Chinese loggers continue to strip Myanmar's ancient forests; illegal timber trade could wipe out forests of Myanmar, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia in

After a decade of intense logging, Myanmar’s forests have deteriorated to the point where Chinese loggers from China’s Yunnan province are now struggling to source for accessible forests to harvest, The Times of India reported Thursday.

Loggers a few years ago could travel a couple of days into Myanmar to find the forests, but now have to travel for a least a week, said Yang Minggao, General Manager of Rongmao Wood Trading Company in Ruili, Yunnan.

Every year, scores of Chinese trucks haul tens of thousands of tonnes of Myanmar's timber to China, the world's largest importer of rare timber and a major wood-manufacturing hub.

Six of ten logs harvested from the world’s forests go to China, said Tamara Stark of Greenpeace, China.

According to official Chinese figures, the total value of China's forest exports in 2005 were worth $17.2 billion, up six-fold from 1997. Chinese customs data reported that global demand drove the country's total timber imports in 2006 up nine-fold over the last decade to $5.6 billion. This excludes illicit trade.

Apart from Myanmar, much of the illegal timber also come from Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.

Environmental group Forest Trends said last year that at current cutting rates, Papua New Guinea’s natural forests could be emptied in 13 to 16 years, and Indonesia’s in ten years. Myanmar's could be worse.

Responding to pressure form environmental groups, China has banned timber imports from Northern Myanmar, resulting in a 75% drop in the country’s import volume in the first half of this year, compared to the same period last year, according to reports.

However, the illegal timber trade continues amidst corruption on both sides of the border.

Chinese loggers in Myanmar bribe the country’s unpredictable militias and corrupt government officials, while on the Chinese side, police give out special logging permits to private local companies, encouraging kickbacks and a black market, said Yang Mingque, a farmer in Yingjiang, northwest of Nongdao.

Chinese loggers were also happy to risk their lives for the CNY10,000 ($1,300) paid for the two-week journey, he said.

The primary source of this article is The Times of India, Yunnan, China, on Oct. 11, 2007.