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Date: April 29, 2024 Mon
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Results for environmental crimes
32 results foundAuthor: White, Rob Title: The Policing Hazardous Waste Research Project Summary: This research project involves a scoping of the extent of and problems associated with hazardous waste disposal and a review of national environmental enforcement agencies and practices in Australia, with a view to building capacity for agency collaboration. The specific exemplar for this process is the policing of hazardous waste disposal. The major focus of this study is to examine how Australia regulates and polices the disposal of hazardous waste. The project has released the following briefing papers: The Policing Hazardous Waste Research Project; Whas is Hazardous Waste and What Makes it Hazardous?; Key Vulnerabilities & Limitations in the Management of Hazardous Waste and Its Disposal; Hazardous Waste in Australia: What is the Scale of the Problem?; Prosecution and Penalties for Illegal Dumping of Hazardous Waste; Legislation, Regulatory Models and Approaches to Compliance and Enforcement; and Policing Hazardous Waste Disposal: Key Trends and Issues. Details: Hobart: School of Sociology and Social Work, University of Tasmania, 2011-12. 7 Briefing Papers. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 15, 2013 at: http://www.utas.edu.au/sociology-social-work/centres/criminology-research-unit/ Year: 2011 Country: Australia URL: http://www.utas.edu.au/sociology-social-work/centres/criminology-research-unit/ Shelf Number: 127639 Keywords: Environmental CrimesHazardous Waste (Australia)Illegal DumpingOffenses Against the Environment |
Author: Benson, W. Title: The Effectiveness of Enforcement of Environmental Legislation Summary: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is seeking a stakeholder consensus on the nature and scale of problems which may be affecting enforcement of environmental regulations. As part of that process in September 2005 it commissioned WRc to: • gather and analyse evidence to identify and define obstacles to efficient and effective enforcement of environmental regulations in England and Wales; • describe, in an objective way, any significant obstacles; and • establish criteria which possible solutions would need to achieve to overcome such obstacles. In addition to underpinning productive discussion of the issues, the assessment was also intended to assist the production of Regulatory Impact Assessments (RIAs) for any proposals for regulatory change. To cover a range of enforcement processes, regulators and regulated activities in a structured and systematic way, the study focused on five carefully selected Case Study Areas (CSAs): • Integrated Pollution Prevention & Control (IPPC), Integrated Pollution Control (IPC) and Local Authority Pollution Control (LAPC). • Water Quality. • Waste Management. • Noise. • Wildlife (species and habitat protection). The legislative framework, identifying the specific offences and regulatory powers that are relevant to the CSAs, is set out in Appendix A. Relevant previous work on the effectiveness of, and barriers to, enforcement was identified by literature search. Additionally, further data (both on the five CSAs, and of more general relevance) were sought and analysed, covering: • pollution incidents and actions taken (data from the Environment Agency); • fly-tipping (data from Defra); and • prosecutions and sentences (data from the Home Office and other sources). A number of statistical and other analytical techniques were applied to these data, as described in detail in appendices to the report. The information gained was examined, not only to obtain specific information about the five CSAs, but also – in the light of that obtained about environmental enforcement generally – to identify common themes and issues. Details: Swindon, UK: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, 2006. 163p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 21, 2013 at: http://archive.defra.gov.uk/environment/policy/enforcement/pdf/envleg-enforce-wrcreport.pdf Year: 2006 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://archive.defra.gov.uk/environment/policy/enforcement/pdf/envleg-enforce-wrcreport.pdf Shelf Number: 127657 Keywords: Environmental CrimesNoiseOffenses Against the Environment (U.K.)PollutionWildlife Crimes |
Author: International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources(IUCN) Title: Parks and Reserves of Ghana: Management Effectiveness Assessment of Protected Areas Summary: Ghana is endowed with diverse ecosystems, which results in a relatively high degree of diversity of plant and animal species. The network of protected areas is a fair representation of all these ecosystems namely: Guinean savannah woodland, transition between dry forest and guinea savannah, dry semi-deciduous forest, moist evergreen forest, transitional zone between moistevergreen and moist semi-deciduous forest types, and dry evergreen forest. The diversity of Ghana Wildlife Protected Areas (WPAs) protects a very wide variety of mammals, reptiles, amphibians, birds, vascular plants and butterflies. Some WPAs are part of the upper Guinean rain forest which is very rich in biodiversity. The transboundary nature of other parks like Kyabobo makes it possible for buffalos and elephants to move between Ghana and Togo (Fazao-Malfakassa National Park). In Ghana, the Wildlife Division (WD) of the Forestry Commission is responsible for the protection and management of wildlife protected areas (WPAs). Until 1999 the Wildlife Division was known as the Wildlife Department, a single, centralized government institution directly under the Ministry of Lands and Forestry, now Lands and Natural Resources. Since its creation in 1967, WD has been severely under-resourced and unable to perform its mandate effectively. This has led to a serious reduction in management capability and, as a result, the conservation of a lot of PAs has suffered. There are twenty one (21) WPAs in Ghana totalling 1,347,600 ha or 5.6% of the country. The protected area network includes 7 National Parks, 6 Resource Reserves, 2 Wildlife Sanctuaries, 1 Strict Nature Reserve and 5 coastal wetlands. These PAs are of economic importance as they contribute to improving standards of living of communities surrounding them. Livelihood support programmes exist in some communities surrounding the park, as well as community based tourism programmes. Some plant species are used for wood production and some of the PAs contain medicinal plants. Some PAs also have cultural, religious or spiritual significance with shrines and sacred grooves, for example, and some have aesthetic attractions such as the Bamboo Cathedral and Rapids in Ankasa; Waterfalls, Magnificent Caves in Bomfobiri, and Kakum. WPAs in Ghana are subject to pressures and threats, the main pressures being poaching, bush fires and land conversion due to farming or grazing around or within the PAs. Illegal gathering of wild plants and animals (poaching) is present in all PAs at different degrees of severity. There is a high demand for bush meat, rattan and chewing stick. Rattan is poached for craft; elephants are hunted for their tusks, and leopard for skin. But killing of animals is also a result of human/wildlife conflict. Poaching is less severe in some PAs because of better law enforcement or the setting up of community initiatives that regulate harvesting of non-timber forest products, which contributes to reduction in poaching. Land conversion is mainly due to cocoa farming outside the parks in southwestern Ghana. In Shai Hills, illegal grazing by livestock affects the overall productivity of the reserve. These pressures increase the PAs' vulnerability, which is an issue in most of the PAs. Indeed, there is high demand for resources for cultural and economic purpose; in some parks like Mole, group hunting is a cultural practice, and bush fires are sometimes caused by fire festival, and for the installation of a chief, part of some key species like elephant or lion are sometimes needed. Details: Ouagadougou, BF: UICN/PACO, 2010. 54p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 18, 2013 at: http://data.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/2010-073.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Ghana URL: http://data.iucn.org/dbtw-wpd/edocs/2010-073.pdf Shelf Number: 128007 Keywords: Animal PoachingEnvironmental CrimesNatural Resources (Ghana)Offenses Against the EnvironmentWildlife CrimeWildlife Law EnforcementWildlife Management |
Author: Environmental Investigation Agency Title: The Inside Story: Environmental criminals’ perceptions of crime, corruption and CITES Summary: The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and partners conduct on the ground investigations engaging environmental crime offenders. Investigations document illegal trade, what facilitates it and the emerging trends, which is then presented to international decision-makers. Over the years, EIA’s direct engagement with active environmental offenders has yielded rich insights into their attitudes and perceptions: about what helps them do business and what deters them; the market trends and how these compare to previous years; how they perceive the criminal justice system; what they anticipate for their future business, and for the future of the species which they trade. In source, transit and destination countries, individuals operating at different stages of the illegal trade chain describe similar dynamics: corruption (bribes and payoffs), weakly enforced legislation, the ability to exploit parallel legal markets and loopholes, even how domestic policies stimulate demand for protected species. As valuable as they are, offenders’ perceptions are not currently being taken into account by all the stakeholders in environmental crime. This is compounding a situation where environmental crime is not being fully or effectively addressed. Knowing how and what environmental criminals are thinking should not be the sole domain of non-governmental organisations (NGOs), undercover journalists, individual law enforcement officers or the communities living in areas where crime happens. The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), with a membership of 178 Parties, seeks to regulate trade so it does not threaten species, but it does not exist in a vacuum. EIA’s investigations have found environmental criminals are not ignorant about CITES, or about domestic legislation. A species’ protected status or scarcity can mean that criminals ‘bank on extinction’, exploiting higher demand or higher financial ‘value’. Details: London: EIA, 2013. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 28, 2013 at: http://www.eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/The-Inside-Story-lo-res.pdf Year: 2013 Country: International URL: http://www.eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/The-Inside-Story-lo-res.pdf Shelf Number: 128161 Keywords: Endangered SpeciesEnvironmental CrimesIllegal TradeNatural ResourcesOffenses Against the Environment |
Author: Banks, Debbie Title: Environmental Crime: A threat to our future Summary: Since its inception in 1984 the Environmental Investigation Agency has been exposing environmental crime around the globe and has sought greater political support for strong enforcement action against these crimes. Yet despite the fact that environmental crime poses a growing threat, it remains a low priority for the international enforcement community. This report shows the scale and impacts of environmental crime and calls for strong political will to tackle it as a matter of urgency. Environmental crimes can be broadly defined as illegal acts which directly harm the environment. They include: illegal trade in wildlife; smuggling of ozonedepleting substances (ODS); illicit trade in hazardous waste; illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing; and illegal logging and the associated trade in stolen timber. Perceived as ‘victimless’ and low on the priority list, such crimes often fail to prompt the required response from governments and the enforcement community. In reality, the impacts affect all of society. For example, illegal logging contributes to deforestation. It deprives forest communities of vital livelihoods, causes ecological problems like flooding, and is a major contributor to climate change – up to one-fifth of greenhouse gas emissions stem from deforestation. Illicit trade in ODS like the refrigerant chemicals chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), contributes to a thinning ozone layer, which causes human health problems like skin cancer and cataracts. Environmental crime generates tens of billions of dollars in profits for criminal enterprises every year, and it is growing. In part, this is due to the proliferation of international and regional environmental agreements, leading to more controls on a range of commodities. It is also due to mutations in the operations of criminal syndicates, which have been diversifying their operations into new areas like counterfeiting and environmental crime. Environmental crimes by their very nature are trans-boundary and involve cross-border criminal syndicates. A tiger skin or an ivory tusk passes through many hands from the poaching site to the final buyer. A tree felled illegally can travel around the world from the forest via the factory to be sold on the market as a finished wood product. In the era of global free trade, the ease of communication and movement of goods and money facilitate the operations of groups involved in environmental crime. The development of statutory enforcement agencies has struggled to keep pace with such change, and issues such as jurisdiction restrict efforts to foster better cross-border cooperation against crimes like illegal logging. These factors lead to a situation where environmental crimes offer high profits and minimal risk. It is time for the international community to wake-up to the menace of environmental crime and show the necessary political will to tackle the criminal gangs plundering our planet for a quick profit. Details: London: Environmental Investigation Agency, 2008. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 9, 2013 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/NGO/EIA_Ecocrime_report_0908_final_draft_low.pdf Year: 2008 Country: International URL: http://www.unodc.org/documents/NGO/EIA_Ecocrime_report_0908_final_draft_low.pdf Shelf Number: 128333 Keywords: Environmental CrimesHazardous WastesIllegal FishingIllegal LoggingOffenses Against the EnvironmentWildlife Crimes |
Author: Environmental Investigation Agency Title: Testing the Law: Carbon, Crime and Impunity in Indonesia’s Plantation Sector Summary: Systemic law enforcement failings threaten to make a mockery of Indonesia’s pledge to reduce deforestation and carbon emissions by enabling plantation companies to destroy carbon-rich peatlands with impunity, a report released today reveals. Testing the Law, jointly produced by the London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) and Indonesian NGO Telapak, highlights how a well-connected oil palm firm has been allowed to continue operating in Central Kalimantan in clear breach of the law for almost five years. Evidence gathered by EIA/Telapak shows that Government officials have been aware of the activities of PT Suryamas Cipta Perkasa (PT SCP) for years and, despite statements to the contrary, have failed to take action. The crimes committed by PT SCP, part of the BEST Group, have led directly to the destruction of the habitat of hundreds of endangered orangutans and local livelihoods, generating millions of tonnes of carbon emissions in the process. In March this year, EIA/Telapak submitted a dossier of evidence to a range of authorities in Indonesia, detailing how PT SCP had broken numerous laws governing land allocation, access to resources and environmental management. The dossier provided the authorities with sufficient evidence to prompt a criminal investigation into the illegal conversion of more than 23,000 hectares of peatland and peat swamp forest, while giving notice to the Government that its response would be made public. Although the Government has openly admitted the concession is illegal, today the illicit proceeds of the crime continue to flow. Meetings between EIA/Telapak and the authorities have raised serious concerns over the likelihood of any prosecution. Details: London: EIA, 2012. 12p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 9, 2013 at: http://www.eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/Testing-the-Law-final-version.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Indonesia URL: http://www.eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/Testing-the-Law-final-version.pdf Shelf Number: 128335 Keywords: Corporate CrimesDeforestationEnvironmental CrimesIllegal Logging (Indonesia)Offenses Against the Environment |
Author: Ayling, Julie Title: Harnessing Third Parties for Transnational Environmental Crime Prevention Summary: Because transnational environmental crime (TEC) can result in the demise of an environmental resource or irreversible damage to the environment, its prevention is a critical issue. Deterrence through law enforcement can go only a limited distance towards preventing TEC. However, there is a huge potential for third parties to be active participants, alongside governmental authorities, in crafting and implementing strategies for TEC prevention. This paper explores the ways in which the capacities of third parties - non-state, non-offending actors - are now, and could be, harnessed by states for this purpose. It draws together concepts and theories from policing studies, criminology, and regulatory studies to highlight changing relationships between the state and non-state actors in relation to crime control, and applies them to TEC. A more systematic approach to TEC prevention using third parties requires dedicated strategic analysis and planning on the part of states, working individually and together. Details: Canberra: Department of International Relations, Australian National University, 2013. 19p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper 3/2013: Accessed September 11, 2014 at: http://ips.cap.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/IPS/IR/TEC/TEC_Working_Paper_3_2013_Ayling_Harnessing.pdf Year: 2013 Country: International URL: http://ips.cap.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/IPS/IR/TEC/TEC_Working_Paper_3_2013_Ayling_Harnessing.pdf Shelf Number: 129898 Keywords: Environmental CrimesOffenses Against the EnvironmentThird Parties |
Author: Social Development Integrated Centre (Social Action) Title: Crude Business: Oil Theft, Communities and Poverty in Nigeria Summary: Based on field investigations in Bayelsa, Delta and Rivers States, this report by Social Action presents the cases of illegal artisanal refineries in the Niger Delta as a more recent manifestation of the historical problem of oil theft in Nigeria, which includes the looting of public revenues from the petroleum industry. The report shows that oil theft and the artisanal refining that it enables, are twin threats to legitimate civic engagement, environmental sustainability, and the physical health and livelihoods of its operators and the people living in the Niger Delta communities. With billions of dollars in lost public revenues, crude oil theft adversely affects the socio-economic well-being of the majority of Nigerians who still live in poverty and destitution. The report highlights the need to improve the governance of natural resources and makes concrete recommendations for the government, civil society groups and affected communities. Details: Port Harcourt, Nigeria: Social Development Integrated Centre, 2014. 66p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 30, 2016 at: http://saction.org/books/Crude_Business_2014.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Nigeria URL: http://saction.org/books/Crude_Business_2014.pdf Shelf Number: 140095 Keywords: Environmental CrimesNatural Resources Offenses Against the Environmental Oil Theft Poverty Theft of Natural Resources |
Author: Friends of the Earth Netherlands Title: Commodity Crimes: Illicit Land Grabs, Illegal Palm Oil, and Endangered Orangutans Summary: Two of the world's leading distributors of palm oil, a staple ingredient in many consumer food and personal care products and an important feedstock for biofuels in Europe, are obtaining the commodity from illegal sources - growers who are clearing vast areas of rain forests, including sensitive orangutan habitat and protected forest reserves, in violation of the law, the criteria of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) and their financiers' investment policies. Our investigation used satellite imagery, trade data and on-the-ground reporting to uncover how, at the other end of a long chain of culpability, unwitting consumers are being sold products that are killing orangutans and destroying some of the world's last forested lands. Friends of the Earth has alerted the companies involved about the problems detailed in this report. We have also alerted financiers to their role in land grabbing previously. Their comments are summarized in this report. The chain extends thousands of miles, through many actors: - The producer, Bumitama Agri Ltd, one of the largest owners of palm oil plantations in Indonesia. - The palm oil industry's "sustainability" association, the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil, which does little to prevent illegal activity and has proven ineffective at providing comprehensive protections for the environment and human rights. - The traders, such as Wilmar International who distribute palm oil to a global market which is expected to more than double by 2030 - a serious and growing threat to human rights and tropical forests. - The financiers and investors - including HSBC, Rabobank, Deutsche Bank as well as the largest pension funds in the Netherlands and Sweden - who provide the needed capital for Bumitama's key shareholders like IOI and clients like Wilmar. All three companies are violating not only voluntary standards like RSPO and the financiers' own Environment, Social and Governance (ESG) policies, but also national legislation. Bumitama Agri Ltd, (BUMI.SI) is headquartered in Jakarta, Indonesia and operates through a number of subsidiaries. Bumitama controls over 200,000 hectares of plantation land bank in Central Kalimantan, West Kalimantan and Riau, Indonesia. Since 1990, development of palm plantations by Bumitama and others has cleared about 16,000 square kilometers of forested land in Kalimantan. The company has been a member of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil since 2007, and sells to global palm oil traders including IOI Corp. of Malaysia and Wilmar International of Singapore. This investigation specifically documents that: - Bumitama has knowingly destroyed forest that is the home for endangered orangutans. In April 2013, in response to a complaint filed at the RSPO, Bumitama promised it would not clear land near forest reserves in West Kalimantan until studies were completed to appraise the land's ecological importance. These reserves host one of the largest, and last, populations of the Central Bornean orangutan in the region. However, satellite imagery shows that hundreds of hectares of peatland and forests in the area were cleared between May and September 2013. So while Bumitama was negotiating with the RSPO to address the complaint, the company continued to clear land, despite its pledge to stop the cutting. - Bumitama's actions are unpermitted. The plantation in West Kalimantan that is managed by Bumitama was cleared in violation of national laws, without permits or proper approval of the Ministry of Forestry and the Environmental Monitoring Agency. This land bank consists of at least 7,000 hectares of "ghost estates" - plantations that lack valid permits. Selling palm oil from unpermitted plantations is illegal. - Bumitama's investors knowingly or unknowingly purchased shares of an illegal operation. Prospective investors were informed through Bumitama's prospectus in April 2012 that Bumitama's expansion plans included preferential rights to manage and harvest from a plantation that was operating illegally, without the required licenses for its operation and management, and that the Hariyanto family - the majority owner of Bumitama Agri - would bear the liability risk while the permits were sorted out. Despite this admission of illegality, all the shares were sold. - After gaining control over thousands of hectares of unpermitted plantation landbank Bumitama continued the illegal production of palm oil without the necessary permits and engaged in further illegal land grabbing and clearing. Wilmar International and IOI Corp. bought shares of Bumitama despite their likely knowledge of the illegal landgrab. Before Bumitama's public offering in April 2012, IOI Corp. became one of Bumitama's controlling shareholders, with a current stake of 31 percent of the company. At the same time, Wilmar bought between 0.9 percent and 4.3 percent of shares of Bumitama's stock. This makes IOI and Wilmar not just purchasers of the palm oil illegally produced by Bumitama, but significant investors in its illegal operations. - The RSPO provides greenwash for the industry's illegal, unethical and environmentally harmful practices. The Bumitama Group, IOI Corp. and Wilmar International are all members of the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil. They have been involved in several illegal landgrabs in Kalimantan over the past five years, but the RSPO has been unable to prevent this, nor has it taken any effective enforcement action. The revelations about Bumitama Agri in this report illustrate how palm plantation companies and commodity traders use the lack of legal enforcement, complicated transfers of land and assets, and inter-company agreements to take illegal control over land, regardless of its legal status, traditional use or ecological importance. The report also highlights the role of financiers, including banks and equity investors, in Bumitama Agri, IOI and Wilmar, and on the kind and amount of money invested in these companies, their Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Policies and the responses investors gave to inquiries by Friends of the Earth on this case. The bottom line is that the current system of producing palm oil as a global commodity is unjust and unsustainable and all actors involved should take immediate action to address this. Details: Amsterdam: The Friends, 2013. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 17, 2016 at: https://milieudefensie.nl/publicaties/rapporten/comodity-crimes.-illicit-land-grabs-illegal-palm-oil-and-endangered-orangutans Year: 2013 Country: International URL: https://milieudefensie.nl/publicaties/rapporten/comodity-crimes.-illicit-land-grabs-illegal-palm-oil-and-endangered-orangutans Shelf Number: 147930 Keywords: Environmental CrimesIllegal Land GrabsIllegal Palm OilIllegal ProductsOffences Against the EnvironmentWildlife Crime |
Author: Friends of the Earth Netherlands Title: Cana Bois: plundering protected areas in Cameroon for the European market Summary: The logging company Cana Bois has been plundering protected forest areas in Cameroon for the European timber market. This case has been researched and published in a 'log file' by Friends of the Earth Netherlands and France in June 2009. First some general information. The EU still accounts for 16 - 19% of global illegal timber imports. Illegal logging is one of the main causes of deforestation and forest degradation worldwide. Cameroon is no exception to this rule. Both the Cameronese government and European markets have taken first steps to prevent illegal logging and related trade. Within the framework of the EU FLEGT action plan, a voluntary partnership agreement is under way as well as legislation to prevent illegal timber trade. EU Member states and Cameroon have taken efforts to promote voluntary certification for sustainable forest management. However, progress is slow and illegal and destructive logging is still rife in many timber producing countries around the world. This logfile shows how unscrupulous companies continue to plunder protected areas in Cameroon for the European market with total impunity. This report describes the observations from Friends of the Earth research missions in the forest management unit of Cana Bois, nearly 34.000 hectares large and located in the Central Province of Cameroon. In the North, this forest management unit is bordered by another logging area and in the south and east by a forest reserve. In 2007, Cana Bois was given permission to log a strictly defined area of 2500 hectares within the forest management unit. During our missions we held interviews with the local population and ventured inside the forest management units and neighbouring forest reserve to record infractions. It appeared that Cana Bois had been logging outside its strictly defined area into the areas destined for next year's logging activities and outside the official boundaries deep into the forest reserve. We estimate that logging roads and paths in the forest reserve have a distance of over 150 kilometers. Cana Bois deliberately crossed a river to enter the forest reserve. Along the logging roads we found numerous abandoned logs, stumps and log parks. The timber from these illegal logging operations has been sold with the official marks from the forest management unit. This legalisation to facilitate transport and export is done by local forest control posts with hammer marks, even though they know that the timber is not coming from the forest management unit. The local population has sent a letter to the Independent Observer, Resource Extraction Monitoring, in Cameroon, asking for help and requesting a mission to establish the total impact of the infractions. This mission was prevented time after time by Cameronese government officials. Unhampered, Cana Bois has started logging operations again in 2009, showing that illegality continues to be profitable in the Cameronese logging sector. These illegal logging practices have severe impacts on the forest reserve. Amongst others, they result in forest degradation, loss of economic value of the forest, because commercially interesting species have been harvested, and they have negative impacts on the livelihoods of local people. The plundered forest is part of the Atlantic Equatorial Coastal Forests ecoregion which has exceptionally high levels of species richness and endemism. Alarmingly, Friends of the Earth has found numerous traces of poaching in the forest reserve. The roads opened up for logging make it easier for poachers and vehicles to get the meat out to nearby markets. In the harbour in Doula Friends of the Earth found piles of sawn wood from Cana Bois with destination Spain, the Netherlands and France. Cana Bois has been looting the Cameronese forests for the European market. Several companies in Cameroon have chosen the path of sustainable forest management and have invested in certification. Their business is being undermined by unscrupulous companies like Cana Bois. This flagrant case of illegal logging and related trade shows that European member states and the EU have a huge responsibility to combat illegal logging and related trade. Friends of the Earth therefore calls upon the EU ministers to step up the pace and decide on a strengthened legislative proposal to stop illegal timber trade during the Agriculture Council in June 2009. It is extremely important for the effectivity of the legislation that trade in illegal timber becomes an offence, that the scope of the applicable legislation is broadened, all timber products are included and the due diligence obligations extended to all operators placing timber and timber products on the EU market. Only with effective and strong legislation to combat illegal timber trade will the EU reduce its social and environmental footprint and will companies like Cana Bois lose their profitable illegal business. Details: Amsterdam: Friends of the Earth, 2009. 8p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 17, 2016 at: https://milieudefensie.nl/publicaties/rapporten/cana-bois-plundering-protected-areas-in-cameroon-for-the-european-market Year: 2009 Country: Cameroon URL: https://milieudefensie.nl/publicaties/rapporten/cana-bois-plundering-protected-areas-in-cameroon-for-the-european-market Shelf Number: 147946 Keywords: DeforestationEnvironmental CrimesForestsIllegal LoggingNatural ResourceOffenses Against the Environment |
Author: Forest Trends Title: Combating Illegal Logging in Asia: A Review of Progress and the Role of the Asia Forest Partnership 2002-2012 Summary: Forests in Asia play a critical role in providing a variety of services that millions of people depend upon for their livelihoods and social stability. They also contain most of the Asia-Pacific region's terrestrial biodiversity. By the turn of the Millennium, the forests of the region, particularly in the tropics, were acknowledged to be in crisis. Deforestation and forest degradation were rising to unprecedented rates, often as a direct result of illegal activities. There was also a dawning recognition that illegal logging was not only an environment threat, but was also contributing to conflict, corruption, and disrespect for the rule of law. It was against this backdrop that the Asia Forest Partnership (AFP) was established in 2002 at the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). AFP was established as a multi-stakeholder alliance to promote sustainable management of forests in the Asia-Pacific region. In practice, AFP's greatest strength turned out to be promoting dialogue and cooperation to combat illegal logging, and that is the topic upon which the Partnership largely focused. A decade of regional dialogues and other activities followed, drawing in thousands of participants, catalyzing countless partnerships on the ground, and making a significant contribution to changing the nature of dialogue and action on illegal logging. When AFP first began, governments, logging companies and environmental activists rarely sat down at one table for frank discussions on the illegal logging problem. Today, such dialogue is the norm and is a regular feature of meetings of hitherto government-only bodies such as the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC), and the FAO Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission. Ten years ago, illegal logging was often characterized as a domestic law enforcement problem that was the responsibility of those countries to deal with, while those countries, companies, and consumers who processed timber and ultimately bought forest products, looked the other way with respect to the legality of the raw material. Today, consumer markets like the United States, the European Union, and Australia all have timber legality legislation in place, Indonesia has implemented its own Timber Legality Assurance System, and countries with major timber-processing and export industries, such as China and Vietnam, are working to put their own legality verification systems in place. At AFP's outset, environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were very active in alerting the world to the extent and impacts of illegal logging, but had not found productive ways to engage with timber companies to change their management and trade practices. During the course of the ensuing decade, NGO-backed programs like the Global Forest and Trade Network (GFTN), the Responsible Asia Forestry and Trade initiative (RAFT), and the Forest Legality Alliance (FLA) have developed extensive cooperative programs with timber producers, processors, and consumers and have also played an important role in devising and disseminating practical tools to encourage legal trade in forest products. AFP cannot, of course, take sole credit for these considerable positive achievements of the past decade. AFP has, however, played an important and catalytic role. Perhaps most importantly, the multi-stakeholder approach to illegal logging that AFP pioneered has now become the "new normal" in addressing illegal logging throughout the region. This multi-stakeholder approach is now accepted and institutionalized in formal intergovernmental organizations like APEC and ITTO, trade arrangements like the EU Voluntary Partnership Agreements, and in various best practice codes of conduct adopted by the private sector. As the AFP now draws to a close, those that helped establish it and those who have been active members of the partnership have much to be proud of. The AFP set a standard from which other initiatives and partnerships can learn in the future. Details: Washington, DC: Forest Trends, 2013. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 17, 2016 at: http://www.forest-trends.org/documents/files/doc_3529.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Asia URL: http://www.forest-trends.org/documents/files/doc_3529.pdf Shelf Number: 140341 Keywords: DeforestationEnvironmental Crimes Forests Illegal Logging Natural Resource Offenses Against the Environment |
Author: Hewitt, Daphne Title: Identifying Illegality in Timber from Forest Conversion: A Review of Legality Definitions Summary: FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) aim to verify and license legal timber for export to the EU in order to create a 'market access' incentive for legal operators and countries that wish to improve forest law enforcement and governance standards. Licensing is based on a Legality Assurance System (LAS), which is underpinned by a national Legality Definition. Beginning a credible domestic stakeholder process to identify appropriate laws and detailed verifiers for compliance are necessary pre-requisites to formal bilateral negotiations with the EU. VPAs were primarily conceived of with selective logging in production forests in mind, but recent data suggests that conversion timber (timber produced when land is cleared for other uses) is increasingly important in tropical production, and in some countries may represent a significant majority of wood production. In addition, agricultural conversion is now acknowledged as the most significant cause of deforestation and is closely associated with land/tenure conflicts with local communities. Assessing the legality of conversion timber requires that compliance with both the process of permit allocation and all relevant management requirements be examined. On this basis, in the countries reviewed in detail by Forest Trends, a significant majority of the conversion timber produced appears to be illegal. This paper therefore reviews the Legality Definitions of the six counties engaged in VPA implementation, with a view to determining the potential that they offer for identifying illegality in wood sourced from conversion of forest to non-forest uses. Details: Washington, DC: Forest Trends, 2013. 29p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 17, 2016 at: http://www.forest-trends.org/documents/files/doc_4150.pdf Year: 2013 Country: International URL: http://www.forest-trends.org/documents/files/doc_4150.pdf Shelf Number: 140342 Keywords: DeforestationEnvironmental Crimes Forests Illegal Logging Natural Resource Offenses Against the Environment |
Author: Barney, Keith Title: Baseline Study 2, Lao PDR: Overview of Forest Governance, Markets and Trade Summary: Over the past decade in Lao PDR, new regulations and policies related to logging and timber exports have aimed to conserve existing natural forests and promote a shift towards participatory, sustainable forest management. Still, the main challenge will be to implement these reforms effectively. In addition, over the past five to six years, considerable foreign direct investment has moved into Laos' forest-land sector, in the form of agribusiness plantations and infrastructure development. While a welcome development from a financial perspective, this situation has promoted natural forest conversion and is challenged by a number of regulatory uncertainties. This report finds that: 1) timber sales account for roughly 12% of overall government revenue; 2) Laos' forest product export markets are dominated by Vietnam and Thailand, and Laos' main export markets in turn are significant re-exporters of manufactured forest products, to markets which increasingly require legal verification such as the USA and the European Union; 3) community land tenure and forest zoning processes need to be clarified and implemented adequately in order to safeguard local livelihoods and environmental services. Details: Washington, DC: Forest Trends, 2011. 66p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 21, 2016 at: http://forestindustries.eu/sites/default/files/userfiles/1file/baseline_study_laos_report_en.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Laos URL: http://forestindustries.eu/sites/default/files/userfiles/1file/baseline_study_laos_report_en.pdf Shelf Number: 145615 Keywords: Deforestation Environmental Crimes Forests Illegal Logging Natural Resource Offenses Against the Environment |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Title: Transnational Organized Crime in the Pacific: A Threat Assessment Summary: This report presents major threats posed by transnational organized crime in the Pacific region, mainly focusing on the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs). Based on consultations with the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat (PIFS) and information obtained from desk reviews conducted by UNODC, this report focuses on four major types of transnational organized crime affecting the Pacific region: - Drug and precursor trafficking; - Trafficking in persons & smuggling of migrants; - Environmental crimes (fishery crime and other wildlife trafficking & illegal logging and timber trafficking); and - Small arms trafficking. In addition to the major four types of transnational crime, the report also includes some information on the trafficking of counterfeit goods, including fraudulent medicines, and cybercrime to shed light on emerging threats in the region. The four major illicit flows discussed in the report are different sorts of illicit activities, yet they all pose immense challenges to the region. There are strong indications that the PICTs are increasingly targeted by transnational organized crime groups due to their susceptibility to illicit flows driven by several factors. These include (a) the geographical location of the PICTs situated between major sources and destinations of illicit commodities; (b) extensive and porous jurisdictional boundaries; and (c) differences in governance and heterogeneity in general law enforcement capacity across numerous PICTs and the region in general. These complexities also underscore the inherent difficulties in detecting, monitoring, preventing and responding to transnational organized crimes in the region. In this context, transnational criminal activities continue to increase throughout the Pacific and have detrimental impacts on communities, sustainable economic development and regional security. At a regional level and across all transnational organized crime types discussed in this report, a fundamental problem is the significant gaps in data and information related to transnational crime among the PICTs. This is a major hindrance in developing effective and evidence-based responses to transnational organized crime. Details: Bangkok: UNODC, 2016. 130p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 30, 2016 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/southeastasiaandpacific/Publications/2016/2016.09.16_TOCTA_Pacific_web.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Asia URL: http://www.unodc.org/documents/southeastasiaandpacific/Publications/2016/2016.09.16_TOCTA_Pacific_web.pdf Shelf Number: 140518 Keywords: Counterfeit GoodsDrug TraffickingEnvironmental CrimesHuman SmugglingHuman TraffickingIllegal FishingIllegal LoggingOrganized CrimeWildlife CrimeWildlife Trafficking |
Author: Partnership Africa Canada Title: Reap What You Sow: Greed and Corruption in Zimbabwe's Marange Diamond Fields Summary: The Marange diamond fields of eastern Zimbabwe could be the country's salvation. Often described as the biggest diamond discovery of a generation, Marange has undoubtedly put Zimbabwe on the diamond map. Managed right, it could have been the transformational vehicle through which the country turns around its failing economic fortunes, while also serving as an example to other African countries blessed with mineral riches. But since its discovery in 2006, Marange's potential has been overshadowed by violence, smuggling, corruption, and most of all, lost opportunity. The chief custodian of Marange is Obert Mpofu, the country's Minister of Mines. For individuals or companies wanting to secure a mining concession to exploit a slice of Marange's riches, it is ostensibly Minister Mpofu that they need to convince of the merits of their application. After President Robert Mugabe, whose office is vested with the ultimate authority over the country's natural resources, Mpofu is in theory the gatekeeper and arbiter of everything to do with Marange. In practice, however, he has deferred many of these responsibilities to the country's military chiefs. His ministerial duties also require that he serve the public good and best interests of the Zimbabwean people by responsibly managing Marange. But on his watch, the world has seen perhaps the biggest single plunder of diamonds since Cecil Rhodes. Conservative estimates place the theft of Marange goods at almost $2 billion since 2008. Far from defending the best interests of Zimbabwe, Minister Mpofu has presided over a ministry that has awarded concessions to dubious individuals with no prior mining experience, often under very questionable terms or circumstances. Due diligence of miners has been an afterthought. As Minister he has solicited and approved applications from members of Zimbabwe's security forces, including those implicated in human rights abuses in Marange. There is little consistency in how concessions are awarded, other than to ensure the details of any deal are opaque and as far beyond the scrutiny of government ministers and the public as possible. The scale of illegality is mind blowing. One confidential geologist report cited by the August 2010 Kimberley Process Review Mission to Zimbabwe claimed "in excess of 10,000,000 carats have been removed by artisanal effort over the last three years" - an amount worth almost $600,000,000 at today's depressed prices. The Review Mission also estimated illegal mining at 60,000 carats a month, ranking the illicit Marange trade at between 7th and 10th in overall world diamond production. Hundreds of millions of dollars owed to Zimbabwe's Treasury have been lost in both illegal and legal trades. Determining the actual amount is impossible, but in February 2011 fiscal update the Finance Minister Tendai Biti complained US$300 million collected by Zimbabwean Minerals Development Corporation (ZMDC) and the Mineral Marketing Commission of Zimbabwe (MMCZ) - two parastatals under Mpofu's remit - had not arrived in state coffers. Details: Ottawa: Partnership Africa Canada, 2012, 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 8, 2016 at: http://www.pacweb.org/Documents/diamonds_KP/Reap_What_You_Sow-eng-Nov2012.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Zimbabwe URL: http://www.pacweb.org/Documents/diamonds_KP/Reap_What_You_Sow-eng-Nov2012.pdf Shelf Number: 145375 Keywords: CorruptionDiamondsEnvironmental CrimesIllegal MiningIllegal TradeNatural Resources |
Author: Global Witness Title: Honduras: The Deadliest Place to Defend the Planet Summary: Sandwiched between Guatemala and Nicaragua on the Caribbean coast, Honduras is blanketed in forest and rich in valuable minerals. But the proceeds of this natural wealth are enjoyed by a very small section of society. Honduras has the highest levels of inequality in the whole of Latin America, with around six out of ten households in rural areas living in extreme poverty, on less than US$2.50 per day. This report documents shocking levels of violence and intimidation suffered by rural communities for taking a stand against the imposition of dams, mines, logging or agriculture on their land – projects that are controlled by rich and powerful elites, among them members of the political class. The root causes of these abuses are widespread corruption and the failure to properly consult those affected by these projects. Details: Global Witness, 2017. 52p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 17, 2017 at: https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-activists/honduras-deadliest-country-world-environmental-activism/ Year: 2017 Country: Honduras URL: https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/environmental-activists/honduras-deadliest-country-world-environmental-activism/ Shelf Number: 146985 Keywords: Environmental CrimesNatural ResourcesOffenses Against the EnvironmentViolence |
Author: Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) Title: System Failure: The UK's Harmful Trade in Electronic Waste Summary: Electronic waste, or e-waste, is the common term for electronic goods at the end of their 'useful life'. Computers, mobile phones and televisions are all types of electronic goods classified as hazardous waste under the Basel Convention, an international treaty regulating cross-border trade in harmful waste. Due to the proliferation of electronic devices and accelerated technology advances, an increasing amount of e-waste is created every year. It is the fastest-growing waste stream in the UK, with more than one million tonnes generated annually. Globally, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimates annual production of e-waste to be 50 million tonnes, of which only 10 per cent is recycled. E-waste can be highly hazardous to both the environment and human health due to the substances it contains. A computer processor has an array of dangerous metals and chemicals such as antimony trioxide, polybrominated flame retardants, selenium, cadmium and mercury. Cathode ray tubes (CRT) found in older-style bulky TVs and desktop computers often contains large amounts of lead. As well as potentially harmful materials, e-waste may also contain small amounts of valuable metals such as gold and copper. A range of regulations at the international, regional and national levels govern trade in e-waste. The intent is to promote safe recycling of broken electronic equipment and to enable legitimate trade in used, working equipment. In reality, huge quantities of discarded e-waste end up being illegally traded around the world. The European Union, despite strong legislation, is a major source of e-waste which is illegally exported and dumped in developing countries. An estimated 75 per cent of e-waste generated in the EU, equivalent to eight million tonnes a year, is unaccounted for. The destination countries do not have the infrastructure to recycle e-waste safely. Instead, it is processed manually in scrap yards with no consideration for health and safety. The e-waste is stripped down to components by hand. Copper wires are bundled and set alight to remove flame-resistant coatings, emitting toxic dioxins; CRT monitors are smashed with hammers, releasing plumes of lead and cadmium dust. After the useful metals are taken out, leftover parts are often dumped in landfills or rivers, or simply burnt. Poverty in countries where e-waste is illegally dumped often leads to young children being involved in breaking down the electronic goods. The potential health consequences for those involved in this kind of work are dire-reproductive and developmental problems, damaged immune, nervous and blood systems, kidney damage and impaired brain development in children. Much of Europe's e-waste ends up in West Africa, especially Nigeria and Ghana. As developing nations' economies grow so does demand for electronic goods, especially good quality secondhand equipment; yet consignments of such equipment arriving in West African ports are mostly e-waste, with about 75 per cent of the electronic units arriving found to be broken. Importers seem willing to bring in containers mostly filled with e-waste because the demand for electronics is so high that buyers are prepared to purchase untested items. The scale of this trade is enormous; in Nigeria's capital, Lagos, half a million computers arrive every month.6 Much of this export from Europe is carried out by West African nationals, often termed 'waste tourists', with family or business contacts in countries such as the UK. Details: London: EIA, 2011. 17p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 17, 2017 at: http://www.greencustoms.org/docs/EIA_E-waste_report_0511_WEB.pdf Year: 2011 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.greencustoms.org/docs/EIA_E-waste_report_0511_WEB.pdf Shelf Number: 146294 Keywords: Electronic WasteEnvironmental CrimesIllegal TradeIllegal WasteOffenses Against the EnvironmentPollution |
Author: Korwin, Sebastian Title: REDD+ and Corruption Risks for Africa's Forests: Case Studies from Cameroon, Ghana, Zambia and Zimbabwe Summary: The link between corruption and deforestation and forest degradation has been almost universally recognised. Today, corruption continues to threaten new climate initiatives like Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD+). This report provides the summarised findings of corruption risk assessments (CRAs) in four African countries: Cameroon, Ghana, Zambia and Zimbabwe. In each CRA, stakeholders, who include representatives from governments, academia, the judiciary, nongovernmental organisations (NGOs), the media, international organisations and private sector, were selected to participate based on their experience in the forest sector. Details: Berlin: Transparency International, 2016. 58p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 22, 2017 at: https://www.transparency.org/whatwedo/publication/redd_and_corruption_risks_for_africas_forests_case_studies_from_cameroon_gh Year: 2016 Country: Africa URL: Shelf Number: 141178 Keywords: CorruptionDeforestationEnvironmental CrimesForestsIllegal LoggingOffenses Against the Environment |
Author: Ratsimbazafy, Cynthia Title: Timber Island: The Rosewood and Ebony Trade of Madagascar Summary: Madagascar's precious timber, represented by the genera of Dalbergia (rosewood and palisander) and Diospyros (ebony), are species of hardwood that have become much sought after in the last few decades for the manufacture of musical instruments in Europe and the US and for the manufacture of furniture in Asia. Starting in late 2008 and early 2009, the moist forests, home to the greatest wealth in species of precious timber have been subject to unprecedented high levels of logging, with hundreds of thousands of trees cut down in protected areas despite their protected status. Data collected from documents, stakeholder consultations and field surveys has shown that between March 2010 and March 2015 at least 350 430 timber trees (mainly rosewood) have been cut down annually in protected areas, and at least 1 million logs (152 437 t) have been illegally exported from Madagascar. Various factors serve to explain the anarchy in the management of precious timber, namely: • Inconsistency between authorization and prohibition of regulations concerning logging of precious timber, • Alleged collusion of certain State authorities in the illegal trade, • A deficiency of legislative control of forest operations in general, and those related to precious timber in particular, • Failure to impose punitive penalties on well-‐known traffickers, and • The ineffective implementation of local development plans to manage activities of stakeholders living around the protected areas. In order to limit this unprecedented degradation, the government enacted Decree no. 2010-‐141 of 30 March 2010 prohibiting the cutting, transport and export of precious wood. To reinforce this measure and as a Party to CITES, Madagascar requested the listing of precious timber species in Appendix III in 2011 and then in Appendix II in March 2013. This inclusion specifically concerns round log, sawn timber and veneer sheets. The listing of Madagascar's indigenous precious timber in CITES Appendix II requires that controls be put in place to ensure that trade is not detrimental to the species concerned and that permits are issued for any authorized international trade (export). The application for an export permit must therefore be preceded by the issuing of a non-‐detriment finding (NDF); such a finding should not be issued without having appropriate and adequate information on the status of populations in the wild, quantitative logging data, trade history and associated management systems. Details: Cambridge, UK: TRAFFIC, 2016. 144p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 22, 2017 at: http://www.traffic.org/home/2017/2/14/new-study-finds-timber-harvesting-in-madagascar-out-of-contr.html Year: 2016 Country: Madagascar URL: http://www.traffic.org/home/2017/2/14/new-study-finds-timber-harvesting-in-madagascar-out-of-contr.html Shelf Number: 141182 Keywords: Crimes Against the EnvironmentDeforestationEnvironmental CrimesForestsIllegal Logging |
Author: Chayes, Sarah Title: When Corruption is the Operating System: The Case of Honduras Summary: In some five dozen countries worldwide, corruption can no longer be understood as merely the iniquitous doings of individuals. Rather, it is the operating system of sophisticated networks that cross sectoral and national boundaries in their drive to maximize returns for their members. Honduras offers a prime example of such intertwined, or "integrated," transnational kleptocratic networks. This case thus illustrates core features of the way apparently open or chaotic economies are in reality structured worldwide - and some of the dynamics that are driving climate change, persistent inequality, and spiraling conflict. THE HONDURAN KLEPTOCRATIC OS IN ACTION - In this example, the three interlocking spheres are roughly co-equal in psychological impact if not in amounts of captured revenue. They retain a degree of autonomy, and are often disrupted by internal rivalry. - This system's operations devastate the environment-though Honduras is not a "resource" country. Most threats to biodiversity derive from deliberate "development" policies-whose primary purpose is actually to funnel rents to network members. - Modern renewable energy, as well as hydropower, is captured by the network. The migrant crisis is also fueled by this brand of corruption. - Repression is carefully targeted for maximum psychological effect. An example was the March 2016 assassination of environmental and social justice activist Berta Caceres, which reverberated through like-minded communities. _ The kleptocracy benefits from significant external reinforcement, witting or unwitting, including not just military assistance, but much international development financing. A DIFFERENT "CHIP" - The first step to disabling the kleptocratic OS is to acknowledge it, and outsiders' role reinforcing it. Western policymakers should invest in the candid study of these networks and to corruption as an intentional operating system, and evaluate whether their inputs are, on balance, enabling or challenging these structures. - Environmental protection is part of an awakening indigenous worldview that provides an integrated, positive vision many find worth fighting for. Community groups are establishing their own networks, in which cultural and environmental revival is linked to labor and land rights and autonomous education. But these groups receive proportionately little support from donor governments and institutions. - Community-supported alternative development models exist. Members of such organizations-who have faced death to combat network-controlled dams-readily identify micro-dams that meet their approval. They have helped design and construct some; others contribute to local well-being. Development implementers should study such projects and apply their principles. - Lessons from Honduras are applicable worldwide. Engaged Honduran community groups have valuable insights not just into how development assistance can produce better results in Honduras, but into ways the West might retool its economy to reduce inequality while preserving and cultivating natural resources. Details: Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 2017. 174p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 20, 2017 at: http://carnegieendowment.org/files/Chayes_Corruption_Final_updated.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Honduras URL: http://carnegieendowment.org/files/Chayes_Corruption_Final_updated.pdf Shelf Number: 146322 Keywords: CorruptionCriminal NetworksEnvironmental CrimesNatural ResourcesOffenses Against The Environment |
Author: Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) Title: First Class Crisis: China's Criminal and Unsustainable Intervention in Mozambique's Miombo Forests Summary: This report updates a January 2013 EIA report on forest crime in Mozambique - First Class Connections. It details research, investigations and analysis conducted by EIA between mid-2013 and 2014 which found that: - Over the past seven years an average of 81 percent of all logging in Mozambique was illegal. In 2013, a staggering 93 per cent of logging in the country was illegal - The shocking scale of illegality is largely driven by booming timber exports, with 76 per cent of timber exported from Mozambique worldwide in 2013 being illegally cut in excess of reported harvests - The vast majority of exports (93 per cent on average between 2007 and 2013) were shipped to China. In 2013, when Mozambique became China's biggest African supplier of logs by value, 46 per cent of China's 516,296 cubic metres (m3) of timber imports from Mozambique were also smuggled out of the country, maintaining a pattern and scale of crime by Chinese companies already documented by EIA in 2012 - This illegal logging and timber smuggling has driven harvesting volumes way beyond sustainable levels, despite claims by Mozambican officials to the contrary, raising serious concerns about the Government's ability to credibly manage the country's forest resources - EIA analysis shows that an excessive focus on just a handful of commercial timber species - for both export and domestic markets - raises the likelihood that commercial stocks will be largely depleted over the next 15 years - All of this crime and environmental mismanagement has robbed Mozambique's rural poor and wider population of US$146 million in lost exploration and export tax revenues since 2007 - Despite some evidence of law enforcement by the Mozambican Government, and the promotion by the Chinese Government of voluntary guidelines on legal forestry activities for Chinese businesses, corruption and ineffective governance in both Mozambique and China's business sector are a structural impediment to resolving the crisis - Multiple Chinese-owned timber companies already exposed by EIA and others continue to smuggle illegal Mozambican timber to China. Without a sea-change in how Mozambique's Government and law enforcement community do their jobs, with corruption an ongoing problem, and with no enforceable laws on illegal timber imports in China, Mozambique's forests and forest economy face a bleak future. The degree to which poor rural communities will bear the burden of Mozambique's ongoing illegal logging crisis - in what is now the second least developed nation on Earth - is a critical development and governance challenge that needs immediate and credible action by all concerned parties. Details: London: EIA, 2014. 17p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 29, 2017 at: https://eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/First-Class-Crisis-English-FINAL.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Mozambique URL: https://eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/First-Class-Crisis-English-FINAL.pdf Shelf Number: 147502 Keywords: Environmental CrimesForestsIllegal LoggingNatural ResourcesOffenses Against the EnvironmentSmuggling |
Author: Urrunaga, Julia Title: Moment of Truth: Promise or Peril for the Amazon as Peru Confronts its Illegal Timber Trade Summary: EIA's new report describes important advances since 2012 in Peru's fight against illegal logging, timber laundering, and its associated international trade - as well as the backlash against these new approaches. The evidence of persistent illegal logging, systemic corruption, laundering, and illegal timber in Peru's exports remains overwhelming. While the U.S. has begun to crack down on illegal Peruvian timber, major importing countries like China and Mexico are turning a blind eye. Human rights violations, long-term economic impacts, and damage to biodiversity and the global climate are all embedded in the Peruvian forest sector's current operating model. At the same time, Peru's institutions have shown that they have the tools to conduct effective enforcement and create more transparent procedures and systems. This is a Moment of Truth. Can Peru accept and act on the truths revealed by its own enforcement actions? Or will it now eliminate the rules and inspections that are necessary for tracing timber back to verified, legal origins? The report focuses on three pieces: A multi-year enforcement effort called Operation Amazonas that in 2015 focused on the shipping vessel Yacu Kallpa, the largest export trade stream of timber from the northern Peruvian Amazon. Upon investigation, enforcement agencies discovered that an average of 91.3% -- and as high as 96% -- of the timber this ship carried was from illegal sources, leading to detentions and seizures in Peru, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and the U.S. Protests, backlash and high-level pushback in response to these efforts to enforce the law and introduce greater transparency to the system. The timber industry, its primary regulatory authority (the National Forest and Wildlife Service, Serfor), and other government entities in Peru have denied or minimized the problem and attempted to weaken enforcement institutions. They have also reduced data collection and changed official requirements to make it almost impossible to trace timber and verify legal origin, in contravention of Peru's own laws and commitments. A new analysis of hundreds of pages of official documents that reveal systematic exports of illegal and high-risk timber from Peru's main port of Callao during 2015, by dozens of companies and to 18 countries. It is impossible to replicate this analysis for 2016 or 2017, since the Peruvian forest authority has decided to stop compiling the necessary data. Details: Washington, DC: Environmental Investigation Agency, 2018. 80p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 28, 2018 at: https://content.eia-global.org/posts/documents/000/000/694/original/MomentofTruth.pdf?1518546054 Year: 2018 Country: Peru URL: https://content.eia-global.org/posts/documents/000/000/694/original/MomentofTruth.pdf?1518546054 Shelf Number: 149277 Keywords: Environmental CrimesForestsIllegal LoggingIllegal TradeOffenses Against the Environment |
Author: Steinberg, Jonny Title: The illicit abalone trade in South Africa Summary: In the first 20 years following the introduction of a quota on abalone harvesting in 1970, poaching existed but was contained. This changed dramatically in the early 1990s. Within a couple of years, the illicit perlemoen trade had become a highly organised, multimillion-dollar industry, controlled by street gangs on the shoreline and by transnational enterprises on the trade routes to East Asia. As a result of this binge of illegal harvesting, South Africa's stock of wild perlemoen today stands on the brink of extinction. This paper explores why the illicit abalone trade took off so dramatically in the 1990s and chronicles the attempts of various enforcement agencies to contain it. We evaluate which measures may have worked, which may still work, and which were doomed from the start. Details: Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies, 2005. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: ISS Paper 105: Accessed April 4, 2018 at: https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/105.PDF Year: 2005 Country: South Africa URL: https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/105.PDF Shelf Number: 106991 Keywords: AbaloneAnimal PoachingEnvironmental CrimesGangsIllicit TradeWildlife Crime |
Author: Global Witness Title: Under-Mined: How corruption, mismanagement and political influence is undermining investment in Uganda's mining sector and threatening people and environment Summary: Uganda is rich in natural resource wealth such as gold, tin and phosphate that could create jobs and support the country's developing economy by generating tax revenues. However, our 18 month long investigation has exposed endemic corruption and mismanagement in the country's fledgling mining sector that means crooked officials, and international investors are profiting at the expense of Uganda's people, environment and economy. Key findings of the investigation include: Miners are working in dangerous, largely unregulated conditions - with children exposed to toxic chemicals on a daily basis Almost half the world's remaining mountain gorillas are at risk as mining threatens Bwindi and Rwenzori national parks, part of the famous Virunga ecosystem, and also risks the economically critical tourism industry which depends on the country's natural beauty and wildlife The country is deprived of tax revenues that could be spent on schools, hospitals and roads Minerals from the Democratic Republic of Congo and South Sudan - that might be funding conflict and human rights abuses - pass through Uganda on their way to international markets Details: London: Global Witness, 2017. 87p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 21, 2018 at: https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/oil-gas-and-mining/uganda-undermined/ Year: 2017 Country: Uganda URL: https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/oil-gas-and-mining/uganda-undermined/ Shelf Number: 150319 Keywords: Environmental CrimesMineralsMining IndustryNatural ResourcesOffenses Against the EnvironmentalPolitical Corruption |
Author: Smirnov, Denis Title: Assessment of Scope of Illegal Logging in Laos and Associated Trans-Boundary Timber Trade Summary: Main findings - The Government of Laos lacks reliable information on issued logging licenses (quotas), the officially registered volume of timber harvested, and export of wooden products. For example, Lao wood exports to China and Vietnam from 2012-2014 as reported by importing countries exceeded total annual logging quotas many-fold and officially registered volume of timber by an order of magnitude. The total value of Lao wood products as reported by importing countries exceeds the value of exported wood products by analysis of data from Lao state customs statistics many-fold, and a disparity between these two data sets increases further. In 2013 the official export value was only 8% of the total value of Lao timber imported as reported by destination countries. - According to the data from importing countries the export value of Lao wood products has been growing exponentially from the end of 2000s. From 2009 to 2014 it increased more than 8 times (by 70% between 2013 and 2014) and reached US$1.7 billion. In 2014, China and Vietnam were responsible for 96% of Lao wood export in value terms (63 and 33%, respectively). Moreover export to China increased by 140% on 2013 levels. This growth in value of Lao timber exports to China and Vietnam is caused by a simultaneous increase in exported timber volume and increase in the value of exported product units due to the greater proportion of valuable tree species in Lao exports. - The ban on export of logs and sawn timber imposed by the Government of Laos from 1999- 2002 with the aim to encourage development of deep processing of timber in the country is either not enforced or circumvented due to numerous permissions issued in "exceptional cases". The share of unprocessed and sawn wood in total exports from Laos in monetary terms almost always exceeded 90% in a period between 2000 and 2014, hitting 95% in 2011-2013 and nearly 98% in 2014. From the mid-2000s the share of logs in exports has been increasing steadily and reached 56% in 2014 while in 2002 accounted for only 14% (furthermore export value of logs doubled in 2014 compared to 2013). - The comparison of official data on volumes of issued quotas and the officially registered volume of timber harvested in Laos' four southern provinces of Sekong, Saravan, Champassak and Attapeu ("CarBi monitoring area") in the 2011-2012 logging season, with data on export of wood products from this area, has found that >50% of timber products exported were from undocumented sources. In monetary equivalent the value of excessive timber could exceed the Lao budget income from timber sales planned for the 2013-2014 fiscal year threefold. - Not less than 50% (most likely more than 60%) of wood products exported in the 2010-2011 logging season from Sekong were from undocumented sources. - The sheer volume of undocumented timber involved suggests that its extraction and transportation was conducted by large companies who had been permitted to legally assemble and operate a very high number of heavy equipment inside the extraction areas and to and from the country's borders. Such large fleets of heavy equipment are usually only assembled to convert forest lands for plantations, roads, transmission lines, reservoirs, mining, or geologic prospecting. - Following the above assumption we found the timing of these huge volumes of undocumented timber to be following a dramatic increase in Chinese and Vietnamese investments in mining, agriculture, forestry and hydropower in Laos. The majority of the associated projects' concessions were located in forested areas and accordingly contemplates the possibility of logging quotas acquisition. - We investigated the above correlation by comparing logging quotas issued for land clearance of one mining and one road construction project in the provinces of Saravan and Sekong with actual timber extraction. Analysis of relevant official documents, field surveys of logging sites and log depots, and interpretation of high resolution satellite images have been applied. We found 100% of timber extracted under the road construction project and 99% of the timber from the mining project to be illegal. Legal violations included: a. Extraction outside of concession boundaries. In the case of mining 76% of detected new logging sites were located beyond the concession borders while in the case of road construction all logging was found beyond the zone allocated for construction (in one case 40 km away from the closest point of the road). b. Logging comes in the form of extraction of only the best quality trees of target species with the highest volume. Species composition and grades of actually harvested timber drastically differed from what was permitted under quotas. Accordingly composition and volume of harvested timber had nothing to do with the results of pre-felling survey. c. Pre-felling survey of timber designated for logging is either not carried out or done only technically (formally) for the sake of appearance. In the case of mining it was completed only for 40% of the concession already after the commencement of the logging and was not used practically. There is every indication that the pre-felling survey for the road construction concession was not undertaken on the ground and documents include fictitious data. d. There was extraction of species not permitted to be cut (including prohibited for logging) and export of species in which harvest was not documented (including rosewood species). e. Extraction of higher volumes than permitted. In the case of road construction, the volume of exported timber (as it was reported to Vietnamese customs) exceeded over the entire officially documented harvest more than threefold. f. There was underreporting of the quality of harvested timber by selling Lao authorities and undervaluation of timber by Lao timber exporter, supposedly in order to understate royalties and taxes to Lao state. In the road construction case, the average volume of logs as reported by the importer at Vietnamese customs was 1.7-2.6 times higher than in log lists and sale-purchase contracts for the same species in Laos. Prices of exported timber as reported by the importer to Vietnamese customs was 2.9-4.2 higher than contract prices indicated in documents by the Lao exporter for same species on the Lao side. - The findings of these case studies and observations of other logging quotas allow us to suggest that in reality the use of permits for harvesting "conversion" timber during realization of development projects de-facto became a way to legitimate large-scale high grading in all types of forests (including conservation and protection forests). - The discrepancy between officially registered supply of raw materials to wood processing factories and their processing capacity is striking and obvious. Official logging quotas in the provinces of Saravan and Sekong can only fill 25% of installed wood processing capacity at best. The remaining capacity is likely filled with illegal timber. - The activity of state forest inspection (and most likely other Lao state law enforcement agencies responsible for fighting illegal logging) does not have any significant impact on the dynamics and scope of illegal logging as they do not inspect logging operations under logging quotas for conversion timber (neither logging sites nor logging volumes) and further turnover of this timber (transportation, processing, export). In the four southern Laos provinces they confiscated only about 3-5% of the estimated illegal timber volume in 2011- 2012. But even this confiscated timber originated from small operations and the large-scale commercial operations by big companies remained untouched. - The high dependence of China and critical dependence of Vietnam on timber supply from Laos makes it is unlikely that the governments of these countries are ready to take steps to control import legality. It is evident that such actions would reduce dramatically the volume and quality of timber from Laos together with the profit of timber traders and wood processing companies which enjoy excess profits from purchasing raw material for underestimated prices. An indication is the elegant wording suggested by the Vietnamese government for its draft legality definition for its negotiations of a FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreement with the EU. It does not require importers to provide assurance that imported timber was legally harvested in the country of harvest, but rather that it was legally imported to Vietnam according to Vietnamese laws. - The situation with timber harvesting in Laos is evolving under a worst-case scenario exactly opposite to what was envisaged by Forest Strategy to the Year 2020 of the Lao PDR (endorsed by Decree No. 229/PM on 9 of August 2005): transition to sourcing timber from plantations and production forests on the basis of scientifically estimated annual allowable cut, processing of almost all harvested timber at Lao factories to final and semi-final products. Contrary to the government's good intentions developments under the actual scenario will undoubtedly lead to the sheer depletion of commercial timber stocks in its natural forests - on the same path that Thailand, Vietnam and Cambodia have already taken. - Were the Lao government serious to change the status quo and avoid a worst-case scenario it would have to take immediate actions to assure that logging quotas for conversion timber meet fundamental legal requirements. The efforts must be focused on most critical points where urgent interventions are required and progress can be measured: a) Allow logging only within authorized borders. b) Provide unambiguous maps with crystal clear borders of all concessions where timber harvesting is permitted. c) Demarcate all boundaries before the beginning of logging. d) Conduct rigorous pre-felling surveys. e) Create and make available for all interested parties a database with key information about all permitted logging before the beginning of logging. f) Make field control over logging operations under quotas for conversion timber a priority for forest inspection staff. g) Use high and very high resolution satellite images as additional independent sources of information. h) Establish an independent monitoring body comprising representatives of the relevant government agencies, CSOs and INGOs with unrestricted access to all logging areas. i) Operate all forest inspection check points 24/7 and inspect timber transports en route. Not only search and detain carriers of small shipments of valuable timber but systematically register all timber shipments with information on type of product, volume and species composition regardless of the availability of "legally issued permits". j) Register timber turnover at all key points of the chain to match raw wood input with product output. Investigate mismatches thoroughly. k) Maintain account of timber supply to log landings throughout the whole logging season and regularly check accuracy of log lists maintenance. l) Regularly inspect wood processing factories to verify stocks of wood products presented in the factory against raw wood supply from documented sources. Test conversion factor of raw material to processed wood. m) Completely forbid bartering logging permits for investment in public projects. Details: London: World Wildlife Fund, 2015. 106p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 23, 2018 at: https://wildleaks.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/CarBi-assessment-of-scope2.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Laos URL: https://wildleaks.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/CarBi-assessment-of-scope2.pdf Shelf Number: 150346 Keywords: DeforestationEnvironmental CrimesForestsIllegal LoggingIllegal TradeNatural ResourcesOffenses Against the Environment |
Author: NEPCon Title: Timber Legality Risk Assessment: Laos Summary: This report contains an evaluation of the risk of illegality in Laos for five categories and 21 sub-categories of law. We found: - Specified risk for 16 sub-categories. - No legal requirements for 5 sub-categories. The Timber Risk Score for Laos is 0 out of 100. The key legality risks identified in this report concern legal rights to harvest, taxes and fees, timber harvesting activities, third parties rights and trade and transport. For Legal rights to harvest, the is a risk of: - Conflict over land tenure, and a lack of business registration specifically for plantations (Sub-category 1.1) - Forest concessions being granted in violation of regulations (1.2) - Annual Logging Quotas being based on inadequate inventories and requests from districts, prepared in the office without conducting actual field surveys, leading to approvals for logging not reflecting the resources available on the ground (1.3). - Corruption, lack of certification and stamping procedures for harvesting permits and other documents, resulting in harvesting outside areas approved by the government, clearance of greater areas than areas granted for projects, and permits issued despite lack of documentation (1.4). For Taxes and Fees, there is a risk of: - Inconsistent application of taxes and fees at the provincial level (1.5) - Risk of high corruption levels regarding payment of tax, the high amount of illegal logging indicates that issues might be present in relation to tax payment (1.5) - Risk that smallholders lack business registration, and don't pay taxes (1.5) For Timber Harvesting Activities, there is risk of: - Risk that the implementation of harvesting regulation is lacking, a logging plan is often seen as a quota giving the right to cut a certain volume, and harvesting practice driven by needs to supply the sawmills with their desired wood (1.8) - Risk of legal requirements covering protected tree species being ignored and protected species being harvested without authorization document (1.9) - Risk of non-compliance with health and safety rules, logging crews do not have safety equipment or protective gear, and live under very basic conditions (1.11) - Risk that workers do not have a contract or do not receive their salary (1.12) Third Parties' Rights: Regarding Customary rights (1.13) there is a risk of conflicts on tenure rights, the government maintains a highly centralized system of forest governance with inadequate recognition of customary tenure rights, communal lands are not compensated for when re-allocated to a company For Trade and Transport, there is a risk of: - A lack of, or falsification of the registration of harvested logs (1.16) - Risk of timber being transported without required documents (1.17) - Risk of violation of the ban on export of logs and timber (1.17) This Timber Legality Risk Assessment for Laos provides an analysis of the risk of sourcing timber from areas of illegal harvesting and transport. NEPCon has been working on risk assessments for timber legality, in partnership with a number of organizations, since 2007. Details: Copenhagen: NETCon, 2017. 143p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 24, 2018 at: https://www.nepcon.org/sites/default/files/library/2017-06/NEPCon-TIMBER-Laos-Risk-Assessment-EN-V1.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Laos URL: https://www.nepcon.org/sites/default/files/library/2017-06/NEPCon-TIMBER-Laos-Risk-Assessment-EN-V1.pdf Shelf Number: 150354 Keywords: Environmental CrimesForestsIllegal LoggingNatural ResourcesOffenses Against the EnvironmentRisk Assessment |
Author: Haysom, Simone Title: Digitally Enhanced Responses: New Horizons for Combating On-line Illegal Wildlife Trade Summary: During the first decade of the 2000s, conservation NGOs began to identify the internet as a unique enabler of the illegal trade in wildlife. As the quote above illustrates, the internet has been seen as a virtual marketplace with unparalleled and expansive ability to advertise to consumers in any part of the world, at any time of day. As such, it can not only reach existing buyers of wildlife products, but also create whole new markets. The internet was also seen as a platform that allowed sellers and buyers alike greater powers to hide their identity and evade detection from law enforcement, in part by facilitating private communication between suppliers, dealers, traders and consumers. In the intervening period, internet access has grown enormously and social-media platforms, with billions of users worldwide, have become incredibly powerful tools for communication. At the same time, the threat that the illegal wildlife trade (IWT) poses to endangered species has grown apace. In the same way that the illegal drugs market, as well as the trade in guns and people, has adapted to the opportunities offered by digital platforms, this shift has also manifested in the way the illicit wildlife trade has taken advantage of online marketing opportunities. This brief sets out to describe how our understanding of the problems posed by the online IWT, and our responses to it, have evolved. It measures the progress made in exposing the threat posed by the adoption of digital platforms by traders in endangered wildlife and raises questions about what we have not yet been able to understand, and why we need to. It looks at trends in the phenomenon and suggests what they mean for the next generation of efforts to address this issue. Lastly, it describes the most pressing issues on the online IWT agenda, and explains how the Global Initiative's new project, Digital Dangers: Disrupting Online IWT, aims to contribute to tackling the problem. Details: Geneva, Switzerland: The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, 2018. 18p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 8, 2018 at: http://globalinitiative.net/digitally-enhanced-responses/ Year: 2018 Country: International URL: http://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/TGIATOC-Digital-Responses-Report-WEB.pdf Shelf Number: 151440 Keywords: CybercrimeEndangered SpeciesEnvironmental CrimesIllegal Wildlife Trade |
Author: Cakaj, Ledio Title: Deadly Profits: Illegal Wildlife Trafficking through Uganda and South Sudan Summary: Countries that act as transit hubs for international wildlife trafficking are a critical, highly profitable part of the illegal wildlife smuggling supply chain, but are frequently overlooked. While considerable attention is paid to stopping illegal poaching at the chain's origins in national parks and changing end-user demand (e.g., in China), countries that act as midpoints in the supply chain are critical to stopping global wildlife trafficking. They are needed way stations for traffickers who generate considerable profits, thereby driving the market for poaching. This is starting to change, as U.S., European, and some African policymakers increasingly recognize the problem, but more is needed to combat these key trafficking hubs. In East and Central Africa, South Sudan and Uganda act as critical way points for elephant tusks, pangolin scales, hippo teeth, and other wildlife, as field research done for this report reveals. Kenya and Tanzania are also key hubs but have received more attention. The wildlife going through Uganda and South Sudan is largely illegally poached at alarming rates from Garamba National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan, points in West Africa, and to a lesser extent Uganda, as it makes its way mainly to East Asia. Worryingly, the elephant population in Congo has decreased by an estimated 75 percent since 1996 mainly due to poaching, according to park officials in Congo. Since conflict broke out in South Sudan in December 2013, South Sudanese poachers and armed groups have increasingly crossed into Garamba park in Congo, for example, through the little monitored Lantoto National Park in South Sudan, and likely now make up the majority of poachers there, according to park officials and United Nations experts. Joseph Kony's Lord's Resistance Army (LRA), armed Sudanese poachers, and Mbororo pastoralists in Congo also continue to poach in Garamba. South Sudanese poachers in Congo appear to be a mix of soldiers, former soldiers, police officers, and civilians, based on Enough Project field interviews. They traffic ivory and other wildlife to foreign markets via smuggling routes, mainly through South Sudan, particularly Juba International Airport and/or by road through neighboring Uganda, an important transit point for trafficked animals and ivory tusks originating from Congo and South Sudan. Insecurity in South Sudan has helped create an ivory trafficking route from the southwest of South Sudan eastward to Juba. From there, it is either flown out of the country via Juba Airport or driven south to Uganda via the border crossings at Nimule or Oraba. Over five tons of ivory was seized at Juba's airport in 2014-15 alone. Based on estimates from seizures in Uganda and interviews with experts in Congo, South Sudan, and Uganda, large amounts of ivory from Garamba are transported to Uganda either through South Sudan or via Congo-Uganda border crossings.6 Elephant ivory fetches up to $250 per kilogram ($113 per pound) in the Ugandan black market, a significant amount of money locally. The wildlife is then trafficked to either Entebbe International Airport or the border crossings between Uganda and Kenya and to the Kenyan port of Mombasa, which is another exit point of illicit goods destined for Asian markets, or to the port of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. International authorities increasingly recognize Uganda as a wildlife trafficking hub. Although the Ugandan government has taken several key anti-poaching and trafficking steps within the last year, much remains to be done to combat trafficking. Uganda was listed as one of ten countries worldwide "linked to the greatest illegal ivory trade flows since 2012," including those from Central Africa, according to the global body that tracks poaching and trafficking, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Trafficking through Uganda appeared to worsen with CITES listing it for the first time in 2013 as a country of "primary concern." The Ugandan government has recently taken important measures to address the problem. Recent efforts include setting up a court dedicated to wildlife crimes, ordering investigations into the leadership of the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) for the alleged theft of ivory from its storerooms and other alleged offenses, completing the review of the 20-year-old Uganda Wildlife Act that will now be sent to the Parliament of Uganda, beefing up penalties for poaching and trafficking, and increasing the number of wildlife seizures, arrests, and prosecutions in recent years. However, organized criminal groups are likely still involved in trafficking in Uganda. International traffickers continue to use Uganda as a waypoint, as evidenced by the February 2017 seizure of over one ton of ivory suspected to be from neighboring countries and the arrest of three West Africans near Kampala. Also, UWA officials are accused of attempted bribery of banks, which UWA denies. And while a new court dedicated to wildlife prosecutions is an important step, there is only one such court in the country, and prosecutions of high-level traffickers have been limited to date. One problem has been the storage of seized wildlife and the subsequent trafficking of it. For example, in October 2014 an internal audit of the Uganda Wildlife Authority's stock room found that 1.35 metric tons of elephant ivory had gone missing from 2009 to 2014. Furthermore, there have also been several cases of state-affiliated actors involved in wildlife trafficking in Uganda and South Sudan. Some of these cases have been prosecuted, e.g., a February 2017 conviction of mid-level Ugandan army officers for ivory trafficking. However, several cases have either not been prosecuted or have lingered in the Ugandan court system for years, and there have been no convictions to date for the missing 1.35 tons of ivory first reported three years ago. In South Sudan and Uganda, there has been little accountability to date for high-level cases of officials involved in trafficking. In some cases, in South Sudan, traffickers were released or never charged. In addition, storerooms in Uganda for wildlife artifacts confiscated from smugglers appear, in some instances, to be sources for further black-market trade. Understanding and combating trafficking in South Sudan and Uganda should be of primary importance to policymakers aiming to curb the frenzied levels of poaching in one of Central Africas remaining sanctuaries for wildlife, Garamba National Park. To this end, the following authorities and offices should fully consider and implement wherever possible the recommendations as follows: Recommendations - Increase accountability. The United States and European nations should urge the Ugandan government to follow up on high-level cases of wildlife trafficking in Uganda's military, anticorruption, or wildlife courts, as well as cases in South Sudanese courts, to help ensure that the cases move forward in their respective justice systems. U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DFID), Denmark's Danida, and other donors should provide assistance to the Ugandan Ministry of Justice to expand the wildlife court and train judges in wildlife crimes. Training should include how to properly value wildlife, such that judicial sentences are appropriate to the scope of crimes committed. - Combat poaching in and around Garamba. With U.S. Congressional support, the U.S. Department of Defense should authorize funding to support Garamba National Park rangers and African Parks (the NGO which manages the park) to help interdict the illegal poaching and wildlife trade from Congo to South Sudan and Sudan. For example, with additional funding, AFRICOM could help provide technology to augment park rangers' interdiction capability, such as night vision, thermal recognition, camera traps, and night-flying panels for helicopters over Garamba park. European military personnel and contractors, MONUSCO, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service could also provide assistance. MONUSCO peacekeepers could also, in collaboration with FARDC military or Congolese police, conduct 'stop and search' operations of trucks suspected of transporting ivory by road. - Follow the money. Justice authorities in the European Union, the United States, Uganda, and elsewhere with jurisdiction over individuals and companies suspected of high-level involvement in illegal ivory trafficking should investigate the most serious cases of trafficking, money laundering, and other related crimes. Financial intelligence units in the United States and Europe, banks, and other financial institutions should build on the study produced in mid-2016 by the Eastern and Southern Africa Anti-Money Laundering Group (ESAAMLG) to combat the laundering of the proceeds of trafficking through the international financial system. Sanctions authorities such as the U.S. Department of Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) should pursue and designate key traffickers and their criminal networks. - Maintain wildlife stocks. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and European states should provide technical assistance to the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) to ensure that wildlife stocks are kept safely in one or two depots, under the sole control and responsibility of UWA executives. - Pass legislation with harsher penalties. The Parliament of Uganda should pass the revised Wildlife Act, which includes stiffer penalties for wildlife trafficking, that the Ugandan cabinet has now finished reviewing. - Support local anti-trafficking groups. International donors and conservation authorities should increase support to local organizations in Congo, South Sudan, and Uganda that carry out investigations of wildlife trafficking. Public-private partnerships may be applicable here. Details: Washington, DC: Enough Project, 2017. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 9, 2018 at: https://enoughproject.org/reports/deadly-profits-illegal-wildlife-trafficking Year: 2017 Country: Africa URL: https://enoughproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/DeadlyProfits_July2017_Enough_final_web-1.pdf Shelf Number: 151461 Keywords: East AfricaEnvironmental CrimesIllegal Wildlife TradeIllegal Wildlife TraffickingPoachingWildlife Crime |
Author: Mousseau, Frederic Title: The Great Timber Heist Continued: Tax Evasion and Illegal Logging in Papua New Guinea Summary: This report makes public new evidence of financial misreporting and tax evasion in the logging industry in Papua New Guinea (PNG). Following the Oakland Institute's 2016 report, which alleged that financial misreporting by foreign firms resulted in nonpayment of hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes, the new report reveals drastic worsening of this pattern in recent years. According to the financial records, the 16 studied subsidiaries of PNG's largest log exporter, the Malaysian Rimbunan Hijau (RH) Group, have doubled their financial losses in just six years while increasing their exports of tropical timber by over 40 percent. The new report also analyses the effect of the progressive tax rate on log exports introduced in 2017 by the PNG government to address concerns around tax evasion. PNG's Minister of Forests and the forest industry have argued that this new tax has brought the industry to "the brink of disaster," resulting in "vanishing" tax revenue for the country. However, the Oakland Institute's latest report clearly refutes these claims showing that the tax increase has generated additional fiscal revenue while contributing to an overall drop in exports in 2017. The increase in log exports in recent years by PNG is largely the result of illegally-granted Special Agriculture and Business Leases (SABLs), which added 5.5 million hectares of land to the ten million hectares already under active logging concession. Despite the 2014 government's promise that all illegal deals would be canceled, to date no decisive action has been taken to stop illegal logging or return land to the people. Details: Oakland, CA: The Oakland Institute, 2018. 18p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 12, 2018 at: https://www.oaklandinstitute.org/sites/oaklandinstitute.org/files/great_timber_heist_cont.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Papua New Guinea URL: https://www.oaklandinstitute.org/great-timber-heist-continued-papua-new-guinea Shelf Number: 151492 Keywords: Environmental CrimesForestsIllegal LoggingTax Evasion |
Author: Lundgren, Karin Title: The Global Impact of E-Waste: Addressing the Challenge Summary: Executive Summary Electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) is currently the largest growing waste stream. It is hazardous, complex and expensive to treat in an environmentally sound manner, and there is a general lack of legislation or enforcement surrounding it. Today, most e-waste is being discarded in the general waste stream. Of the e-waste in developed countries that is sent for recycling, 80 per cent ends up being shipped (often illegally) to developing countries such as China, India, Ghana and Nigeria for recycling. Within the informal economy of such countries, it is recycled for its many valuable materials by recyclers using rudimentary techniques. Such globalization of e-waste has adverse environmental and health implications. Furthermore, developing countries are shouldering a disproportionate burden of a global problem without having the technology to deal with it. In addition, developing countries themselves are increasingly generating significant quantities of e-waste. This paper explores the volumes, sources and flows of e-waste, the risks it poses to e-waste workers and the environment, occupational safety and health (OSH) issues, labour issues and regulatory frameworks, and links this growing global problem with the International Labour Organisation (ILO)'s current and future work. It is clear that the future of e-waste management depends not only on the effectiveness of local government authorities working with the operators of recycling services but also on community participation, together with national, regional and global initiatives. The solution to the e-waste problem is not simply the banning of transboundary movements of e-waste, as domestic generation accounts for a significant proportion of e-waste in all countries. Fundamental to a sustainable solution will be tackling the fact that current practices and the illegal trade provide economic stimulus. It is important to recognize local and regional contexts and the social implications of the issue; implementing a high-tech, capital-intensive recycling process will not be appropriate in every country or region. Effective regulation must be combined with incentives for recyclers in the informal sector not to engage in destructive processes. Cheap, safe and simple processing methods for introduction into the informal sector are currently lacking; hence, it is necessary to create a financial incentive for recyclers operating in the informal sector to deliver recovered parts to central collection sites rather than process them themselves. Multidisciplinary solutions are vital in addition to technical solutions, as is addressing the underlying social inequities inherent in the e-waste business. Recycling operations in the informal sector of the economy enable employment for hundreds of thousands of people in poverty. A possible entry point to address their negative impacts is to address occupational risks, targeting poverty as the root cause of hazardous work and, in the process, developing decent working conditions. More generally, solutions to the global e-waste problem involve awareness-raising among both consumers and e-waste recyclers in the informal economy, integration of the informal sector with the formal, creating green jobs, enforcing legislation and labour standards, and eliminating practices which are harmful to human health and the environment. It is also imperative to target electrical and electronics manufacturers by introducing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation and encouraging initial designs to be green, long lived, upgradeable and built for recycling. In considering solutions to the e-waste problem, this paper focuses on worker protection through appropriate legislation, formalization of the informal recycling sector and the opportunities represented by cooperative organization of e-waste workers. Details: Geneva, Switzerland: International Labour Office, 2012. 72p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 20, 2019 at: https://www.ilo.org/sector/Resources/publications/WCMS_196105/lang--en/index.htm Year: 2012 Country: International URL: https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_dialogue/---sector/documents/publication/wcms_196105.pdf Shelf Number: 155482 Keywords: E-WasteElectrical WasteElectronic WasteEnvironmental CrimesGreen CriminologyOffences Against the EnvironmentPollution |
Author: Williams, Mari Title: No Time to Waste: Tackling the Plastic Pollution Crisis Before it's Too Late Summary: This report describes the environmental destruction, sickness, mortality, and damage to livelihoods that the plastic pollution crisis is causing. It outlines the problem - namely the huge recent increase in the production and distribution of single-use plastics, and its expansion across the globe to countries lacking the capacity to collect, manage and recycle waste. And it spells out the solutions. Current trajectories point to increased illness and unnecessary deaths, further harm to livelihoods and greater destruction of our environment. But it doesn't have to be this way. In this report we outline the roles and responsibilities of four groups we believe to be key to tackling the plastic pollution crisis: multinational consumer goods companies who drive the production of single-use plastic packaging, and currently do little to collect and sustainably manage the waste they have created developed country governments who have enabled and incentivised a 'throwaway' culture and whose response to the This report describes the environmental destruction, sickness, mortality, and damage to livelihoods that the plastic pollution crisis is causing. It outlines the problem - namely the huge recent increase in the production and distribution of single-use plastics, and its expansion across the globe to countries lacking the capacity to collect, manage and recycle waste. And it spells out the solutions. Current trajectories point to increased illness and unnecessary deaths, further harm to livelihoods and greater destruction of our environment. But it doesn't have to be this way. In this report we outline the roles and responsibilities of four groups we believe to be key to tackling the plastic pollution crisis: multinational consumer goods companies who drive the production of single-use plastic packaging, and currently do little to collect and sustainably manage the waste they have created developed country governments who have enabled and incentivised a 'throwaway' culture and whose response to the crisis in developing countries has so far been weak developing country governments whose citizens are the most severely impacted by the crisis citizens who can show that there is an overwhelming demand for change. Details: London: Tearfund, 2019. 80p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 16, 2019 at: https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/14490/J32121_No_time_to_waste_web.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Year: 2019 Country: International URL: https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/14490/J32121_No_time_to_waste_web.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Shelf Number: 155862 Keywords: Environmental CrimesGreen CriminologyPlastic PackagingPollutionWaste Pollution |
Author: Birdlife International Title: Assessing the scope and scale of illegal killing and taking of birds in the Mediterranean, and establishing a basis for systematic monitoring Summary: Overexploitation, in particular illegal killing and taking, is one of the main threats driving birds towards extinction globally and is known to be a particular and growing issue of concern, especially across the Mediterranean. The first report to review the killing of migratory birds in the Mediterranean as a whole was published in 1979 by ICBP (now BirdLife International). It estimated that hundreds of millions of migratory birds were killed annually in the Mediterranean region. Illegal killing of birds in the Mediterranean is known to remain an issue, but there is little quantitative information available. As this threat may be having a negative impact on the populations of some bird species, a quantitative assessment is needed to estimate how many individuals may be killed illegally each year, which species may be the most impacted and where the worst locations may be. In 2014/15 BirdLife International led a 1.5-year project aiming to review all aspects of illegal killing and taking of birds in the Mediterranean. National legislation of the 27 assessed Mediterranean and peri-Mediterranean countries/territories was reviewed to define what was illegal at national level. Information on the species affected and the number of individuals illegally killed/taken each year, the worst locations and the illegal practices used in these countries/territories were then compiled using a diverse range of data sources and incorporating expert knowledge. These data were analysed to quantitatively assess the approximate scale and scope of illegal killing and taking of birds in the region and identify some of the species of greatest concern, and the highest priority locations at which urgent remedial action is required to tackle this threat. We estimated that 11-36 million individual birds per year may be killed/taken illegally in the region, many of them on migration. At the 20 worst locations with the highest reported numbers, 7.9 million individuals may be illegally killed/taken per year, representing 34% of the mean estimated annual regional total number of birds illegally killed/taken for all species combined. For species such as Blackcap, Common Quail, Eurasian Chaffinch, House Sparrow and Song Thrush, more than one million individuals of each species are estimated to be killed/taken illegally on average in the region every year. This assessment also highlighted the paucity of data on illegal killing and taking of birds in the region and the need to establish standardised monitoring. Best-practice guidelines for systematic monitoring of illegal killing of birds were developed to generate more reliable quantitative national-scale estimates of the number of birds illegally killed/taken per year. A road-map was developed to guide subsequent efforts by the BirdLife partnership, engaging with other stakeholders, to tackle the illegal killing and taking of birds in the Mediterranean region and beyond. Future steps will include (a) a programme of investment in and support to relevant stakeholders to strengthen and expand actions on the ground to reduce the illegal killing and taking of birds, targeting the worst locations, and involving enforcement of legislation, awareness-raising, education, advocacy, communications and publicity activities and (b) establishing, expanding or strengthening coordinated and systematic monitoring of illegal killing and taking of birds in the worst affected countries and locations where such monitoring is currently lacking, or incomplete. Results of this project would help relevant stakeholders, including government departments and agencies, hunting groups, international policy instruments and NGOs to strengthen efforts and coordination to tackle this pressing issue for bird conservation. Details: Cambridge, UK: Author, 2014. 86p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 6, 2019 at: http://www.birdlife.org/sites/default/files/attachments/project_report_final_version.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Europe URL: http://www.birdlife.org/sites/default/files/attachments/project_report_final_version.pdf Shelf Number: 156241 Keywords: Birds Environmental Crimes Wildlife Conservation Wildlife Crime |