US to help fight illegal logging

The United States has launched a US $15 million programme to help developing countries stop illegal logging, including the sale and export of illegally harvested timber. Announcing the Initiative Against Illegal Logging on Monday at the State Department in Washington, DC, Secretary of State Colin Powell said the US would initially focus its efforts on what it believed to be the most critical regions in the world, namely the Congo Basin, the Amazon Basin and Central America, and South and Southeast Asia. He said these new programmes would not be starting from scratch, but that they would support and build on what he termed "existing successful projects, such as the Congo Basin Forest Partnership", launched by the US at the August 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development held in Johannesburg, South Africa. Citing World Bank estimates that governments lose $10 billion to $15 billion in revenue each year to illegal logging, Powell said the diversion of revenues from such resources by a "corrupt elite" could otherwise contribute to education, health care and environmental protection. Illegal logging profits were also being used to finance regional conflicts, he added. The initiative would emphasise good governance, community-based actions, technology transfer and harnessing market forces as its four key strategies. Powell said remote sensing technology and monitoring of forest product markets would also be central to the programme. He said that at least 50 public and private organisations contributed to the development of the initiative, which builds on a forest conservation action plan initiated by the Group of Eight (G-8 countries: Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, UK and US) and agreements made at various regional ministerial meetings. [For Powell's complete comments, go to www.state.gov] [For more information on the initiative, go to www.whitehouse.gov ]