Numbers don’t add up

The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has released a nine-month status report on 2013’s illegal timber seizures, saying it had confiscated, among other things, more than 2,000 kilograms of rosewood – a figure that represents only a tiny fraction of seizures reported by the Post this year.

The report, dated November 7 and signed by Agriculture Minister Ouk Rabun, says that in the first nine months of 2013, the MAFF dealt with 1,047 cases of forestry-related crimes, seizing more than 3,400 cubic metres of assorted illegal timber, and a further 106 cubic metres and 2,400 kilograms of rosewood specifically.

“The revenue from the forest is a total of [about $10.9 million], of which the income from selling and renting properties [concessions] and services is [about $8.9 million], and income from fines for forest crimes is [about $2 million],” the report adds.

Despite the seemingly impressive figures, however, previously reported busts dwarf those included in the MAFF’s update. One Forestry Administration raid in September, for example, netted some 21 tonnes – itself nearly 10 times the amount recorded in the MAFF’s report. …

 May Titthara
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/numbers-don%E2%80%99t-add