Last Frontier
Shots: Drive through Zhangjiagang port, shots of port from the river
VO: The booming Chinese port of Zhangjiagang, just north of Shanghai, has rapidly become one of the worlds biggest trading centres for tropical logs. Around half-a-billion dollars worth of logs from South-East Asia, Africa and South America arrive at the port each year to feed Chinas rapacious timber processing industry.
Shots: Stack of merbau logs in port, unloading logs at quayside, sections of merbau logs in Nanxun, flooring factories.
VO: Merbau logs are the most common timber found at the port. This luxurious dark hardwood is used in the manufacture of flooring. Most of these logs are contraband, stolen from the forests of Indonesias Papua Province and smuggled into China. With huge cargo ships arriving daily, it is a trade of breathtaking scale and destructiveness.
VO: A new report by the Environmental Investigation Agency and Telapak exposes the massive illegal trade in merbau logs from Indonesia to China.
Shots: Flooring factories, driving around Nanxun, Shelman in Hong Kong, Yaman in Jakarta, Chua in Singapore, Bravery Falcon, illegal logs in Papua.
(Note: quick cut)
VO: EIA/Telapaks report reveals how shadowy international networks are conspiring to steal huge amounts of valuable merbau logs from Indonesia, and smuggling the contraband to China using false Malaysian documents, often with the complicity of the Indonesian authorities.
Shots: Aerial shots of Papua (Telapak tape 3), shots from boat (Telapak tape 2/4, EIA 2003), villagers.
VO: The illegal merbau trail starts in Indonesias Papua Province, the western part of the island of New Guinea. This unique island contains the largest remaining substantial tracts of undisturbed tropical forest in the entire Asia-Pacific region.
Shots: Map from TiP, EIA/Telapak boarding boat, Sorong G/Vs, looking at Knasaimos map.
VO: As rampant illegal logging in Indonesia has all but exhausted the main commercial timber species in Sumatra and Kalimantan, the timber barons have switched their attention eastwards - to the final frontier of Papua. In 2003 EIA/Telapak travelled to the Birds Head region to investigate the impact of this logging on local communities, beginning in the port of Sorong a major hotspot for illegal logging.
Shots: Bars in Sorong, Asean Premier, shots from speedboat in Sorong bay
VO: Sorong is where many of the illegal timber deals are conducted. Buyers arrive and use connections with the military to secure cut-price deals for merbau logs. Despite Indonesia banning the export of all logs in 2002, a constant flow of logs leaves the area on cargo ships and barges, bound for the international market. In early 2003 the Indonesian navy seized this vessel en route to China with a cargo of illegal merbau logs.
Shots: G/Vs Knasaimos, stack of illegal merbau logs, merbau tree, frame-grab Kaspar
VO: EIA/Telapak investigators headed to the remote Seremuk area five hours outside Sorong to witness illegal logging on the lands of the Knasaimos people. At one location over 2,000 cubic metres of merbau logs were stacked ready for collection. Villagers explained how logging in the area was organised by a senior military police officer called Kaspar Ohoiwirin.
I/V:Frederick Sagisolo, Knasaimos tribal chief: Well, yes I can say that foreign investor that mostly are blocked in Sorong, are being backed-up by military. It is clear that they are behind them .generally in Papua, as we see that Mr. kasper is from the Military Police in Sorong, he is behind the company that is operating here. That is from what we see in the field, military people behind it. People here, when they see military person, they could not sit together and have a talk together, it is impossible
Shots: Raja Ampat from speedboat, logging site on island, damaged forest, Batanta 2002
V/O: EIA/Telapak found further evidence of merbau theft in the island chain of Raja Ampat, lying to the west of Sorong. Here logging was taking place in protected nature reserves, with the connivance of local forestry officials. On the island of Batanta, investigators came across a Malaysian barge ready to load logs cut from a nature reserve.
I/V: Telapak: Papua is one of the places where large scale illegal logging is taking place and it has worsened. The target of the logging operations is merbau and this is being sent to markets abroad, one of which is China. The efforts in curbing illegal logging are far from adequate. The middlemen behind the operation are exploiting local communities and they bring in heavy equipment plus employees from Malaysia so far these people are not reached by the law. There are also many shipments that somehow have evaded law enforcement. In the future, Papua should become the priority and the focus where all parties involved in logging should be brought to justice and seriously investigated. Another method is to list merbau onto appendix III of CITES. By Using this instrument a consumer country that receives the timber must take the responsibility to control illegal trading by applying certain quotas
Shots: Barges loading logs, Jakarta G/Vs, Singapore G/Vs, Hong Kong G/Vs.
TITLE CARD: $270 per cubic metre
TITLE CARD: $10 per cubic metre
V/O: Powerful international criminal syndicates are making huge profits through the smuggling of merbau logs out of Papua and into China. While communities are paid a pittance of $10 per cubic metre, the same logs are worth up to $270 on arrival in China.
Shots: Jakarta G/Vs, Ahi letter rostrum, Trust article rostrum, Ahongs office, Rasyid.
V/O: One such syndicate was exposed in 2003 when a man named Husin Gunawan, involved in arranging the shipment of illegal timber out of Indonesia, wrote a detailed letter to the authorities naming syndicate members. His letter failed to mention the name of his brother, Heng Ijat Hong, who from this office in Jakarta runs a timber smuggling business focused on Papua. Ahong, as he is known, is a long-standing associate of Abdul Rasyid, named by the Ministry of Forestry as one of the biggest illegal logging barons in the country.
Shots: rostrum of letter highlighting Chuas name, Singapore G/Vs, establishing shots of Chua from bag camera. (nb key sound section has no pics; cut sound across other shots of the two guys from the same tape)
V/O: Gunawan did name a series of middlemen. Singapore-based Frankie Chua provides false documents. EIA/Telapak investigators were introduced to Chua while probing the illegal trade in timber between Indonesia and Singapore.
Hidden:
Mr Ng: This is a smuggler!
Mr Frankie: The problem is, somebody ask me to smuggle. The problem is the buyer. No buyer, no smuggling!
Mr Ng: He is mafia.
Mr Frankie: This smuggling is better than the drug smuggling. Drug smuggling is no good. This one is OK.
Shots: rostrum of letter highlighting Bells name, E-Maritime office, Bravery Falcon, captain of Bravery Falcon.
V/O: Yusri Bell, also from Singapore, organises the shipment of merbau logs from Papua to China. His company, E-Maritime, chartered the vessel Bravery Falcon, which was apprehended by the Indonesian navy off Papua in 2003 carrying over 17,000 cubic metres of merbau logs destined for China.
Yayat: Who is charter this ship?
Chief officer: The captain tell me charter of this ship is E-maritime, E-maritime, Singapore
V/O: Bell had instructed the Vietnamese captain of the vessel to fly a false Indonesian flag during loading to evade detection. The captain recently received a two-year jail sentence, but Bell is still in business.
Shots: Jakarta G/Vs, meeting Yeo
V/O Timber brokers in Jakarta, like Ahong, play a key role in arranging protection for merbau shipments and finding buyers. In late 2004 EIA/Telapak undercover investigators met with Yaman Yeo of the company Graha Dharma Sakti to discuss merbau supplies.
YY: All of Indonesia cannot export this cargo, but we still manage because in Indonesiaeverything
JN: Everything is possible?
YY: Everything is possible
(10:03)
YY: Even now Im loading 11,000,
JN: Where did you say? Is that in Jaya
YY: Jayapura, in Papua. I am loading now. Tomorrow the vessel is going.
(16:40)
TN: To? China?
YY: To China. To China.
JN: So if, for example, we wanted to buy from you, for example?
YY That is very difficult.
JN: Because you
YY: Sometimes difficult to us, sometimes difficult to you also.
YY:Because normally when we sign a contract, we make a down payment, everything. We dont know what happens during the loading time for problems. Its different for every programme.
JN: So there are people here in Jakarta who you give an extra payment to?
YY: Yes
JN: They use their ways of making sure that things are smooth?
YY: Yes
JN: Is that expensive to do?
YY: This I am not really sure but I heard, I heard its about 50 bucks for one metre cubic but maybe its a small loss so nobody will stop you. The things will reach
JN: The end place
YY:Yes
Shots: Hong Kong G/Vs, establishing shot of Shelman meet
V/O: EIA/Telapak followed the merbau trail to Hong Kong, a key hub for timber brokers supplying logs to the Chinese mainland. One such broker is Shelman Siu, boss of the company Greatwin Asia, which has a branch in Java, Indonesia. During the course of an hour-long meeting Siu explained how merbau from Papua is smuggled into China using fake Malaysian documents to supply flooring factories near Shanghai.
Hidden: Shelman Siu:
SS: All the export of round log from Jayapura, from Indonesia, is like smuggling. They smuggle it. Using Malaysian shipping document.
JN: So the origin looks different, yeah? They change the origin to make it look like its Malaysian, yeah?
SS: They make a whole set. Country of origin, the whole set of document, Malaysian. I am expert on this.
Shots: Shanghai G/Vs, driving to Zhangjiagang
V/O: From Hong Kong EIA/Telapak travelled to the megacity of Shanghai, at the heart of Chinas economic miracle. In the nearby port of Zhangjiagang the investigators met up with Siu and observed piles of merbau logs from Indonesia.
Hidden/open: Sam talking to Siu in front of log pile.
SL: So these are all merbau logs?
SS: Huh?
SL: These are all merbau logs?
SS: Yeah yeah. All merbau.
SL: All from..?
SS: From Indonesia, or from PNG. Only very little from Malaysia. But those merbau logs from Indonesia, all with the document from Malaysia. Because, Malaysia already not so many merbau round logs. Already not so many. But in Indonesia , in Papua, still many, many merbau round logs. This kind of tree, you know, nearly 100 years old.
SL: 100 years old?
SS: Yeah, with this [points, gesticulates] - 1 metre diametre, 90 years, 100 years.
Shots: Hidden bag Zhangjiagang Shelman walking around among notices, pointing out merbau ones.
VO: The port doubles as a market place, and the lobby of a nearby building is pasted with flyers advertising merbau logs for sale
SS: Merbau [points]. Big diameter. Arrive September 15th.
...
SS: Like this is also merbau. 5000 CBM. Yeah [pointing] 5000 CBM.
Shots: Driving around Nanxun, merbau sections outside sawmill, merbau logs outside sawmill, stacks of sawn merbau timber, inside flooring factories, packaged flooring.
V/O: A few hours south of Shanghai is the industrial town of Nanxun. Known locally as merbau town, in the last five years hundreds of factories have sprung up in Nanxun, churning out thousands of kilometres of merbau wood flooring. There are over 200 sawmills in the town processing merbau logs the vast majority of which have been stolen from Papua. Every minute of every working day the Nanxun factories process one merbau log into flooring.
(*Note: run footage beyond V/O to capture noise of processing)
Shots: Shanghai building market (gateway and merbau on sale), flooring being packaged with English words.
V/O: While much of the merbau flooring is used domestically to feed Chinas construction boom, many of the factories also export to overseas markets such as the US and Europe.
Shots: Sihe Wood hidden bag, Sihe wood brochure, PIERS doc, Goodfellow flooring in US (stills)
V/O: The Shanghai-based firm Sihe Wood revealed to EIA/Telapak undercover investigators that they regularly export merbau flooring to the UK, Canada and the USA.
AT: For merbau I think every month we export about 20,000 25,000, I think.
SL: 25,000 square metres?
AT: Yes
SL: And thats most, are you selling merbau to the UK market already, or..
AT: A little.
SL: A little but mostly to elsewhere
AT: Mostly to Canada, and the United States mostly. Canada and United States cover about 70% of our sales volume, mostly. Of all our sales flooring. So UK maybe 5 %, I am not sure
V/O: Shipping documents confirm recent shipments of merbau flooring from Sihe to Canadian firm Goodfellow, which distribute the flooring across North America. One sample seen by EIA/Telapak near Washington DC was retailing for $77 per square metre.
TITLE CARD: PIERS data: / Shipper: Sihe Wood Co.Ltd / Consignee: Goodfellow Inc. / Description: Merbau Flooring
TITLE CARD: $77 per square metre
I/V: Julian Newman. Environmental Investigation Agency: The huge illegal trade in merbau logs between Indonesia and China is one of the worlds biggest environmental crimes. This timber smuggling is in contravention of the national laws of both countries. Indonesia and China have already signed a formal agreement to co-operate in combating the illegal trade in timber. Yet so far these words have not been matched by actions. EIA and Telapak urge the agovernments of Indonesia and China to work together to tackle this damaging illegal trade in merbau.
I/V: EIA: Shots: Papua landscape and communities, Nanxun factories, drive through Zhangjiagang port
V/O: The massive illegal trade in merbau between Indonesia and China is threatening the last pristine forest in the Asia-Pacific region. While a chain of brokers and middlemen are earning vast profits, the communities of Papua are being robbed to feed Chinas rapacious timber industry.
Shots: Fade out
Shots: Drive through Zhangjiagang port, shots of port from the river
VO: The booming Chinese port of Zhangjiagang, just north of Shanghai, has rapidly become one of the worlds biggest trading centres for tropical logs. Around half-a-billion dollars worth of logs from South-East Asia, Africa and South America arrive at the port each year to feed Chinas rapacious timber processing industry.
Shots: Stack of merbau logs in port, unloading logs at quayside, sections of merbau logs in Nanxun, flooring factories.
VO: Merbau logs are the most common timber found at the port. This luxurious dark hardwood is used in the manufacture of flooring. Most of these logs are contraband, stolen from the forests of Indonesias Papua Province and smuggled into China. With huge cargo ships arriving daily, it is a trade of breathtaking scale and destructiveness.
VO: A new report by the Environmental Investigation Agency and Telapak exposes the massive illegal trade in merbau logs from Indonesia to China.
Shots: Flooring factories, driving around Nanxun, Shelman in Hong Kong, Yaman in Jakarta, Chua in Singapore, Bravery Falcon, illegal logs in Papua.
(Note: quick cut)
VO: EIA/Telapaks report reveals how shadowy international networks are conspiring to steal huge amounts of valuable merbau logs from Indonesia, and smuggling the contraband to China using false Malaysian documents, often with the complicity of the Indonesian authorities.
Shots: Aerial shots of Papua (Telapak tape 3), shots from boat (Telapak tape 2/4, EIA 2003), villagers.
VO: The illegal merbau trail starts in Indonesias Papua Province, the western part of the island of New Guinea. This unique island contains the largest remaining substantial tracts of undisturbed tropical forest in the entire Asia-Pacific region.
Shots: Map from TiP, EIA/Telapak boarding boat, Sorong G/Vs, looking at Knasaimos map.
VO: As rampant illegal logging in Indonesia has all but exhausted the main commercial timber species in Sumatra and Kalimantan, the timber barons have switched their attention eastwards - to the final frontier of Papua. In 2003 EIA/Telapak travelled to the Birds Head region to investigate the impact of this logging on local communities, beginning in the port of Sorong a major hotspot for illegal logging.
Shots: Bars in Sorong, Asean Premier, shots from speedboat in Sorong bay
VO: Sorong is where many of the illegal timber deals are conducted. Buyers arrive and use connections with the military to secure cut-price deals for merbau logs. Despite Indonesia banning the export of all logs in 2002, a constant flow of logs leaves the area on cargo ships and barges, bound for the international market. In early 2003 the Indonesian navy seized this vessel en route to China with a cargo of illegal merbau logs.
Shots: G/Vs Knasaimos, stack of illegal merbau logs, merbau tree, frame-grab Kaspar
VO: EIA/Telapak investigators headed to the remote Seremuk area five hours outside Sorong to witness illegal logging on the lands of the Knasaimos people. At one location over 2,000 cubic metres of merbau logs were stacked ready for collection. Villagers explained how logging in the area was organised by a senior military police officer called Kaspar Ohoiwirin.
I/V:Frederick Sagisolo, Knasaimos tribal chief: Well, yes I can say that foreign investor that mostly are blocked in Sorong, are being backed-up by military. It is clear that they are behind them .generally in Papua, as we see that Mr. kasper is from the Military Police in Sorong, he is behind the company that is operating here. That is from what we see in the field, military people behind it. People here, when they see military person, they could not sit together and have a talk together, it is impossible
Shots: Raja Ampat from speedboat, logging site on island, damaged forest, Batanta 2002
V/O: EIA/Telapak found further evidence of merbau theft in the island chain of Raja Ampat, lying to the west of Sorong. Here logging was taking place in protected nature reserves, with the connivance of local forestry officials. On the island of Batanta, investigators came across a Malaysian barge ready to load logs cut from a nature reserve.
I/V: Telapak: Papua is one of the places where large scale illegal logging is taking place and it has worsened. The target of the logging operations is merbau and this is being sent to markets abroad, one of which is China. The efforts in curbing illegal logging are far from adequate. The middlemen behind the operation are exploiting local communities and they bring in heavy equipment plus employees from Malaysia so far these people are not reached by the law. There are also many shipments that somehow have evaded law enforcement. In the future, Papua should become the priority and the focus where all parties involved in logging should be brought to justice and seriously investigated. Another method is to list merbau onto appendix III of CITES. By Using this instrument a consumer country that receives the timber must take the responsibility to control illegal trading by applying certain quotas
Shots: Barges loading logs, Jakarta G/Vs, Singapore G/Vs, Hong Kong G/Vs.
TITLE CARD: $270 per cubic metre
TITLE CARD: $10 per cubic metre
V/O: Powerful international criminal syndicates are making huge profits through the smuggling of merbau logs out of Papua and into China. While communities are paid a pittance of $10 per cubic metre, the same logs are worth up to $270 on arrival in China.
Shots: Jakarta G/Vs, Ahi letter rostrum, Trust article rostrum, Ahongs office, Rasyid.
V/O: One such syndicate was exposed in 2003 when a man named Husin Gunawan, involved in arranging the shipment of illegal timber out of Indonesia, wrote a detailed letter to the authorities naming syndicate members. His letter failed to mention the name of his brother, Heng Ijat Hong, who from this office in Jakarta runs a timber smuggling business focused on Papua. Ahong, as he is known, is a long-standing associate of Abdul Rasyid, named by the Ministry of Forestry as one of the biggest illegal logging barons in the country.
Shots: rostrum of letter highlighting Chuas name, Singapore G/Vs, establishing shots of Chua from bag camera. (nb key sound section has no pics; cut sound across other shots of the two guys from the same tape)
V/O: Gunawan did name a series of middlemen. Singapore-based Frankie Chua provides false documents. EIA/Telapak investigators were introduced to Chua while probing the illegal trade in timber between Indonesia and Singapore.
Hidden:
Mr Ng: This is a smuggler!
Mr Frankie: The problem is, somebody ask me to smuggle. The problem is the buyer. No buyer, no smuggling!
Mr Ng: He is mafia.
Mr Frankie: This smuggling is better than the drug smuggling. Drug smuggling is no good. This one is OK.
Shots: rostrum of letter highlighting Bells name, E-Maritime office, Bravery Falcon, captain of Bravery Falcon.
V/O: Yusri Bell, also from Singapore, organises the shipment of merbau logs from Papua to China. His company, E-Maritime, chartered the vessel Bravery Falcon, which was apprehended by the Indonesian navy off Papua in 2003 carrying over 17,000 cubic metres of merbau logs destined for China.
Yayat: Who is charter this ship?
Chief officer: The captain tell me charter of this ship is E-maritime, E-maritime, Singapore
V/O: Bell had instructed the Vietnamese captain of the vessel to fly a false Indonesian flag during loading to evade detection. The captain recently received a two-year jail sentence, but Bell is still in business.
Shots: Jakarta G/Vs, meeting Yeo
V/O Timber brokers in Jakarta, like Ahong, play a key role in arranging protection for merbau shipments and finding buyers. In late 2004 EIA/Telapak undercover investigators met with Yaman Yeo of the company Graha Dharma Sakti to discuss merbau supplies.
YY: All of Indonesia cannot export this cargo, but we still manage because in Indonesiaeverything
JN: Everything is possible?
YY: Everything is possible
(10:03)
YY: Even now Im loading 11,000,
JN: Where did you say? Is that in Jaya
YY: Jayapura, in Papua. I am loading now. Tomorrow the vessel is going.
(16:40)
TN: To? China?
YY: To China. To China.
JN: So if, for example, we wanted to buy from you, for example?
YY That is very difficult.
JN: Because you
YY: Sometimes difficult to us, sometimes difficult to you also.
YY:Because normally when we sign a contract, we make a down payment, everything. We dont know what happens during the loading time for problems. Its different for every programme.
JN: So there are people here in Jakarta who you give an extra payment to?
YY: Yes
JN: They use their ways of making sure that things are smooth?
YY: Yes
JN: Is that expensive to do?
YY: This I am not really sure but I heard, I heard its about 50 bucks for one metre cubic but maybe its a small loss so nobody will stop you. The things will reach
JN: The end place
YY:Yes
Shots: Hong Kong G/Vs, establishing shot of Shelman meet
V/O: EIA/Telapak followed the merbau trail to Hong Kong, a key hub for timber brokers supplying logs to the Chinese mainland. One such broker is Shelman Siu, boss of the company Greatwin Asia, which has a branch in Java, Indonesia. During the course of an hour-long meeting Siu explained how merbau from Papua is smuggled into China using fake Malaysian documents to supply flooring factories near Shanghai.
Hidden: Shelman Siu:
SS: All the export of round log from Jayapura, from Indonesia, is like smuggling. They smuggle it. Using Malaysian shipping document.
JN: So the origin looks different, yeah? They change the origin to make it look like its Malaysian, yeah?
SS: They make a whole set. Country of origin, the whole set of document, Malaysian. I am expert on this.
Shots: Shanghai G/Vs, driving to Zhangjiagang
V/O: From Hong Kong EIA/Telapak travelled to the megacity of Shanghai, at the heart of Chinas economic miracle. In the nearby port of Zhangjiagang the investigators met up with Siu and observed piles of merbau logs from Indonesia.
Hidden/open: Sam talking to Siu in front of log pile.
SL: So these are all merbau logs?
SS: Huh?
SL: These are all merbau logs?
SS: Yeah yeah. All merbau.
SL: All from..?
SS: From Indonesia, or from PNG. Only very little from Malaysia. But those merbau logs from Indonesia, all with the document from Malaysia. Because, Malaysia already not so many merbau round logs. Already not so many. But in Indonesia , in Papua, still many, many merbau round logs. This kind of tree, you know, nearly 100 years old.
SL: 100 years old?
SS: Yeah, with this [points, gesticulates] - 1 metre diametre, 90 years, 100 years.
Shots: Hidden bag Zhangjiagang Shelman walking around among notices, pointing out merbau ones.
VO: The port doubles as a market place, and the lobby of a nearby building is pasted with flyers advertising merbau logs for sale
SS: Merbau [points]. Big diameter. Arrive September 15th.
...
SS: Like this is also merbau. 5000 CBM. Yeah [pointing] 5000 CBM.
Shots: Driving around Nanxun, merbau sections outside sawmill, merbau logs outside sawmill, stacks of sawn merbau timber, inside flooring factories, packaged flooring.
V/O: A few hours south of Shanghai is the industrial town of Nanxun. Known locally as merbau town, in the last five years hundreds of factories have sprung up in Nanxun, churning out thousands of kilometres of merbau wood flooring. There are over 200 sawmills in the town processing merbau logs the vast majority of which have been stolen from Papua. Every minute of every working day the Nanxun factories process one merbau log into flooring.
(*Note: run footage beyond V/O to capture noise of processing)
Shots: Shanghai building market (gateway and merbau on sale), flooring being packaged with English words.
V/O: While much of the merbau flooring is used domestically to feed Chinas construction boom, many of the factories also export to overseas markets such as the US and Europe.
Shots: Sihe Wood hidden bag, Sihe wood brochure, PIERS doc, Goodfellow flooring in US (stills)
V/O: The Shanghai-based firm Sihe Wood revealed to EIA/Telapak undercover investigators that they regularly export merbau flooring to the UK, Canada and the USA.
AT: For merbau I think every month we export about 20,000 25,000, I think.
SL: 25,000 square metres?
AT: Yes
SL: And thats most, are you selling merbau to the UK market already, or..
AT: A little.
SL: A little but mostly to elsewhere
AT: Mostly to Canada, and the United States mostly. Canada and United States cover about 70% of our sales volume, mostly. Of all our sales flooring. So UK maybe 5 %, I am not sure
V/O: Shipping documents confirm recent shipments of merbau flooring from Sihe to Canadian firm Goodfellow, which distribute the flooring across North America. One sample seen by EIA/Telapak near Washington DC was retailing for $77 per square metre.
TITLE CARD: PIERS data: / Shipper: Sihe Wood Co.Ltd / Consignee: Goodfellow Inc. / Description: Merbau Flooring
TITLE CARD: $77 per square metre
I/V: Julian Newman. Environmental Investigation Agency: The huge illegal trade in merbau logs between Indonesia and China is one of the worlds biggest environmental crimes. This timber smuggling is in contravention of the national laws of both countries. Indonesia and China have already signed a formal agreement to co-operate in combating the illegal trade in timber. Yet so far these words have not been matched by actions. EIA and Telapak urge the agovernments of Indonesia and China to work together to tackle this damaging illegal trade in merbau.
I/V: EIA: Shots: Papua landscape and communities, Nanxun factories, drive through Zhangjiagang port
V/O: The massive illegal trade in merbau between Indonesia and China is threatening the last pristine forest in the Asia-Pacific region. While a chain of brokers and middlemen are earning vast profits, the communities of Papua are being robbed to feed Chinas rapacious timber industry.
Shots: Fade out