West Papuan activist urges ban on kwila

Xander Colquhoun's chainsaw outfit reflects the key point of the campaign as Paula Makabory (left) and Maire Leadbeater lobby a worker at the Carters store about the sale of kwila. Photo / Glenn Jeffrey

A West Papuan activist is leading protests in Auckland to ban imports of kwila, an endangered tropical hardwood used in decking and outdoor furniture.

Paula Makabory, a joint-2006 Nobel Peace Prize nominee as part of "1000 women for peace", says Western demand for kwila has led to illegal logging - resulting in the destruction of "thousands of lives" in the Indonesian controlled-West Papuan region.

"Kiwis enjoying the summer sun on their kwila decks at home are simply not aware of how many people's lives have been destroyed," Ms Makabory said.

Recent campaigns have stopped several big stores from stocking kwila, including Harvey Norman, BBQ Factory, Farmers and the Warehouse.

Ms Makabory was joined by several members of the Indonesia Human Rights Committee and Green MP Catherine Delahunty in visiting retailers of wood products in the Wairau Park area yesterday.

Last year, the Government agreed in principle that all kwila imports should carry a label saying whether the supplier can verify if the wood is legal, but Ms Makabory, who lives in exile in Melbourne, said only an outright ban would contain the problem.

"As long as it is not illegal, outsiders will continue to come and take away the kwila forests which our indigenous Papuan people rely on for their very survival," she said.

"Over the years, our people's lives have been turned into hell because of Western demand for the wood and other things from West Papua."

Last month, the region was thrown into the spotlight after a series of killings, including of an Australian technician, which Indonesian police say was part of a dispute over control of access to lucrative illegal mining operations.

Papua is the scene of a long-running separatist insurgency by local guerrillas and where there is general discontent over rule from Jakarta, which took control of the western Papua region in 1969 in a United Nations-backed vote widely seen as rigged.

Maire Leadbeater, of the Indonesia Human Rights Committee, says her group is supporting Ms Makabory in lobbying the Government to push for Indonesia to have a "peaceful dialogue" with the people of West Papua to resolve longstanding grievances.