The government of Cameroon has intensified a crackdown on illegal loggers in a measure aimed at conserving the country’s forest resources and combating the effects of climate change.

STATE-OWNED timber agency VicForests has been hit with court action by the Environment Department after it allegedly logged protected rainforest.

The representatives of 43 European countries – the 27 EU member states plus the European Commission, Russia and other non-EU European countries – have begun negotiating a legally binding agreement on sustainable forest management in Europe.

Efforts to stem illegal logging by requiring Indonesian timber exports to be certified will prove futile if cheaper, uncertified wood continues to be available on the market, officials said on Tuesday.

Diah Raharjo, director of the Multistakeholder Forestry Program, a collaboration between the Indonesian and British governments, said progress was being made in getting logging firms to comply but there was still much work to do.

THE House of Representatives has passed on third and final reading a proposed law imposing life imprisonment to people engaged in illegal logging.

Aurora Rep. Juan Edgardo “Sonny” Angara said the measure would strengthen government’s campaign against illegal loggers which is now causing serious flooding in the country, recently in Northern Mindanao.