Guest guest Posted March 4, 2001 Report Share Posted March 4, 2001 http://newscientist.com/dailynews/news.jsp?id=ns9999471 Logging ban backfires China's hunger for wood is squeezing the life out of Asian forests Exclusive from New Scientist magazine A recent logging ban in China is having an unexpected knock-on effect. To meet its insatiable hunger for timber, the country has become the world's second largest importer of wood, a development that could sound the death knell for the forests of South-East Asia. China banned logging in virgin forests after massive floods on the Yangtze in 1998. Scientists convinced the government that logging in the headwaters of the river, the third largest in the world, contributed to flash floods and caused billions of dollars' worth of damage. But government figures obtained last month by the China office of the World Wide Fund for Nature reveal that China has now come from nowhere to being a bigger importer of timber than Japan. Over the past 30 years, Japan has systematically destroyed the rainforests of the Philippines and much of Borneo. Now environmentalists fear China will chop down the rest. " Before the logging ban, China imported around 4 million cubic metres of timber a year, " says Zhu Chunquang, WWF's forest programmes officer in Beijing. " In 1999, the first year after the ban, the figure rose to 10 million and we have just heard that the figure for 2000 was approaching 15 million. " Renting forests China is buying hardwoods from the rainforests of Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the African state of Gabon (see Graphic), and softwoods such as spruce and fir from Siberia. It is now the world's second biggest timber importer, after the US. " Chinese timber companies are setting up abroad, " says Zhu. " They are renting large areas of forests in Sabah, Borneo, and setting up pulp mills. They are even investing in New Zealand and Brazil. " The official import statistics may be an underestimate, says Anatoly Schvidenko, Russian forestry specialist at the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis in Laxenburg, Austria. " The logging ban in China has created a major black market for illegal harvesting in the Siberia forests of Irkutsk and Tomsk, " he told New Scientist. There are also reports of a cross-border timber trade with China's southern neighbours, including Burma. The ban has proved very effective. " Until two years ago, outsiders were banned from many roads in northern Sichuan because they were used exclusively for logging vehicles, " says Chen Youping, a local forestry official. Apart from a few bicycles and buses, the roads are now empty. Correspondence about this story should be directed to letters 1900 GMT, 28 February 2001 Fred Pearce, Beijing New Scientist Online News Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 5, 2001 Report Share Posted March 5, 2001 I notice that the biggest importer of wood is still the United States though... Judith Clarke - Miyaji, Masako <MiyajiM 'aapn ' <aapn > Monday, March 05, 2001 7:32 AM (CN)Logging ban backfires > http://newscientist.com/dailynews/news.jsp?id=ns9999471 > > Logging ban backfires > China's hunger for wood is squeezing the life out of Asian forests > > Exclusive from New Scientist magazine > > A recent logging ban in China is having an unexpected knock-on effect. To > meet its insatiable hunger for timber, the country has become the world's > second largest importer of wood, a development that could sound the death > knell for the forests of South-East Asia. > > China banned logging in virgin forests after massive floods on the Yangtze > in 1998. Scientists convinced the government that logging in the headwaters > of the river, the third largest in the world, contributed to flash floods > and caused billions of dollars' worth of damage. > > But government figures obtained last month by the China office of the World > Wide Fund for Nature reveal that China has now come from nowhere to being a > bigger importer of timber than Japan. Over the past 30 years, Japan has > systematically destroyed the rainforests of the Philippines and much of > Borneo. Now environmentalists fear China will chop down the rest. > > " Before the logging ban, China imported around 4 million cubic metres of > timber a year, " says Zhu Chunquang, WWF's forest programmes officer in > Beijing. " In 1999, the first year after the ban, the figure rose to 10 > million and we have just heard that the figure for 2000 was approaching 15 > million. " > > Renting forests > > China is buying hardwoods from the rainforests of Malaysia, Indonesia, Papua > New Guinea and the African state of Gabon (see Graphic), and softwoods such > as spruce and fir from Siberia. It is now the world's second biggest timber > importer, after the US. > > " Chinese timber companies are setting up abroad, " says Zhu. " They are > renting large areas of forests in Sabah, Borneo, and setting up pulp mills. > They are even investing in New Zealand and Brazil. " > > The official import statistics may be an underestimate, says Anatoly > Schvidenko, Russian forestry specialist at the International Institute for > Applied Systems Analysis in Laxenburg, Austria. > > " The logging ban in China has created a major black market for illegal > harvesting in the Siberia forests of Irkutsk and Tomsk, " he told New > Scientist. There are also reports of a cross-border timber trade with > China's southern neighbours, including Burma. > > The ban has proved very effective. " Until two years ago, outsiders were > banned from many roads in northern Sichuan because they were used > exclusively for logging vehicles, " says Chen Youping, a local forestry > official. Apart from a few bicycles and buses, the roads are now empty. > > Correspondence about this story should be directed to > letters > > 1900 GMT, 28 February 2001 > > Fred Pearce, Beijing > New Scientist Online News > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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