I agree with David on this one. This is an important issue for Australia to get involved with. Despite public ands media perceptions, sustainable forestry is not an oxymoron. As far as humans and forests are concerned, management of forests is crucial for both.

I agree with the central message but there is one point that must be corrected. The only "legal" logging carried out in Indonesia and most third world nations is the operations carried out by the Generals. The army must make up 10% of its budget (but often much more) from a range of commercial activities. And foremost among them is forestry.

These operations are not what most Australian forest owners would call sensible, let alone sustainable. But because of their association with power, they all have the so-called "certification" that green groups the world over have tried to impose on the industry to supposedly guarantee sustainability.

These operations have usually been granted as concessions but they usually apply to traditional lands. The so-called illegal loggers are usually the traditional landowners who's rights have been extinguished by the central government. They have absolute buckleys chance of ever getting their timber certified, even if they could afford it.

In areas where these traditional rights have not been taken from them, the traditional landowners harvest their timber on a small scale and on an as-of-right basis that requires no permits. But western journalists and poorly informed forestry experts assume that because the harvesting is done without a permit then it must be illegal. It is neither illegal nor unsustainable. And it's lack of certification is the very reason ethical consumers should be buying it.

The irony in this is that the Montreal Protocol, that defines ecologically sustainable forest management (ESFM) has specific reference to respecting traditional use (existing use) but the international green movement has gone out of its way to establish a system that does the opposite. A whole new framework for demanding Baksheesh from those who can least afford it.