Indonesia's environment minister has labelled illegal loggers terrorists.
It follows a Sumatran flood, said to have been caused by deforestation, which has left more than 200 people dead or missing.
The flash flood on the western Indonesian island swept away scores of homes, many of which served as guesthouses for tourists visiting a famous orangutan reserve.
Rescuers with chainsaws and bulldozers have recovered 92 bodies from debris - mostly uprooted trees, logs, rocks and building materials - piled two storeys high.
Environmentalists say unchecked logging in Indonesia disrupts the natural absorption and flow of rainwater from the highlands, triggering floods and landslides that sweep into the valleys.
Government officials admit that illegal felling in Leuser Park may have blocked a waterway high in the mountains, causing a huge flash flood when they collapsed on Sunday night in Bukit Lawang, North Sumatra.
"These illegal loggers are like terrorists," Environment Minister Nabiel Makarim said at the presidential palace in Jakarta.
He said the environment ministry has given instructions to clear the protected forests of illegal loggers in Sumatra but "it's extremely difficult to prosecute them because we are dealing with corrupt officials and business people".
President Megawati Sukarnoputri has ordered a high-level ministerial team to assess the damage.
Most of the victims are villagers, many of them workers in the local tourism industry and their families. Five of the dead are foreigners - two Germans, two Austrians and a Singaporean.
AP