The nations of this region have signalled their refusal to be treated as mere waste dumps. In mid-April, 13 island states, including Australia and New Zealand, agreed to a draft treaty that will ban all chemical and other hazardous wastes from being dumped in, or shipped through, the region. Ratification of the treaty will take place by the heads of governments at a meeting in Port Moresby, New Guinea in September.

The treaty has been pushed through to tackle what Resio Moses, a senior official from the Federated States of Micron esia termed, the "numerous approaches that have been made to some island countries by unscrupulous foreign waste dealers."

KAMPUCHEA: Largescale plunder is underway in the forests of Kampuchea reducing its forest cover miserably. According to a recent report flashed by Global Witness, an environmental group based in London, Thai companies, in collusion with Khmer Rouge guerrillas in Kampuchea are engaged in illegal logging and exporting activities. The report finally confirms the theory that black timber trade is flourishing between Thailand and Kampuchea, despite the Thai government stubbornly claiming that the alleged reports are not true.