Source: http://www.thejakartapost.com

Published October 17, 2008 08:06 AM

Accessed via the Environmental News Network

The Indonesian ForestryMinistry's bold move to require forestry companies to have their wood stocks audited throughout the supply chain to ensure the wood is derived from sustainably managed forests could go a long way in reducing illegal logging in the country.

Hadi Pasaribu, the Forestry Ministry's director general for the management of forestry production, who revealed the new policy recently, did not elaborate as to when the audit -- internationally known as forest certification scheme -- would be mandatory for wood-based companies.

But surely the new measure needs thorough preparation because the audit or certification process requires independent certifiers who must be accredited according to the international standards as those applied by the Bonn-based Forest Stewardship Council.

It is international market forces (consumers and traders) united into a global green consumer campaign that have forced wood-based companies to have their wood certified as green by independent certifying companies.

Hence, whatever the system used by the Forestry Ministry for the wood audit, an inspection or certification scheme, it must be based on international standards to gain international recognition.

Wood audit for forest certification aims at verifying that a particular wood is derived from sustainably managed forests. This process requires companies in the whole wood supply chain to hold chain-of-custody certificates so that the label or bar-code can follow the word from the forests to the finished product.

For the full article, please visit: http://www.enn.com/ecosystems/article/38433

http://www.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/story/0,22049,24501277-5012895,00.html

October 16, 2008 12:00am

FOR years, African militias have used proceeds from precious natural resources to fund conflicts - a practice dramatised in the 2006 film Blood Diamond.

Now, there's a new twist: blood cows.

Warring rebel groups in the Democratic Republic of Congo are stealing and selling livestock to finance a conflict sparked by spillover from the 1994 Rwandan genocide, in which 800,000 were killed.

Vast and volatile, the Democratic Republic of Congo has long suffered from conflicts fought over its reserves of gold, copper, uranium, and coltan, a mineral needed in mobile phones and other electronics.

For years, armed groups have sought control over mines and forests, their acquisitions of wealth fuelling cycles of violence.

Cattle may sound less glamorous than precious metals, but they're accessible.

...

For years, armed groups have sought control over mines and forests, their acquisitions of wealth fuelling cycles of violence.

Cattle may sound less glamorous than precious metals, but they're accessible.

"It's just like the mining resources,'' says Alpha Sow, head of the local office of the United Nations Mission in Congo (MONUC). ``Part of this money goes to buy munitions.''