So, for example, when it comes to forestry, there's nothing wrong with us cutting down some trees for timber, as long as you make sure that it's done in a sequence and is spaced properly so that the forest itself is sustained.

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Further down the supply chain, timber-dealers and factories are often certified largely on the strength of documents which may be illegally bought.

ECONOMIST: Western consciences can do only so much to conserve forests

Others say that if hydro-electricity fails to provide the goods, Laos has no alternative but timber, and the faster chopping down of its forests of hardwood.

ECONOMIST: Laos

Two previous bids to site a supermarket on land formerly occupied by Oregon Timber Frame Ltd had already been turned down.

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The East Asian countries are big importers of raw materials, so the slump in their economies has pushed down the prices of oil and other commodities such as metals and timber.

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That, in turn, will mean facing down the planters, who prefer to bag forest land for a windfall of timber.

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Ahead of them a horse whinnied in the timber and then, through the brown trunks of the pine trees, only a little sunlight coming down through their thick, almost-touching tops, he saw the corral made by roping around the tree trunks.

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