Latest update May 25th, 2026 12:35 AM
Timber corruption activists shut out from Japan meeting Jagdeo attends
A forestry watchdog body says it has been locked out of the opening session of the
BMF books banned: empty tables at the conference venue
50th Session of the International Tropical Timber Organisation ((ITTO), a forum currently being attended by Bharrat Jagdeo.
The Bruno Manser Fund is a well-known activist body that fights for fairness in the tropical forest.
It has been a vocal leader in the campaign to conserve threatened tropical rainforests, pushing for biodiversity protection and respect of the rights of the rainforest dwellers.
The fund had been aiming to display a book of timber corruption in Sarawak, one of two states in Malaysia, by author Lukas Straumann and titled, “Money Logging: On the Trail of the Asian Timber Mafia”.
The ITTO session being hosted in Yokohama, Japan started yesterday and will end November 8. Jagdeo is participating in the session.
“The Bruno Manser Fund (BMF) has been locked out of the opening ceremony of the 50th session of the International Tropical Timber Organisation ITTO in Yokohama,” the body said in a statement yesterday.
According to the watchdog body, despite a timely registration as observers in mid-October, the ITTO has not been able to make up its mind if the BMF would be admitted.
BMF said that there has been strong resistance “from the highest level of the Malaysian
Swiss author Lukas Straumann passes his book to the Malaysian delegate to the ITTO, B.C.Y. Freezailah before the conference starts.
Government in Kuala Lumpur”.
The current Chairman of ITTO, Rob Busink, was not able to say by when the ITTO would decide on BMF’s observer status.
“ITTO has not only achieved little for the sustainable management of tropical forests in the 25 years of its existence, apparently it is also unable to cope with elementary administrative questions in due time,” the Bruno Manser Fund commented.
Forestry products make a significant contribution to Guyana’s economy.
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