destructive logging

This morning, the streets of Jakarta were buzzing with the sound of chainsaws. It wasn't a loggers' convention causing all the racket but protesters sawing through a huge wooden wall depicting Indonesia's rainforests.

In tropical latitudes, months pass without any rain and in the dry season forests become susceptible to fire. These can occur naturally and would normally not pose a serious problem, but clearing land as a result of logging or to make way for plantations is exacerbating the problem and every year the fires spread faster and further.

In a verdict that will have far reaching implications for the international timber trade, a judge in The Hague has found a former timber trader and arms dealer guilty of breaking the UN arms embargo in Liberia and sentenced him to a maximum of eight years in prison.

Now in its third year, the Greenpeace Garden Furniture campaign has been shaking up retailers and manufacturers alike and resulted in sweeping changes to the industry.

During his visit to the UK to highlight the threat to the forests of Papua New Guinea, we caught up with Brian Baring for a quick chat about his European mission. Listen to Brian talk about life in the forests and what people in the UK can do to help stop the illegal logging.

Brian Baring, a member of the Gingilang clan, hails from Papua New Guinea and has been involved in protecting the country's ancient forests for some time. His clan have been custodians of the land for thousands of years and are now legally the customary landowners.