Labora Sitorus, former chief brigadier in Raja Ampat, West Papua, Indonesia, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for large-scale timber theft, in part due to evidence provided by us. In a latest concerning development, after being allowed to leave prison unescorted to seek medical treatment, Sitorus is now at large.
In 2014, we celebrated our 30th anniversary but in other respects it was a typically hectic and successful year as we continued to uncover ongoing problems and expose new ones; here are just a few of the highlights from a busy 12 months
When we requested data on companies from the Government, it was very difficult. Officials in the districts and province refused to provide data, and when they did it was often incomplete. It seems to us that there is an attempt to stop all stakeholders accessing information
A report on how the clear-cutting of forests to make way for oil palm plantations is driving illegal logging in Indonesia. Permitting Crime reveals how a widespread culture of corruption and poor law enforcement is generating a flood of illicit timber as plantations surge into frontier forests
The clear-cutting of forests to make way for oil palm plantations is driving a wave of illegal logging in Indonesia, fundamentally undermining efforts to bring much-needed reform to the nation’s forestry and timber sectors
From EIA’s perspective, corruption is a key enabling factor in environmental crime, especially the theft of natural resources. Research has shown that the more affected it is by corruption, the poorer a country’s environmental performance – a theoretical link borne out by the findings of many EIA field investigations