A hundred thousand homes destroyed. The ten-year separatist war between Gam and the Indonesian army did not allow to control nor to curtail the logging trade, that up to two years ago was in the hands of the guerrilla fighters and of some unscrupulous soldiers. Only after the 2006 peace agreement the tropical rainforest in the North of Sumatra, hideout of the rebels, became accessible and the Government could enter in faraway unapprochable areas, to measure the proportions of a wild destruction. The tsunami wrecked 130thousand homes, and the need for wood soared to incredible heights. Since 2005 the rebels, who were the sole responsible of an illegal trade, started to sell timber to International organizations, causing an even worst environmental disaster.

Million hectares of forest vanished. The organization IFE, Indonesian Forum for Environment, launched warning signals two years ago. An investigation carried out by the province proved that most part of the wood was not used to build homes but sold to the worldwide market through Malaysia and Singapore. Environmental groups estimate that Indonesia loses every year over 2 million hectares of forest, which is equivalent to 30millions of soccer fields. The Aceh province loses 20 hectares every day and it was the most hit by the tsunami that here killed 170thousand people. After two years and half, only part of the reconstruction of Aceh has been completed, there are still 70 thousand houses to be rebuilt. Chalid Muhammad, the president of IFE, declared that if the government does not act promptly to end the problem, Aceh risks to see new crushing natural disasters.