JAKARTA 16 September 2016 -- WWF-Indonesia welcomes Indonesia's achievement as the first country in the world to successfully obtain a FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade) license, part of the effort to combat illegal logging and illegal timber trade. The European Union and Indonesia have agreed that since November 15, 2016, Indonesia can issue FLEGT licenses for timber products exported to the European Union. With a FLEGT license, Indonesian forestry products no longer require due diligence to enter the European market.

"We congratulate Indonesia on this success, it emphasizes Indonesia's commitment to preserving Indonesia's forests through improved forestry governance and as a country that only sells timber products that are guaranteed legality," said Acting CEO of WWF-Indonesia Benja Mambai.

In a release issued by the European Union yesterday, it was stated that this decision was made at the 5th meeting of the Joint Implementation Committee (JIC) which reviewed the FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreement (FLEGT-VPA). This agreement fundamentally places the Timber Legality Verification System (SVLK) as one of the important instruments to ensure that Indonesian timber marketed in Europe is free from legal violations and comes from legally and responsibly managed forests.

"The process of building SVLK, which took more than 10 years, has produced encouraging results" said Aditya Bayunanda, Forest Commodity Market and Transformation Leader WWF-Indonesia. "This is certainly inseparable from the strong commitment of the Government of Indonesia. We hope that this certification will continue to be strengthened so that it can also provide sustainability guarantees for all forestry-based products from Indonesia."

In 2014, together with a number of NGOs incorporated in the Anti-Mafia Forest Coalition (KAMH) released a review report on SVLK performance which urged the Government and SVLK stakeholders to improve fundamental weaknesses in various aspects, including from the site level. "We as part of civil society will continue to monitor the implementation of SVLK in the field, so that the credibility of this system is maintained and no illegal timber is still mixed into the SVLK system," added Nursamsu from Eyes on the Forest.

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For more information, please contact:

Aditya Bayunanda, Forest Commodities Market Transformation Leader, WWF Indonesia
Email: [email protected] , Phone: +62 818265588

Nyoman Iswarayoga, Communication and Advocacy Director, WWF Indonesia
Email: [email protected], Hp: +62 8111284868