Speaking on the sidelines of a major UN conference on biodiversity here, Indonesia's environment minister Nabiel Makarim said the boycott call was "a last resort".

Fighting back against Malaysia's claims that Indonesia was not doing enough to curb illegal logging, he said Jakarta was making its best effort despite limited resources and administrative weaknesses.

Makarim said the forestry ministry had conducted checks in protected areas, destroyed equipment used by illegal loggers and mobilised local people against the logging outfits.

There were 48 cases of illegal logging pending in his office, he said, but admitted that the practice was continuing on "a large-scale", fuelled by demand for cheap timber.

As a close neighbour, Malaysia had become an "easy target for transit" of illegal timber from Indonesia and should play its part in curbing demand, he said.

"It's our forests. Do you think we are sleeping? We do what we can do but it's not enough. The fight has become harder because the demand side is not responding," he told a news conference.

"That's why we would like to have Malaysia on our side, it will make our fight easier."

Makarim said Indonesia's call for a ban on Malaysian timber was the only "fair" and effective way to curb the illegal lumber trade if talks failed, noting that there were also calls for a ban on Indonesian timber.

"We are in the same basket ... that's why we have to start discussions," he said.

"Let's stop finger-pointing at each other. We will benefit from working together."

An informal bilateral meeting will be held March 15 in Jakarta to seek a solution to illegal logging and the trade of illegal timber, following up on a first meeting last month.

Makarim said illegal logging was ravaging Indonesia's forests at an alarming rate and triggering floods and mudslides.

He warned that illegal logging of the endangered ramin hardwood, which grows in peatswamps in Malaysia and Indonesia, would increase the risks of large-scale forest fires which could spark a repeat of the choking haze that blanketed many parts of the region in 1997/98.

Last week, Malaysia slammed Jakarta for trying to undermine its wood exports and accused US activists of tarnishing its image in a report alleging large-scale smuggling of illegal Indonesian timber.

The report was based on "half-truths and ill-conceived, sweeping conclusions that were taken out of context," Primary Industries Minister Lim Keng Yaik charged.

The study, "Profiting from Plunder," was compiled by the independent Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and its Indonesian partner Telapak, who said it was based on two years of investigation.

The EIA said it showed how endangered ramin wood was smuggled from Indonesia into Malaysia and then re-exported with false documentation.

It alleged that local officials were facilitating the illegal trade and urged the United States to impose trade sanctions on Malaysia.

TERRA.WIRE