§ 1. Mr. Graham Allen (Nottingham, North) (Lab)Pursuant to his oral answer of 16 June 2004, Official Report, columns 758–9, on debt swaps, what progress has been made by the continuing forestry projects to which he referred.[183716]
The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for International Development (Mr. Gareth Thomas)The Indigenous Peoples' Project has approved funding for about 30 projects promoting land demarcation and sustainable development in the Brazilian rain forest. In addition, the project seeks to support a number of indigenous movements and their leaders to be better able to articulate, defend and promote the rights of their peoples. Further support has been provided for the strengthening of the umbrella organisation for the indigenous people of the whole of the Brazilian Amazon.
§ Mr. AllenIs my hon. Friend aware that the Commonwealth Development Corporation, which is heavily involved in forestry, is being accused by native peoples in Papua New Guinea and Indonesia of driving 1392 deforestation? Is he also aware that the central point of expertise that was established to fulfil the Government's promise of legal and sustainable sources for all timber coming into this country is neither adequately funded nor fully up and running, four years after that promise was made? Will my hon. Friend undertake to write to me on those two detailed questions, so that we can ensure that the UK purchases timber only from legal and sustainable sources?
Mr. ThomasI am happy to write to my hon. Friend, as he requests, with detailed answers to the specific questions he raises. However, I can reassure him on the question of illegal logging. The UK has been at the forefront of a series of efforts across the continents to tackle the issue of illegal logging. For example, we have committed to a new programme of work on forest governance and trade in west and central Africa, following the ministerial conference that I attended last year, and we have led the debate in Europe on how we can ensure that traders bringing timber into Europe can verify that their supplies have not been logged illegally. We expect that the regulation to achieve that will shortly be brought before the EU College of Commissioners.