ITTO Reinforces Commitment To Forest Law Enforcement

MEMBERS OF THE MALAYSIAN DELEGATION TO THE SESSION. MTC WAS REPRESENTED BY ITS SENIOR EXECUTIVE, MS SHEAM GRANZElLA (RIGHT). The International Tropical Timber Council (ITTC), the governing body of the International Tropical Timber Organization (lTTO), highlighted the need for ITTO to continue its efforts to assist countries in forest law enforcement.

The lTTC was convening in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo on 18-22 June 2005 for its 38TH Session to debate issues such as forest law enforcement, forest restoration and the achievement of sustainable forest management.

lTTC Chairman, Mr. Alhassan Attah said assisting countries to develop and enforce forest laws remains one of the most important tasks facing the international community. "The work carried out at this session highlights the need for lTTO to continue its efforts to assist countries in forest law enforcement. lTTO has a wide variety of activities and projects that are addressing elements of illegal logging and illegal timber trade. These are adding considerably not only to our understanding of the illegal logging phenomenon but also to our ability to combat it," he said.

Related to this, reports on the following lTTO missions were presented at this Session:

Diagnostic mission to Gabon, a country with a strong political commitment to sustainable forest management. Nevertheless, the mission found that increased support for forest law enforcement would be necessary during and after the coming into force of a new forest law this year. It recommended that lTTO support training programmes that would address, among other things, adherence to the forest law and associated regulations.
Mission to Liberia, where the formal forest sector-was destroyed during a civil war. The United Nations has imposed an embargo on the export of timber from the country in an effort to limit the contribution of timber smuggling to civil unrest. The mission recommended that lTTO provide a wide range of support to the Liberian forestry sector as it is reconstructed.

During the session, the lTTC also received a progress report on the development of a code of best practices for improving law compliance in the forest sector, a joint initiative of lTTO and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. When published later this year it will provide countries with a compendium of experiences in combating illegal forest activities.

The Session in Progress A feature of the lTTC session was a side-event organised by a coalition of local and international civil-society organisations. The event focused on the relationship between secure land tenure for indigenous and local communities, and the task of reducing illegal logging.

According to Dr. Manoel Sobral, lTTO's Executive Director, the increased commitment of countries in dealing with illegal logging will help to significantly reduce the problem over the next few years. "We are seeing many countries taking bold steps towards better forest law enforcement," he said.

"Moreover, there is a growing commitment among developed countries to assist these efforts. For example, the Japanese government intends to take the lead in the elimination of illegal logging in cooperation with lTTO. I warmly welcome this commitment and expect that it will lead to significant tangible results in coming months and years," said Dr. Sobral.