists through a tract of Amazon so thick with wildlife that experts are yet to fully catalogue its riches.
Forests NSW investigated over logging breaches
Ben Cubby Forests NSW is being forced to review its logging practices, after the discovery of a spate of new breaches including logging old-growth rainforests and destroying the habitat of threatened native...
Green crime cost is billions, report says
Geesche Jacobsen CRIME EDITOR POLLUTION, illegal logging and wildlife smuggling are now parts of a multibillion-dollar international crime problem almost as lucrative as the drugs and illegal arms trades, a report says.
Flaws in surveying permit logging in protected forests
Ben Cubby ENVIRONMENT EDITOR THE state government has accidentally allowed illegal logging in old growth forests for years, a study commissioned by the environment department has found.
More hope for world's forests but we still buy illegal timber
Aaron Cook VAST chunks of the world's forests, covering a total area almost twice the size of Tasmania, have been saved from illegal logging in the past decade by action taken by governments and environment...
Government backs down on banning illegally logged timber
Tom Arup THE federal Forestry Minister, Tony Burke, has approved changes to an election promise to ban imports of illegally logged timber to instead ''promote the trade'' of legal timber.
Stop importing illegal timber, US tells Rudd
Tom Arup ELEVEN members of the US Congress have written to the Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd, urging him to fulfil an election promise to ban imports of illegally logged timber.
Plan to revive peat forest tests waters for trading system
Tom Allard CENTRAL KALIMANTAN: A boat trip down the wide brown waters of the Kapuas River and the canals that flow off it, crisscrossing the hinterland of Central Kalimantan, makes for a depressing tour.
Premier urged to axe Rees's red gum national park
Ben Cubby ENVIRONMENT PRESSURE is mounting on Kristina Keneally to reverse Nathan Rees's last-minute decision to create a massive national park along the Murray River to protect threatened river red gum forests.
Wildlife in peril on Madagascar
Karin Brulliard MAROJEJY NATIONAL PARK, Madagascar: A political crisis in this African island nation has triggered a pillage of its mythical wildlife and forests, and conservation groups fear that the peril will...
Crackdown on outlaw timber imports
Tom Arup THE federal government is considering making it a criminal offence to import timber that has been illegally harvested overseas.
Norway to pay for Indonesian logging moratorium
Tom Allard INDONESIA CORRESPONDENT INDONESIA'S President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, has announced a two-year moratorium on new logging concessions, part of a deal with Norway in which Indonesia will receive up to $US1 billion ($1.
Call to ban timber logged illegally
Tom Arup Strong Australian laws should be established to stop imports of illegally logged timber, often connected with organised crime and, in some cases, the Taliban.
Indonesia to save tigers by selling them as pets
The Indonesian government has hatched a plan to save Sumatran tigers from extinction by allowing people to adopt captive-born animals as pets for a billion rupiah a pair, officials said.