Mention forests in Australia and the mental compass of most Australians will point south to Tasmania. But it’s to the north of Australia where the country’s national interest and forests most intersect – in the tropical rainforests of the Asia-Pacific.

If you’re involved in drug trafficking, you need to watch your back. The war on drugs involves international co-operation between law enforcement agencies all along the trade chain, from remote poppy fields to city streets thousands of miles away.

Barely a day goes by without a story appearing in the Indonesian media about illegal logging. Often these stories bemoan the loss of timber smuggled on boats out of Papua, trucked across the Kalimantan-Sarawak border, or ferried through Riau’s labyrinthine archipelago.

One of the worst environmental disasters in Indonesian history was an ambitious but failed rice-growing project in Central Kalimantan during the Soeharto era. One million hectares of virgin forest were staked on a venture that proved a dud. All that remains is a wasteland of little value to local people or anyone else. It was like the government was playing a game where the potential payout was huge, but so were the risks.

Stories about the smuggling of illegal timber have dominated Indonesia’s media in recent weeks. While the smuggling of illegal timber is a major area of concern, it would be wrong of the public to think that illegal logging can be overcome by stopping the smugglers.

Menteri Kehutanan telah menyerahkan nama-nama cukong pencuri kayu kepada Kejaksaan Agung dan Kepolisian Republik Indonesia dengan harapan para cukong ini segera masuk penjara dan hutan dapat dilestarikan sedikit demi sedikit. Harapan itu kemudian menjadi kekecewaan manakala aparat penegak hukum yang telah diberi informasi rahasia tersebut tidak mampu berbuat apa-apa. Di mana kemacetan upaya menjerat para cukong pencuri kayu ini? Setidaknya ada empat kendala bagi aparat penegak hukum untuk menjerat para cukong ini.