The leaders of Australia and Indonesia have pledged to step up their respective country’s fight against human smuggling. From the AFP (via Goole News): Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said after talks on the resort island of Bali they would intensify joint efforts to control the crime, the Antara news agency [...]

The illegal trade in endangered species is increasing in Indonesia. From the AFP (via Google News): The illegal trade in endangered primates is increasing in Indonesia’s East Java province as traders market the animals in public, a conservation expert said Wednesday. Primates such as slow lorises and Javanese langurs can be bought on the street in Malang, according [...]

Approximately 3.2 million people (1.5 percent of population) are drug abusers in Indonesia, with an average of 15,000 people dying annually from drug abuse. Source: 2007 International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, “Southeast Asia: Indonesia,” United States Department of State, March 2007, (accessed: March 2, 2007).

The government of Indonesia losses an estimated $1 billion a year in lost revenue and taxes due to illegal logging. Source: Duncan Brack, “Illegal Logging: Briefing Paper, August 2006, Chatham House: Energy Environment and Development Programme,(accessed: December 15, 2007).

Source: AFP, “Wildlife Smuggling in Asia still a roaring trade,” Yahoo News, June 3, 2007.