KEY POINTS:
It is not usual for me to agree with Indonesian Government representatives, but Minister for the Environment Rachmat Witoelar has my full support for his call on the international community to help curb the demand for tropical hardwood.
Witoelar wants to preserve what remains of the tropical old-growth
forests in Papua but he is up against out-of-control illegal logging which is fuelled by high demand for kwila in prosperous Western societies.
Witoelar conceded in a Radio New Zealand interview that the trade in illegal timber is hard to stop given that Indonesia has so many islands and so many exits.
The problem isn't only to do with geography but with the power of the timber barons and the lack of effective regulation and enforcement of their operations.
Ironically, the problem is worse than it was under Suharto, whose regime allocated most logging concessions to key supporters and cronies.
The military and its business foundations remain heavily implicated in every aspect of the logging trade, including the suppression of any opposition in their area.
The delightful summer family barbecues most of us enjoy often take place on a deck constructed from kwila and the guests sit on kwila chairs and recliners.
Greenpeace research shows that nearly all our kwila comes from the diminishing rainforest in Papua New Guinea or West Papua. And the World Bank estimates that 80 per cent of all the timber from both countries is logged illegally.
If you check out the kwila furniture advertisements in the newspaper or on the internet you will find New Zealand retailers promoting the distinctive red-brown timber's durability and attractiveness.
What is not mentioned is that this tall tree, with its spreading canopy, is under such threat that there are proposals for it to be internationally registered as an endangered species.
Every year Indonesia loses 2.8 million hectares of forest, an area about the size of Belgium.
Now that the jungle has largely been stripped from Borneo and Sumatra, the loggers are concentrating on West Papua, which shares the world's third largest tropical rainforest with its neighbour, Papua New Guinea. Only the Amazon and the Congo have larger tracts.
The region's biodiversity holds scientists in awe. Exquisitely beautiful birds, animals and plants new to science have just been discovered in a part of West Papua that the scientists dub the Lost Land.
Tragically, this pristine enclave may be lost for all time if the logging continues.
The Indonesian Government reacted promptly two years ago when environmental groups exposed illegal shipments to China of stolen logs - a huge 300,000 cubic metres a month.
Logs were seized and 170 people, including security officers and Government officials, were arrested.
But once that enforcement operation was over the timber barons and their military backers were back in business, this time sending processed wood, instead of logs, to Java, Vietnam and Malaysia from where it is re-exported to luxury markets in North America, Europe and New Zealand.
When we approached Auckland retailers, some cited documents to establish that their furniture was from correctly managed forests - or even certified by the Forest Stewardship Council.
Others seemed unconcerned about the origins of their tropical-wood products. Indonesian firm Warwick Teak, which sources its kwila from West Papua, proudly announces on its webpage that its kwila outdoor furniture is being exported to New Zealand.
I am sceptical of certification that guarantees that the timber has been sustainably logged. For one thing, kwila - like New Zealand hardwoods - does not regenerate easily and takes about 80 years to grow to maturity.
There is evidence that some kwila is smuggled out of West Papua on ships which subsequently call at Papua New Guinea, where additional logs are loaded and PNG documents supplied to obscure the origin of the cargo.
The loggers take few precautions to protect water sources or to lessen the destruction caused by their access roads, while the indigenous people are alienated from their ancestral lands for payment that amounts to a fraction of the money the timber earns in the West.
For tribal people, the logging boom is just the latest threat to their foodbasket and customary rights.
Since Freeport McMoran was granted concessions in 1967 to mine copper and gold at Timika in the highlands, it has destroyed forests and aquatic resources belonging to the Amungme and Kamoro people.
Their sacred mountain has been decapitated and a 230 square kilometre barren wasteland now dominates as the mine tailings extend relentlessly.
Greenpeace says that kwila costs the earth but few New Zealand buyers are aware that their affordable outdoor furniture has a black history.
The New Zealand Government announced late last year a policy aimed to discourage the import of illegal timber and to forbid Government departments from using it.
But this weak policy is manifestly ineffective in curbing the demand for kwila products. What is to stop the Government from regulating to prevent the import of stolen rainforest timber?
We should revive the adage of the anti-nuclear campaigners - if in doubt keep it out - and use only plantation-harvested wood for our decks and leisure furniture.
* Maire Leadbeater is a member of the Indonesia Human Rights Committee.
