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Extracted from Malaysiakini
Gov't
to step up laws on illegal logging
Sep
19,
Deputy Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak,
who also heads the National Forestry Council, said companies involved in
logging would now be responsible for providing evidence that they had not cut
down trees illegally.
"The council agreed to review and amend the National Forestry Act to
incorporate the principle that the burden of proof was transferred to the party
that is found to be in possession of timber," he said.
"This means those found in possession of timber must furnish proof from
where the trees were cut. If they cannot show proof, it means they have
committed an offence," he was quoted as saying by the official Bernama
news agency.
Negative
image
Najib's remarks come after Prime Minister Abdullah
Ahmad Badawi pledged last month not to
indiscriminately approve logging licences, amid
mounting concern that clearances are threatening endangered species and tribal
communities.
Najib warned that illegal logging could compromise
"It can jeopardise our efforts to preserve
biodiversity, flora and fauna and have an impact on global warming. At the
international level, illegal logging portrays a negative image of our
country," he said.
"It can harm our national economy as the timber industry produces RM23
billion worth of wood-based products a year," he added.
Najib said that if developed countries in