Illegal logging, lost livelihoods
  • Indonesia suffers the world’s largest annual loss of forest cover. Ministry of Forestry officials estimate that more than 43 million hectares have been degraded, with an average annual deforestation rate of 2.8 million hectares from 1998 to 2002 (Kaban 2005).

  • An estimated 70 percent of Indonesia’s timber exports are illegal, costing the country US$3.7 billion a year in lost revenue (Saparjadi 2003).

  • Middlemen capture most of the profit from illegal logging. Members of illegal logging gangs, often poor forest-dwellers, receive a mere $2.20 per m3 of wood. Timber brokers receive $160 per m3. But Singaporebased exporters of sawn Indonesian hardwood charge US$800 per m3 to ship to Western markets (EIA/Telapak 2002:28).
  • The power of public disclosure. Public disclosure is a powerful tool to motivate action at the local and national scales. Video is a relatively easy route to public exposure, attracting media attention at modest cost and with modest training.
  • An educational tool for alternative livelihoods. Video documentation does not have to concentrate on infractions only, but can bring positive messages of alternative livelihood options.
  • A tool for community empowerment. Use of video or other media tools can empower communities through access to information, which in turn promotes public dialog, shared values, and community activism.
  • Civil society groups are key. Local community groups are often ideally placed to undertake video surveillance and to deploy the footage locally and to media. Diversity among these groups helps create a more effective network.
  • National and international NGOs are important catalysts. Larger NGOs are well-placed for capacity-building: administering video and media training, and helping to establish a national network for villagelevel logging surveillance.
  • Adverse consequences for the poor. Targeting illegal logging may benefit forest livelihoods in the long term, but may impose short-term hardships on some community members, particularly the poor, who are dependent on this employment. Supporting communities in the development of income alternatives is important to counterbalance short-term income loss.