The government of Indonesia and the European Union agreed to start formal negotiations on the VPA (Voluntary Partnership Agreement).
The first step to explore the new legality standards and the institutions associated with the requirements of EU officials have been held between the two parties in Jakarta.

In general, the EU target is a system of licensing which gives assurance to buyers in Europe that the wood products purchased from the partner countries are the product of legal activities. The very important element to the success of this scheme is the monitoring conducted by independent third party. But, unfortunately, there is only the small chance for the Indonesian NGOs to officially participate in this process.
The FLEGT Support Project, which timed 5 years and given a budget of 16.7 million euros, which initiated by the European Union, has received criticism from many Indonesian and international NGOs because of the poor planning, poor implementation and poor monitoring.

However, members of the EU delegation in Jakarta and members of the European parliament hope that the VPA between the EU and Indonesia will become a model for other countries in East and Southeast Asia. There are many expectations that legality standards will become a tool to reduce the level of deforestation and to become a pioneer of better forestry management.
But, without reliable performance of independent supervisory institutions, legality standards is just the words in the document and not able to stop forest destruction.

Floors that made from wood usually known as parquet. Parquet has unique  characteristic compared with other types of floors. Besides creating the natural  impression in the room, parquet also able to muffle the sound and make the room feel  warm. Parquet can be applied to various style of buildings, such as natural and  ethnic style, modern and minimalist style, japanese style and the Java Aristokrat  style.

There are 2 types of parquet product, namely solid parquet and Engineered parquet. We  will explain Engineered parquet, especially multilayer engineered.

This type of Parquet usually consists of three layers, Polyfoam at the bottom layer,  Plywood at the midle layer and wood Lamella at the top layer.
Polyfoam layer (bottom layer) has direct contact with the floor's concrete and useful  to reduce the moisture in the soil so that the wood more durable, and could also  reduce the absorption of soil's cold temperature.
Plywood layer (middle layer) has the function of maintaining the floor stability by  reducing the influence of floor expansion or contraction caused by the room's high  temperature. Plywood layer usually made of soft wood, while the top layer of parquet  is made of hardwood such as teak, Oak, mapel, chery, kempas, merbau and Nyatoh.

Unfortunately, parquet can not be used in all types of room, especially in humid  areas because humidity may damage the wood. Parquet floor is not fully resistant to scratches and water. The place that is most suitable to install this type of floor is a bedroom,  because the activities in the bedroom is not too high. Parquet is not suitable to install in public area.


TREATMENT

To maintain the beautiful of the parquet, the treatment should be  done with caution. Clean the wooden floor by the use a soft brush of fur or with a  vacuum cleaner, so the parquet is not scratched. ...
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Merbau wood (Intsia sp) from Papua used in the World Sports Festival 2008 in Beijing, China. The project used as much as 800 thousand cubic meters of Merbau.
Merbau timbers in Indonesia's provinces of Papua and West Irian Jaya, mainly spread in the 'Head of Bird' region, which includes the area of Sorong, Ayamaru, Teminabuan, Manokwari, Oransbari, Bintuni, Prafi, Sidei, and Wasior.
According to Mr. Lyndon Pangkali from WWF, the characteristics of Merbau's seeds wich have hard skin and long dormant time requires a high rainfall and enough sunlight to germinate. "Both conditions can be met in the tropical forest such as in Papua. It is therefore natural renovation of Merbau on the seedling level is still relatively abundant" Pangkali said. According to him, many more renovation found in the open area than in a closed area (forest intact), indicates that Merbau is species which need great quantities of sunlight to grow.
The local market of Merbau in Indonesia are almost all areas of Java, Sulawesi (especially South Sulawesi), Kalimantan and Sumatra. In the connection of illegal logging activities, Merbau timbers are sold illegaly to China through the black market in Malaysia.

In early dwellings, floors usually consisted of bare ground covered with sticks or brush. Over time, floors made of mosaics, hardwood, tiles, rugs, and, more recently, vinyl, linoleum, and other synthetic coverings became standard features of buildings.
Wood flooring has been used for centuries and still accounts for a large percentage of floors. Most wood floors are laid as planks, or strips, or a parquet tiles. Hardwood Floors have came to be used as ornamental additions to buildings with the development of architecture and interior design.
Although they are attractive, wood floors need more care than do most other floors. Cork, treated with heat or linseed oil and sometimes coated with vinyl, can be used as tiles or carpeting; its ability to absorb sound is excellent, but its wear properties are inferior to those of other floor types.
Kitchens, bathrooms, and entry areas, especially, are not suggested to use wood covered floors and often have floors of terrazzo or ceramic or quarry tile.
Hardwood floors, such as this one in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, are valued for their beautiful grain patterns, durability, and sheen.