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v t e

Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase, or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a protected area; the cutting down of protected species; or the extraction of timber in excess of agreed limits. Illegal logging is a driving force for a number of environmental issues such as deforestation, soil erosion and biodiversity loss which can drive larger-scale environmental crises such as climate change and other forms of environmental degradation.

Illegality may also occur during transport, such as illegal processing and export (through fraudulent declaration to customs); the avoidance of taxes and other charges, and fraudulent certification. These acts are often referred to as "wood laundering".

Illegal logging is driven by a number of economic forces, such as demand for raw materials, land grabbing and demand for pasture for cattle. Regulation and prevention can happen at both the supply size, with better enforcement of environmental protections, and at the demand side, such as an increasing regulation of trade as part of the international lumber industry.

Overview

Illegal logging is a pervasive problem, causing enormous damage to forests, local communities, and the economies of producer countries. The EU, as a major timber importer, has implemented the European Union Timber Regulation as a means to halt the import of illegally sourced wood products. The identification of illegally logged or traded timber is technically difficult, but a series of attempts is made. Therefore, a legal basis for normative acts against timber imports or other products manufactured out of illegal wood is missing. Scientific methods to pinpoint the geographic origin of timber are currently under development. Possible actions to restrict imports cannot meet with WTO regulations of non-discrimination. They must instead be arranged in bilateral agreements. TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, strives to monitor the illegal trade of timber and provide expertise in policy and legal reviews.

Scale

It is estimated that illegal logging on public land alone causes losses in assets and revenue in excess of US$10 billion annually. Although exact figures are difficult to calculate, given the illegal nature of the activity, decent estimates show that more than half of the logging that takes place globally is illegal, especially in open and vulnerable areas such as the Amazon Basin, Central Africa, Southeast Asia and the Russian Federation.

Available figures and estimates must be treated with caution. Governments tend to underestimate the situation, given that high estimates of illegal logging may cause embarrassment as these to suggest ineffective enforcement of legislation or, even worse, bribery and corruption. On the other hand, environmental NGOs publish alarming figures to raise awareness and emphasize the need for stricter conservation measures. For companies in the forestry sector, publications making high estimates can be regarded as potentially threatening to their reputation and their market perspective, including the competitiveness of wood in comparison to other materials. However, for many countries, NGOs are the only source of information apart from state institutions, which probably clearly underestimates the true figures. For example, the Republic of Estonia calculated a rate of 1% illegally harvested timber in 2003, whereas it was estimated to reach as much as 50% by the NGO "Estonian Green Movement". In Latvia, the situation is comparable; anecdotal evidence points towards 25% of logging being illegal.

Consequences

Illegal logging has detrimental impacts, including deforestation and, consequently, global warming. It leads to biodiversity loss, weakens the rule of law, and hampers responsible forest management. Moreover, it fosters corruption, tax evasion, and diminishes revenue for producer countries, limiting their capacity to invest in sustainable development. The economic and social consequences disproportionately affect the poor and disadvantaged, resulting in the loss of millions of dollars in timber revenue annually.

Furthermore, the illegal trade of forest resources undermines international security, and is frequently associated with corruption, money laundering, organized crime, human rights abuses, climate change and, in some cases, violent conflict. In the forestry sector, cheap imports of illegal timber and forest products, together with the non-compliance of some economic players with basic social and environmental standards, destabilize international markets. This unfair competition affects those European companies, especially the small and medium-sized companies that are behaving responsibly and ready to play by fair rules.

By region

Africa

Madagascar

Illegal logging has been a problem in Madagascar for decades and is perpetuated by extreme poverty and government corruption. Often taking the form of selective logging, the trade has been driven by high international demand for expensive, fine-grained lumber such as rosewood and ebony. Historically, logging and exporting in Madagascar have been regulated by the Malagasy government, although the logging of rare hardwoods was explicitly banned from protected areas in 2000. Since then, government orders and memos have intermittently alternated between permitting and banning exports of precious woods. The most commonly cited reason for permitting exports is to salvage valuable wood from cyclone damage, although this reasoning has come under heavy scrutiny. This oscillating availability of Malagasy rosewood and other precious woods has created a market of rising and falling prices, allowing traders or "timber barons" to stockpile illegally sourced logs during periodic bans and then flood the market when the trade windows open and prices are high. Over 350,000 trees were illegally felled in Madagascar between 2010 and 2015, according to TRAFFIC.

The unsustainable exploitation of these tropical hardwoods, particularly rosewood from the SAVA Region, has escalated significantly since the start of the 2009 Malagasy political crisis. Over 350,000 trees were illegally felled in Madagascar between 2010 and 2015, according to TRAFFIC. Thousands of poorly paid Malagasy loggers have flooded into the national parks—especially in the northeast—building roads, setting up logging camps, and cutting down even the most difficult to reach rosewood trees. Illegal activities are openly flaunted, armed militia have descended upon local villages, and a rosewood mafia easily bribes government officials, buying export permits with ease. These illegal operations are funded in part by advance payments for future shipments (financed by Chinese expatriates and Chinese importers) and by loans from large, international banks. Demand is fueled mostly by a growing Chinese middle class and their desire for exotic imperial-style furniture. European and American demand for high-end musical instruments and furniture have also played a role. However, public scrutiny has put significant pressure on shipping companies involved in the trade, and the United States is starting to enforce the Lacey Act by investigating companies with suspected involvement in the illegal trade of Malagasy precious woods.

Nigeria

The indiscriminate logging in the rainforest and uncontrolled felling of trees for fuel wood are reported to have had adverse effect on the environment.  The loss of trees and other vegetation cover can cause temperature increase, fewer crops, flood, increased greenhouse gases within the atmosphere, ecological imbalance, soil erosion, and loss of biodiversity. The forest reserve in Nigeria spans approximately 10 million hectares, constituting over 10% of the total land area, which is around 96.2 million hectares or 923,768 square kilometers. The population was about 170,790 in 2006 (National Directorate of Employment, 2012). However, the expanse of marked forest lands has been gradually decreasing due to the rampant tree felling and activities of illegal loggers across the nation. For example, the Federal Department of Forestry (2010) estimated that Nigeria's forests are depleting at an annual rate of 3.5%. The country previously had around 20% of its area covered by natural forests, but this has dwindled to about 10%. The loss of approximately 60% of natural forests occurred due to encroachments for agriculture, extensive logging, and urbanization from the 1960s to the year 2000.

Notably, industrial and social development, contending for the same land areas occupied by forests, has not been praiseworthy. Nigeria, given its extensive land area, encompasses diverse and favorable climatic and ecological zones. The nation's significant size, diverse population, and socio-political and economic challenges have placed immense pressure on the forest belts. The rise in unemployed youth has revealed that looting forest products for survival presents an opportunity. Consequently, unemployment, a significant developmental challenge in Nigeria, has far-reaching adverse effects on environmental crime. Environmental crime often takes a back seat in priority in most developing nations, as there is a common belief that the forest belongs to everyone in the community. Furthermore, Nigeria's over-reliance on crude oil has led the government to place less emphasis on the annual losses from theft of forest produce. Regrettably, the government's attempts to implement effective measures to combat illegal logging have not yielded the desired results, with only 6% of the nation's land area designated as protected.

According to global data, a significant majority of unemployed individuals in developing regions, both in rural and urban areas, constitute about two-thirds of the total unemployed youth. In Nigeria, unemployment emerged as a pressing issue, particularly since the 1980s, a period marked by economic downturns due to plummeting world petroleum prices, devaluation of the Nigerian currency, rampant corruption, and a rapid increase in the country's population. These economic challenges had adverse effects on food production and led to escalating deforestation concerns. In regions that were rural or semi-urban and endowed with abundant forest trees and agricultural produce, the forests were readily accessed and exploited not only by locals but also by foreign criminal networks. Particularly alarming were the activities of illegal traders of forest products, often facilitated by foreigners seeking rare and hard wood species for European and American markets. This resulted in rampant destruction and felling of trees on both communal and individual farmlands.

From a scientific perspective, the destruction of these trees significantly impacts the carbon cycle and intensifies the greenhouse effect due to carbon depletion. The socio-economic losses to the nation, particularly concerning endangered species in the South-west and Mid-west forest zones of Nigeria (encompassing states such as Oyo, Ondo, Osun, Ogun, Ekiti, Edo, and Delta), are immeasurable. The rapid urbanization in Nigeria, coupled with escalating unemployment rates, persistent poverty, inequalities, inadequate social services, the presence of trans-national criminal organizations, widespread drug use and trafficking, and inadequately equipped security personnel and forest guards to combat illegal logging, lumbering cartels, clandestine markets, and sawmills for rare forest products, have driven many youths to explore opportunities in forest-related businesses.

Illegal logging, lumbering, and sawmilling can be understood as a system with diverse individuals and institutions involved in meeting the industry's supply and demand requirements, whether legitimate or illegitimate. Given the unemployment rate in the country, which currently stands at about 20.3 million jobless Nigerians (National Directorate of Employment, 2012), primarily youth, a crucial question arises: how are they sustaining themselves? Undoubtedly, deviant activities tend to thrive in such circumstances, especially in forested areas. The diversity and dynamics of crime and illegalities in the forest belt have received relatively little emphasis, often overshadowed by discussions about environmental degradation and climate change. This study delves into the patterns and trends of illegal wood logging, forest exploitation, and how youths adapt and survive in Nigeria's South-West forest belt.

Southeast Asia

Indonesia

A 2007 United Nations Environment Program report estimated that between 73% and 88% of timber logged in Indonesia is the result of illegal logging. Subsequent estimates were that between 40% and 55% of logged in Indonesia is the result of illegal logging. A 2021 study estimated that 81% of forest conversion for palm oil in Indonesia was illegal, and that Indonesia's Supreme Audit Agency determined that less than 20% of the nation's palm oil operations complied with national laws and regulations.

Malaysia is the key transit country for illegal wood products from Indonesia.

Private corporations, motivated by economic profits from local and regional market demands for timber, are culpable for deforestation. These agro-industrial companies often do not comply with the basic legal regulations by inappropriately employing cost effective yet environmentally inefficient deforestation methods such as forest fires to clear the land for agricultural purposes. The 1999 Forestry Law states that it is essential for companies to be endorsed by authorities in respective regions with an IPK permit, a timber harvesting permit, for legal approval of their deforestation activities. Many of these corporations could circumvent this red tape, maximise revenue profits by employing illegal logging activities as lax law enforcement and porous law regulations in large developing countries like Indonesia undermine forestry conservation efforts.

In the social landscape, small-scale subsistence farmers in rural areas, who received minimal education, employ a basic method of slash-and-burn to support their agricultural activities. This rudimentary agricultural technique involves the felling of forest trees before a dry season and, subsequently, the burning of these trees in the following dry season to provide fertilisers to support their crop activities. This agricultural practice is repetitively employed on the same plot of land until it is denuded of its nutrients and could no longer suffice to support agricultural yields. Thereafter, these farmers will move on to occupy another plot of land and continually practice their slash-and-burn technique. This contributing social factor to deforestation reinforces the challenges faced by forestry sustainability in developing countries such as Indonesia.

On the political front, the Indonesian governmental role in curbing deforestation has largely been criticised. Corruption amongst local Indonesian officials fuels cynicism with regard to the governmental clampdown on illegal logging activities. In 2008, the acquittal of a proprietor for a timber firm, Adelin Lis, alleged for illegal logging further galvanised public opinion and drew criticisms at the Indonesian political institution.

Myanmar

Due to the size and scope of Burma's forests, it is difficult for government organisations like Forest Department to regulate logging. There is a high demand for timber from Myanmar's neighbours–notably Thailand and China–who have depleted their forests much more than Myanmar. As a result, numerous illegal logging operations have sprung up near the Thai-Burmese border and in the province of Kachin along the Chinese border. Logs are commonly cut on the Burmese side and then smuggled to processing facilities in China or Thailand.

Cambodia

Thailand

Statistics

The scale of illegal logging represents a major loss of revenue to many countries and can lead to widespread associated environmental damage. A senate committee in the Philippines estimated that the country lost as much as US$1.8bn per year during the 1980s. The Indonesian government estimated in 2002 that costs related to illegal logging are US$3bn each year. The World Bank estimates that illegal logging costs timber-producing countries between 10 and 15 billion euros per year. This compares with 10 billion euros disbursed as EC aid in 2002.

• A joint UK-Indonesian study of the timber industry in Indonesia in 1998 suggested that about 40% of throughput was illegal, with a value in excess of $365 million. More recent estimates, comparing legal harvesting against known domestic consumption plus exports, suggest that 88% of logging in the country is illegal in some way. Malaysia is the key transit country for illegal wood products from Indonesia.
• In Brazil, 80% of logging in the Amazon violates government controls. At the core of illegal logging is widespread corruption. Often referred to as 'green gold', mahogany can fetch over US$1,600 m-3. Illegal mahogany facilitates the illegal logging of other species, and widespread exploitation of the Brazilian Amazon. Recent Greenpeace investigations in the Brazilian state of Pará reveal just how deeply rooted the problem remains. No reliable legal chain of custody exists for mahogany, and the key players in its trade are ruthless.
• The World Bank estimates that 80% of logging operations are illegal in Bolivia and 42% in Colombia, 10 while in Peru, illegal logging constitutes 80% of all activities.
• Research carried out by WWF International in 2002 shows that in Africa, rates of illegal logging vary from 50% for Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea to 70% in Gabon and 80% in Liberia – where revenues from the timber industry also fuelled the civil war.
• WWF estimates that illegal logging in Russia is at least 20%, reaching up to 50% in its far eastern regions.
• A 2012 joint study by the United Nations Environment Programme and Interpol states that illegal logging accounts for up to 30% of the global logging trade and contributes to more than 50% of tropical deforestation in Central Africa, the Amazon Basin and South East Asia.
• Between 50% and 90% of logging from the key countries in these regions is being carried out by organised criminal entities.
• A study conducted by TRAFFIC found that 93% of all timber exported from Mozambique to China in 2013 was done so illegally.
• As of 2020, Interpol states that every year 10 million hectares of forest are lost to illegal logging across the globe. They also state that the illicit wood sector is worth almost $152 billion per year and up to one-third of all wood furniture is made from illegally sourced timber.

In March 2004, Greenpeace carried out actions against a cargo ship transporting timber from the Indonesian company Korindo, which was being imported into France, UK, Belgium and the Netherlands. Korindo is known to be using illegal timber from the last rainforests of Indonesia. In May 2003, an Indonesian Government investigation confirmed that Korindo was receiving illegal timber from notorious timber barons known to obtain timber from an orang-utan refuge – the Tanjung Puting National Park. Tanjung Puting National Park is a 4,000-square-kilometre conservation area of global importance. It is recognized as a world biosphere reserve by the United Nations and forms the largest protected area of swamp forest in South-East Asia.

Mitigation

North Asia

The Europe and North Asia Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (ENA FLEG) Ministerial Conference was held in Saint Petersburg, Russia on 22–25 November 2005. In May 2004, the Russian Federation announced its intention to host the ENA FLEG process, supported by the World Bank. A preparatory conference was held in Moscow in June 2005.

The Saint Petersburg conference brought together nearly 300 participants representing 43 governments, the private sector, civil society, and international organizations. It agreed to the Saint Petersburg Declaration on Forest Law Enforcement and Governance in Europe and North Asia. The Declaration includes an indicative list of actions, intended to serve as a general framework for possible actions to be undertaken by governments as well as civil society.

The conference took place as the United Kingdom prepared to pass the G8 Presidency to Russia. As Valery Roshchupkin, Head of the Federal Forestry Agency of the Russian Federation, confirmed, illegal logging would be of special importance for Russia as the G8 President and for the following G8 Summit, also held in Saint Petersburg.

East Asia

The East Asia Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (EA FLEG) Ministerial Conference took place in Bali in September 2001. The Conference brought together nearly 150 participants from 20 countries, representing government, international organizations, NGOs, and the private sector. The event was co-hosted by the World Bank and the Government of Indonesia. The meeting included detailed technical discussions of forest law enforcement in relation to governance, forest policy and forest management as well as ministerial engagement.

The Conference's primary aims were to share analysis on forest law enforcement; explore priority issues of forest law enforcement, including illegal logging in the East Asia region, among senior officials from the forest and related ministries, NGOs, and industry representatives; and commit to action at the national and regional level.

European Union

In May 2003, the European Commission presented the EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Action Plan (EU FLEGT). This marked the beginning of a long process by which the EU aims to develop and implement measures to address illegal logging and related trade. The primary means of implementing the Plan is through Voluntary Partnership Agreements with timber producing countries. The European Union Timber Regulation was adopted in 2010 and went into effect 3 March 2013.

• It prohibits the placing on the EU market for the first time of illegally harvested timber and products derived from such timber;
• It requires EU traders who place timber products on the EU market for the first time to exercise 'due diligence';
• Once on the market, the timber and timber products may be sold on and/or transformed before they reach the final consumer.
• To facilitate the traceability of timber products, economic operators in this part of the supply chain (referred to as traders in the regulation) have an obligation to keep records of their suppliers and customers.

A Greenpeace investigation published in May 2014 demonstrates that EU Timber Regulation is ineffective if fraudulent paperwork is accepted at face value and there is not sufficient enforcement by EU authorities.

Africa

The Africa Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (AFLEG) Ministerial Conference was held in Yaoundé, Cameroon, in October 2003. The meeting drew together ministers and stakeholders from Africa, Europe, and North America to consider how partnerships between producers, consumers, donors, civil society and the private sector could address illegal forest exploitation and associated trade in Africa.

The AFLEG conference, the second regional forest law enforcement and governance meeting after East Asia, resulted in endorsement of a ministerial declaration and action plan as well as a variety of informal implementation initiatives.

In 2014, the FAU-EU-FLEGT Programme of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations published the study The Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) process in Central and West Africa: from theory to practice to document and foster strategic reflection in partner countries already engaged in negotiating a VPA - or those who will be entering into such negotiations - by providing examples of good practices. These good practices were identified and recorded following interviews with the main stakeholders in the eight VPA countries in West and Central Africa, the European Forest Institute's (EFI) EU FLEGT Facility and the European Commission. In 2016, the FAO-EU FLEGT Programme published an additional study, Traceability: a management tool for business and governments, providing examples of good practices in the region's traceability systems, which help prevent illegal logging by tracking timber from its forest of origin throughout its journey along the supply chain.

United States

In response to growing concerns over illegal logging and advice from TRAFFIC and other organisations, on 22 May 2008, the U.S. amended the Lacey Act, when the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 expanded its protection to a broader range of plants and plant products (Section 8204. Prevention of Illegal Logging Practices).

The requirements under the new Amendments are two-fold. First, the Lacey Act now makes it illegal to import into the United States plants that have been harvested contrary to any applicable Federal Law, State Law, Indian Tribal Law, or Foreign Law. If a plant is found to have been harvested in violation of the laws of the country where it was harvested, that plant would be subject to seizure and forfeiture if imported into the U.S. The Lacey Act also makes it unlawful, beginning 15 December 2008, to import certain plants and plant products without a Plant and Plant Product import declaration.

This Plant and Plant Product Declaration must contain (besides other information) the Genus, Species, and Country of Harvest of every plant found in commercial shipments of certain products, a list of applicable products (along with other requirements and guidance) can be found on the USDA APHIS website.

See also

• Deforestation and climate change
• Environmental impact of roads
• Environmental Investigation Agency
• European Anti-Fraud Office
• Environmental vandalism
• Illegal logging in Madagascar
• List of environmental issues
• Reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation (REDD)
• Timber mafia
• United Nations Forum on Forests
• Teak in Myanmar

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Further reading

• Monbiot, George (1991). Amazon Watershed. Michael Joseph. ISBN 0349101620.
• EIA and Telapak Indonesia (September 2001). "Timber trafficking: Illegal Logging in Indonesia, South East Asia and International Consumption of Illegally Sourced Timber" (PDF). Environmental Information Agency.
• Ravenel, Ramsay M.; Ilmi M. E. Granoff; Carrie A. Magee (18 January 2005). Illegal logging in the tropics: strategies for cutting crime. Routledge. ISBN 978-1-56022-117-3.
• Sheikh, Pervaze A., ed. (9 June 2008). "Illegal Logging: Background and Issues" (PDF). Congressional Research Service. Archived from the original (PDF) on 28 June 2011.
• Tacconi, Luca (2007). Illegal logging: law enforcement, livelihoods and the timber trade. London: Earthscan. ISBN 978-1-84407-348-1.

External links

• Illegal Logging and Related Timber Trade - Dimensions, Drivers, Impacts and Responses (IUFRO World Series Volume 35) - 2017 report containing results of fifth global scientific assessment undertaken by the International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO)-led Global Forest Expert Panels (GFEP) initiative
  • Policy Brief based on the report
• FAO-EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Programme from the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations
• European Commission page on illegal logging, with links to FLEGT Regulation (adopted in 2005) and EU Timber Regulation (adopted in 2010)
• Forest Legality Alliance
• Environmental Investigation Agency page on investigations related to illegal logging

v t e Forestry by country
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Americas	Argentina Canada Chile Mexico United States
Asia	Bangladesh Bhutan Cambodia India Japan Nepal Pakistan Sri Lanka Syria Taiwan Turkey
Europe	Estonia Finland Germany Poland Russia Romania Spain Sweden Turkey United Kingdom Scotland Wales
Oceania	Australia Tasmania New Zealand
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Category by continent agencies

v t e Deforestation and desertification
Deforestation	Assarting Deforestation Deforestation and climate change Deforestation by region Illegal logging Mountaintop removal Slash-and-burn Slash-and-char
Desertification	Aridification Historic desertification Moisture recycling Soil retrogression and degradation Water scarcity By region: China Gobi Desert Lebanon Libya Mali Mauritania Mongolia Sahel Yemen
Mitigation	Afforestation Arid Lands Information Network Biochar Conservation grazing Desert greening Ecoforestry Ecological engineering Farmer-managed regeneration Flexible Mechanisms Great Green Wall (Africa) Great Green Wall (China) Managed intensive rotational grazing Oasification Reforestation United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification
Related articles	Forest Landscape Integrity Index Forestry Intact forest landscape Land surface effects on climate Land use, land-use change and forestry List of global issues Natural landscape Terra preta Wilderness

• Illegal logging
• Logging
• World forestry
• Environmental crime
• Environmental issues with forests
• International forestry organizations
• Forest certification
• Forest governance
• Forest law
• Illegal occupations
• Organized crime activity
• Deforestation in Nigeria