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Budhy Kristanty

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Patchwork mountain landscape of agriculture, forestry, and deforested terrain. April 2007. Tianlin County, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, China. ©CIFOR/Nick Hogart

20 Feb 2011
A view of swamp forest in Danau Sentarum National Park, Tekenang hill, Kapuas Hulu, West Kalimantan, Indonesia..©CIFOR/Yves Laumonier

20 Feb 2011
Since 1996, the amount of timber harvested in Cameroon to supply domestic and regional markets has increased by a factor of 10. Montée Parc (pictured) is the largest domestic timber market in the Cameroon capital, Yaoundé. Its growth has mirrored that of the industry. CIFOR/ Charlie Pye-Smith

02 Feb 2011
Those involved in the illegal trade in domestic timber must routinely pay bribes to government officials to continue doing business. These bribes represent 9% of harvesting costs. To get past weighbridges and checkpoints between Bertoua and Chad, officials often demand payments exceeding 1 million CFA (€1500) CIFOR/ Charlie Pye-Smith

02 Feb 2011
Once government officials have received their bribes, they often fraudulently stamp planks with an embossed hammer to provide proof of ‘legality’. Only then can traders sell their timber. Sporadic attempts have been made to introduce a formal system of payments in the domestic timber sector, with varying degrees of failure. Both at Messa Market in Yaoundé and in Bertoua, powerful vested interests within the Ministry of Forests and Fauna have undermined these efforts. CIFOR/ Charlie Pye-Smith

02 Feb 2011