Destruction of the Indonesian Forests

 

Broadcast: Jan 24, 2003
By George Grow

This is the VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT.

Two environmental groups blame dishonesty1 among Indonesian officials for the continued destruction¹ of the country's forests. Their report says illegal tree cutting is threatening the native environment of rare animals, including the orangutan. It says the illegal operations are harming large areas of rainforest, including those protected by the Indonesian government.

The Environmental Investigation² Agency³ and Telapak released⁴ the report. Telapak is an environmental group based in Indonesia. The Environmental Investigation Agency operates in several countries.

The two groups say Indonesia controls ten percent of the world's tropical⁵ rainforests. They say illegal operations to remove trees are causing large areas of forest to disappear.

Environmental Investigation Agency director Dave Currey says the illegal operations are completely out of control. He says the Indonesian government offered to stop tree cutting in the country's national parks three years ago. Since then, he says, the problem has worsened.

The two groups say illegal activities are to blame for the loss of more than sixteen-thousand square kilometers of forest each year. They say studies have shown that more than seventy percent of all wood processed in Indonesia comes from illegal logging2 operations.

The groups note that Indonesia has laws that ban such activities. But they say that dishonest judges and political leaders enable⁶ tree-cutters to buy protection from legal action.

The groups examined the situation in the Tanjung Puting (TAHNG-joong POOT-ing) National Park on the island of Borneo. The area is home to world famous centers to protect orangutans. The groups found thousands of cubic3 meters of trees being cut at illegal processing centers in the park. They say some of the wood came from rare kinds of trees.

The new report praises Indonesia's government for establishing treaties⁷ to limit the international trade in illegal wood products. However, it says the government has not done enough to deal with problems within Indonesia. The report says the government risks having one of its most valuable natural resources removed in order to supply rare woods to other countries.

This VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT was written by George Grow.

1. dishonesty [dIs5CnIstI] n.不诚实, 不老实, 欺骗, 欺诈
2. logging [5lC^IN] n. [美]伐木搬运业
3. cubic [5kju:bIk] adj. 立方体的, 立方的

1 destruction   

n.破坏，毁灭，消灭

参考例句：

• The enemy bombs caused widespread destruction.敌人的炸弹造成大面积的破坏。
• Overconfidence was his destruction.自负是他垮台的原因。

2 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

3 agency   

n.经办；代理；代理处

参考例句：

• This disease is spread through the agency of insects.这种疾病是通过昆虫媒介传播的。
• He spoke in the person of Xinhua News Agency.他代表新华社讲话。

4 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

5 tropical   

adj.热带的，热带的，炎热的

参考例句：

• You must grow these tropical flowers in a glasshouse.你必须把这些热带花卉种在温室里。
• This disease is widespread in tropical areas.这种疾病在热带地区蔓延很广。

6 enable   

vt.使能够；使可以；使成为可能

参考例句：

• Only teamwork will enable us to get the job done on time.只有团结一致，我们才能按时完成这项工作。
• This will enable China to go a step further in grain production.这是中国粮食生产再上新台阶的巨大动力。

7 treaties   

n.条约( treaty的名词复数 )；协议，协商

参考例句：

• These unequal treaties were made under duress. 这些不平等条约是在强迫下签订的。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The imperialist powers forced the Qing Dynasty to sign a series of unequal treaties. 帝国主义列强迫使清王朝签订了一系列不平等条约。 来自《简明英汉词典》