CIFOR's Statement for the Asian Forest Partnership

Not so long ago, it seemed hard to imagine that the forests of Thailand and the Philippines would ever stop providing a steady flow of exports. But today these countries have become net importers of forest products and for most people the jobs and wealth that came with a dynamic forest industry are little more than distant memories.

Unless we take action today some of the region's current forest product exporters could face the same fate, but with much greater consequences given the size of the sectors and numbers of people involved. We must not let that happen.

In principle, there is no reason why Asia's forestry companies could not manage the forests sustainably and maintain their production practically forever. In fact, if they followed the existing laws in most countries they would not be far from that.

But strong market forces, weak institutions, government subsidies, and excessive and impractical regulations have combined to create a situation where a large portion of the region's timber is being produced outside the legal framework.

Clearly, we cannot solve the illegal logging problem by law enforcement alone. We must reform the current laws to make them more practical and give greater access to forest to local communities. We must address the problem of over capacity in the forest industries. We must bring in communities, NGOs, local governments, the media, and the industry itself. Producing countries and consuming countries must find joint solutions to the complex problems of trade, finance, and international cooperation.

I am convinced we can and must make progress on addressing the problem of illegal logging. If we are realistic, however, we must recognize that over the next five years large areas of forest will be subjected to destructive logging. In those areas, we will need to work hard to find cost-effective ways to rehabilitate the areas and avoid accidental fires there so that they do not permanently degrade into virtual wastelands.

Whenever people ask me what I think is going to happen in Indonesia, I tell them that under the current circumstances most forest that can profitably be logged will be logged, but the real question is what will happen after that. Most of those logged-over areas are not likely to go into crops. They will either slowly grow back or they will enter into a downward spiral of degradation. That links directly to the question of forest rehabilitation and forest fires.

On all three topics - illegal logging, forest rehabilitation, and forest fires - accurate, timely, and un-biased information and learning from previous experience have to be part of any solutions. Practical applied research can play a major role in providing that information and learning.

The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) is actively engaged in research on all three topics and we feel very honored that the Japanese and Indonesia governments - two of our most important partners - have ask us to participate in this Asian Forest Partnership to help to facilitate information exchange and capacity building.

We are also happy to be working on this with The Nature Conservancy and the many governments, inter-governmental agencies, and NGOs that have joined together to address these issues.

To make progress on any of these complex and sensitive issues requires a regular dialogue in an open atmosphere of trust and understanding. We are very happy that the Governments of Japan and Indonesia have initiated this dialogue and we look forward to working together with all of you in the coming months.

This meeting today has brought together many, if not most, of the key actors that need to come together to address the region's forestry problems. That does not happen every day. Lets take advantage of this opportunity and move forward.

Thank you