The new documentary The Real Chainsaw Massacre, following our undercover investigators in Vietnam and Laos, makes its UK premiere on Nat Geo Wild. Our Campaigns Director Julian Newman was one of the team being filmed and here he gives a behind-the-scenes glimpse of an investigation in progress
Faith Doherty, Head of our Forests Campaign, reflects on the progress made since Asian ministers gathered in Bali to sign a declaration to combat illegal logging. This problem has become more openly acknowledged and Europe is finally bringing in legislation to prohibit the sale of illegal timber products.
I have been in Jakarta this week, on invitation from the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), to speak at the Forests Indonesia Conference it was hosting; not usually something to write home about, but something happened during the day that was quite extraordinary
The people of Laos are getting with a raw deal and those with vested interests continue to make deals for huge profits. It’s wrong that a country blessed with the Mekong River, beautiful forests filled with a wide biodiversity and a gentle people whose culture and livelihoods depended on their forests are under threat
Ten years ago when EIA and our Indonesian partners Telapak started to investigate illegal logging and all the concerns that this environmental crime brings, an issue that kept coming up was the role of civil society and how to ensure our voices were heard
Right now Indonesia is in the midst of a crucial struggle to tame the corruption which infects every aspect of public life. Current President, Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono came into office on an anti-corruption ticket and the main agency leading the charge has been the Corruption Eradication Commission or KPK