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Date: April 16, 2024 Tue
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Results for forests
64 results foundAuthor: World Wildlife Fund Forest Programme Title: The Russian-Chinese Timber Trade: Export, Supply Chains, Consumption, and Illegal Logging Summary: Using statistical data from Russian government agencies and academic institutions, and field data and research by a great number of organizations, this report provides a comprehensive overview of the Russian-Chinese timber trade and illegal logging in Siberia and the Russian Far East (RFE). The report is part of a series of analyses and case studies prepared by WWF-Russia devoted to these issues. The report is based on data collected from 2002 to 2004. The text was finalized at the end of 2006, before the new Forest Code was enacted. Details: Moscow: World Wildlife Fund, 2007. 50p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 14, 2012 at: http://www.wwf.ru/resources/publ/book/eng/234 Year: 2007 Country: Romania URL: http://www.wwf.ru/resources/publ/book/eng/234 Shelf Number: 125255 Keywords: Crimes Against the EnvironmentForestsIllegal Logging (Russia)Offenses Against the EnvironmentSupply Chains |
Author: Environmental Investigation Agency Title: Crossroads: The Illicit Timber Trade Between Laos and Vietnam Summary: The land-locked country of Laos (officially the Lao People’s Democratic Republic) lies at the heart of the Mekong region and has some of the largest tracts of primary rainforest left in mainland Southeast Asia. Home to large mammals such as the tiger and Asian elephant, and many ancient, endemic and endangered species, these forests retain a treasure trove of biodiversity. Laos’ forests also support the livelihoods of millions of rural and indigenous people. In 2008, 70 per cent of the country’s population was rural, equivalent to 4.2 million people.1 These communities rely on forests for a host of services and livelihoods, such as food, fuel, building materials and medicine. Yet Laos’ forests are seriously threatened by over-exploitation causing serious deforestation. One of the main threats is logging to feed the timber processing industries of neighbouring countries Vietnam, China and Thailand. As these countries have implemented strict controls of logging inside their own borders, exploitation of Laos’ forests has increased. Laos’ forest landscape is also increasingly denuded by infrastructure development, hydropower projects, mines and plantations, leading to further unsustainable and illegal logging. While forest cover statistics vary in accuracy, what is certain is that the rate of deforestation in Laos today is alarmingly high. Forest cover has fallen from an estimated 70 per cent in the 1940s to just 41 per cent by 2002. The annual rate of forest loss in the past two decades is more than 90,000 hectares.2 Much of the remainder is composed of seriously degraded forest with little biodiversity value.3 The implications of forest loss for Laos’ wealth of biodiversity are severe. Large mammal species are under pressure from the wildlife trade and now face a fragmentation and loss of habitat. Already, conservationists expect that Laos’ biodiversity might not be as abundant as commonly stated.4 The communities which rely on Laos’ forests are being increasingly marginalised by development policies which pay scant regard to their traditional livelihoods. According to the United Nations Development Programme, non-timber forest products provide 90 per cent of the income for the poorest families in Laos.5 Forests also play a vital role in supplying clean water supplies and in water resource management generally. Water, in turn, is particularly important for both hydropower, a key element of the Lao Government’s development strategy, and in irrigation systems, a key Government objective to guarantee food security for rural households. 3 As logging and infrastructure projects increasingly deprive these communities of their livelihoods, laws enacted to ensure they are compensated for forest exploitation are routinely ignored. Far from improving the plight of its rural people, Government policies on management of natural resources are making survival harder. Details: London: EIA, 2011. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: http://www.forestlegality.org/files/fla/eia_uk_crossroads_jul_2011.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Laos URL: http://www.forestlegality.org/files/fla/eia_uk_crossroads_jul_2011.pdf Shelf Number: 125505 Keywords: DeforestationForestsIllegal Logging (Laos, Vietnam)Offenses Against the Environment |
Author: Lambrechts, Christian Title: Aerial Survey of the Destruction of the Aberdare Range Forests Summary: In 2002, Rhino Ark requested UNEP, Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) and the Kenya Forests Working Group (KFWG) to undertake an aerial survey of the Aberdare Range forests, similar to the survey undertaken on Mt. Kenya in 1999 and on Mt. Kilimanjaro in 2001. The survey responded to increasing public outcry about widespread forest destruction in the Aberdares. Over the past few years, a number of civil society organizations have been reporting on illegal destructive activities in the Aberdare Range forests, in particular on the southern and western slopes. In November 2000, KFWG sent a fact-finding mission to Kieni, Ragia and South Kinangop forests on the south-western slopes. The mission revealed extensive indigenous forest destruction in critical catchment areas, large scale encroachments, as well as rampant charcoal production. Although some few localised actions were taken, the overall situation on the ground did not show any significant improvement. Illegal activities went on unabated in many areas. Since its inception in 1987, Rhino Ark has launched a number of initiatives aimed at conserving the Aberdares, its habitats and wildlife. These initiatives include the construction of 320 kilometres of fence around the Aberdare Range forests to reduce human-wildlife conflict and protect the natural ecosystem from illegal exploitation. To date some 160 kilometres of fence have been erected and country-wide fund-raising activities are under way to secure the necessary funds for the completion of the fence. In this regard, the survey was to provide Rhino Ark’s donors with an accurate appraisal of the situation on the ground and the impact of the fence on the state of conservation of the Aberdares. It is expected that the information generated through the aerial survey will help all stakeholders to identify appropriate intervention measures to address the threats to the Aberdares. The survey report and the maps can also be powerful awareness-raising instruments that, hopefully, will catalyze the required support at local, national and international levels to ensure the conservation of this invaluable natural ecosystem. Details: Nairobi, Kenya: Division of Early Warning and Assessment, United Nations Environment Programme, 2003. 53p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 16, 2012 at: http://www.unep.org/expeditions/docs/Aberdares-report-english_Aerial%20survey%202002.pdf Year: 2003 Country: Kenya URL: http://www.unep.org/expeditions/docs/Aberdares-report-english_Aerial%20survey%202002.pdf Shelf Number: 125624 Keywords: ForestsIllegal LoggingNatural Resources (Kenya)Offenses Against the Environment |
Author: Miller, Frank Title: Keep It Legal: Best Practices for Keeping Illegally Harvested Timber Out of Your Supply Chain Summary: This manual has been developed by WWF’s Global Forest & Trade Network (GFTN) for use by organizations wishing to extend a program of responsible purchasing to further address difficulties arising from possible trade in “illegal” forest products. The manual has been developed to add detail to legality issues encountered by companies adopting a responsible purchasing program. The Keep It Legal manual is a living document, so it will be regularly updated using feedback from users to provide new information about what is happening in major exporting countries and in the critical supply regions, developments in supply chain management, and the wider global debate on the prevention of illegal logging. The Keep it Legal Manual is presented in five parts: Introduction—describes the purpose of this manual and its relationship to the GFTN guide to Responsible Purchasing of Forest Products. The illegal logging problem—describes the nature and magnitude of the illegal logging problem and the threat it poses to forests and the people and businesses that depend on them. Developing policies on legal compliance— explains the challenges involved in developing a clear, fair, and realistic policy on legal compliance. Reducing the risk of trading illegal timber— details a systematic approach to identifying and eliminating the risk of illegal wood entering your supply chain. Appendices—various practical tools that you can adapt for use in your company. The principles outlined in this manual are in line with WWF Global Forest & Trade Network (GFTN) participation requirements, and the manual will support GFTN trade participants in meeting those requirements. WWF has produced this manual with the intention that it should become the first point of reference for all parts of the timber supply chain seeking to establish what represents current best practice with respect to buying, processing, and selling legal timber and timber products. It consolidates the efforts of many different parties, including those companies at the forefront of efforts to avoid use of illegally harvested timber. The manual is aimed at any medium-size or large enterprise that purchases forest products, including processors, importers, manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers. It may also be useful to smaller enterprises. The manual outlines the various ways in which purchasing organizations can demonstrate compliance with best practice and ultimately their own purchasing policies. It combines tried and tested mechanisms and new approaches and definitions, based upon on GFTN’s exetensive experience in the development of responsible purchasing programs. These approaches are designed to make the process of “keeping it legal” easier. Details: Gland, Switzerland: World Wildlife Fund, 2006. 64p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 16, 2012 at: assets.panda.org/downloads/keep_it_legal_final_no_fsc.pdf Year: 2006 Country: International URL: Shelf Number: 125625 Keywords: ForestsIllegal LoggingOffenses Against the Environment |
Author: Felbab-Brown, Vanda Title: Not as Easy as Falling Off a Log: The Illegal Logging Trade in the Asia-Pacific Region and Possible Mitigation Strategies Summary: This article analyzes the pervasiveness of illegal logging in the Asia-Pacific region, the numerous threats it generates, and the effectiveness of various policies adopted to mitigate it. In doing so, it also explores the following contradictions and challenges that governments and forest policy designs face: the trade-off between economic interests in logging and environmental imperatives in preserving natural forests; the surprisingly frequent lack of complementarity between legal timber and sustainable timber and the paradox that assuring timber legality may even compound its lack of sustainability; and the challenge of designing carbon pricing mechanisms in such a way to increase not only forested land but also to preserve natural forests and biodiversity. The various governments, because of local economic and political pressures, are bound to prioritize these objectives differently. Effective designs need to be informed by local case-by-case assessments. It is not the province of this article to prescribe exactly how this should be done country-by-country. It is appropriate to insist, however, that forestry policies be pursued with full cognizance of the trade-offs and with a determination to cause as little value loss as possible in each of the realms. Such policy deliberations need to accord full weight to the less urgent, but nonetheless crucial, need to preserve biodiversity and natural ecosystems. This article provides best-practices guidance to that effect. Details: Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 2011. 70p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper, No. 5: Accessed July 18, 2012 at: http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2011/3/illegal%20logging%20felbabbrown/03_illegal_logging_felbabbrown.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Asia URL: http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2011/3/illegal%20logging%20felbabbrown/03_illegal_logging_felbabbrown.pdf Shelf Number: 125671 Keywords: ForestsIllegal Logging (Asia-Pacific Region)Offenses Against the Environment |
Author: Joab-Peterside, Sofiri Title: Green Governance: The Case of Akassa Community Forests Management And Development Plan Summary: For over a decade, there are raging development crises revolving around environmental degradation, legal regimes and institutional frameworks governing oil and other natural resources all of which jeopardize the region’s development. Policies regarding land tenure and resource access are of great significance for assuring the sustainable management and use of natural resources in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria where majority of the people still rely heavily on their natural resources to provide income, employment and livelihoods. Customary tenure systems remain the predominant means through which people manage and gain access to land and other natural resources. These systems are based on the values of the local people to the extent that these values confer legitimacy on the decision making process. The general characteristics of customary tenure systems include the inalienability of land so that families have secure and inheritable land holdings that cannot be traded freely on the market. Inhabitants of the Delta depend on natural resources for livelihood, thus their main economic activities are fishing and farming. This means much dependence on productivity of land and water. In context, natural resources refers to any material in its natural state that when extracted has economic value. This include not only timber, land, oil and gas, coal, minerals, lakes and submerged lands, but also features which supply human need and contribute to the health, welfare and benefit of a community(Odje, 2003). Consequently, demand for resource control in the area is not limited to and synonymous with only oil and gas. It includes the ability to control, develop, explore and sell any natural resource located in the region. Environmental problems in the Niger Delta are enormous and growing. Consequently, environmental concerns are serious issues that can yield substantial development dividend. Thus, there are emerging pressures for improved environmental management arising from public awareness of linkage between environmental issues and natural resource management. The belief among development practitioners is that improved community-driven natural resources management by decentralized institutional structures could contribute to better resource governance and long-term poverty reduction. A successful management regime must derive from consensus among key stake holders and contending community forces, because governance failures in natural resources can lead to conflict and ultimately to violence. Details: Berkeley, CA: Institute of International Studies, 2007. 30p. Source: Internet Resource: Niger Delta Economies of Violence Working Paper, no. 19: Accessed August 16, 2012 at: http://oldweb.geog.berkeley.edu/ProjectsResources/ND%20Website/NigerDelta/WP/19-Joab-Peterside.pdf Year: 2007 Country: Nigeria URL: http://oldweb.geog.berkeley.edu/ProjectsResources/ND%20Website/NigerDelta/WP/19-Joab-Peterside.pdf Shelf Number: 126048 Keywords: ForestsNatural Resources and Conflict (Nigeria)Offenses Against the Environment |
Author: Farah, Douglas Title: Transnational Crime, Social Networks and Forests: Using natural resources to finance conflicts and post-conflict violence Summary: Three case studies are used to argue that transnational organized crime networks for trafficking commodities, specifically timber, emerge in diverse circumstances of state strength and state absence that lead to cycles of violence. Criminal non-state armed actors operate in sub-national territories beyond state control in Petén, Guatemala, and areas of Colombia, while in Liberia, a strong but criminalized state loots the marginalized, resource-rich rural areas, rather than providing a positive state presence. The paper examines the social networks required at different nodes of the commodity chain. In all three cases, the networks rely first on traditional elites to act as local fixers, supplying the criminal state or non-state armed actor with connections to the market and financial networks needed to extract and sell the commodity. These local fixers, in turn, rely on "super fixers" to supply transport as well as weapons, ammunition and war materiel needed to fuel the violence, as well as to connect them to international "shadow facilitators" who can move illicit weapons and commodities, launder money, and obtain the fraudulent international documents, bank accounts, and shell companies needed. Timber, like alluvial diamonds, is as a ‘lootable” commodity-- extractible with low capital and skill requirements and diffusely located but often abundant in remote, porous border regions. Its transport is more bulky and detectable as well as being less valuable than diamonds and cocaine, so illegally sourced timber does not produce the discipline problems and is more easily “laundered” as legal than these other commodities. The environmental devastation created by timber harvest is especially damaging to subsistence forest-dependent communities. Palm oil, the fourth commodity examined, also has severe negative consequences for local communities and environment, but differs in that it requires the displacement of local communities in order to log and establish plantations, and requires time and capital inputs so cannot be quickly looted. Finally, palm oil is a “point source” commodity requiring centralized processing, transport, and management. These characteristics make the value of the forest land the primary source of conflict. Details: Program on Forests (PROFOR), 2012. 56p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 21, 2012 at http://www.profor.info/sites/profor.info/files/Transnationalcrime_Farah.pdf Year: 2012 Country: International URL: http://www.profor.info/sites/profor.info/files/Transnationalcrime_Farah.pdf Shelf Number: 126082 Keywords: ForestsNatural ResourcesOrganized CrimePost-Conflict ViolenceTransnational Crime |
Author: Erdenechuluun, T. Title: Wood Supply in Mongolia: The Legal and Illegal Economies Summary: The forests of Mongolia protect watersheds and water supply, and as a source of timber, fuel wood, pine nuts, berries and game they are saviors and sustainers of livelihoods. Mongolia's forestry sector is currently in crisis, with illegal logging devastating accessible forests, particularly around urban centers. Lack of reliable data means that estimates of timber consumption vary widely, but levels are clearly well above the sustainable harvest for Mongolia's slow growing forests. Lack of planning and active management, lack of inventory, loss of capacity, and corruption have together led to significant degradation of forest quality, and have created virtual anarchy in the forestry industry. The publication reviews the current situation, examines action to date and makes a series of recommendations for bringing control to, and prosperity from, Mongolia's forestry sector. This report represents a novel and unconventional approach to the very serious subject of illegal wood supply in Mongolia. Rather than just relying on official statistics, which have many drawbacks, the team sought information from a range of sources, such as direct interviews with government officials and others working in the sector; field observation of illegal activities, often in the dead of night; and indirect approaches using various data sources to test assumptions. Details: Washington, DC: The World Bank, 2006. 88p. Source: Internet Resource:Discussion Papers, East Asia and Pacific Environment and Social Development Department; Accessed May 22, 2013 at: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/MONGOLIAEXTN/Resources/mong_timber_int_for_web.pdf Year: 2006 Country: Mongolia URL: http://siteresources.worldbank.org/MONGOLIAEXTN/Resources/mong_timber_int_for_web.pdf Shelf Number: 128781 Keywords: ConservationForest ManagementForestsIllegal Logging (Mongolia)Natural ResourcesTimber |
Author: Global Witness Title: Logging in the Shadows: How Vested Interests Abuse Shadow Permits to Evade Forest Sector Reforms Summary: Systematic abuse of small, poorly regulated logging permits in Africa by companies, forest officials and politicians is undermining efforts to fight deforestation and keep illegal timber out of the EU, says a new report by Global Witness. The new report, Logging in the shadows, identifies a largely hidden pattern of abuse across Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ghana and Liberia, in which permits designed to promote small businesses and meet local needs are being allocated in their hundreds to industrial logging companies. These "shadow permits" open the door to highly lucrative, large-scale logging operations which bypass oversight by the authorities. Details: London: Global Witness, 2013. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 13, 2013 at: http://www.globalwitness.org/sites/default/files/library/Shadow%20Permit%20Report%202013%20Final_Web_0.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Africa URL: http://www.globalwitness.org/sites/default/files/library/Shadow%20Permit%20Report%202013%20Final_Web_0.pdf Shelf Number: 131652 Keywords: Environmental CrimeForests Illegal Logging (Africa)Offenses Against the Environment |
Author: O'Brien, Liz Title: Accessibility of Woodlands and Natural Spaces: Addressing Crime and Safety Issues Summary: If wild lands are defined as areas in which human influence is negligible and cities as areas entirely constructed and managed by humans, then these two form environmental extremes between which exist a multiplicity of open living spaces. These vary to a large extent by the degree of management and residence imposed by humankind. Perhaps in Britain few, if any, places can be considered truly wild, though there remain some places remote enough from major human influence to be considered close to wilderness. British environments are, almost invariably, managed ones. Rural areas are managed for aesthetic appeal, conservation, leisure, forest or agriculture while in urban areas management is geared more towards large-scale residency, leisure, commerce or industry. All have their place and purpose. Human population density increases between these rural and urban extremes. Alongside that, undesirable issues, such as crime, nuisance and litigious behaviour (for which the common denominator is people), also increases. These undesirable issues have generally occurred and perhaps still do, in greater frequency where population densities are highest. However, the increased availability of mechanised transport has greatly increased people's ability to travel, individually and in groups, such as to extend their powers of criminality and nuisance over everincreasing areas. It is this concern with crime and nuisance which brings issues of access to woodlands and natural spaces to the forefront of the thinking of a wider audience of responsible landowners in both the public and private sectors. The varied list of delegates to this seminar gives some indication of organisations for which these matters have relevance. There are moral and legal issues at stake, but no one can discount the economic issues, which increasingly burden all relevant organisations or individuals. At the same time, there is increasing recognition that deprivation of human populations from natural environments can have detrimental psychological, perhaps even physiological effects, depressing spirits and leading to increasingly manic, criminally dishonest and violent behaviour. Current research suggests that open spaces in urban areas need to retain some element of the natural to help offset such effects. These are the issues which have drawn together the varied organisations towards partnerships, hopefully made manifest and stimulated by this Accessibility seminar. Details: Farnham, UK: Forest Research, 2005. 50p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 19, 2014 at: http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/fr0305_woodaccess.pdf/$FILE/fr0305_woodaccess.pdf Year: 2005 Country: United Kingdom URL: http://www.forestry.gov.uk/pdf/fr0305_woodaccess.pdf/$FILE/fr0305_woodaccess.pdf Shelf Number: 132509 Keywords: Crime Prevention through Environment DesignForestsNatural ResourcesRural AreasRural Crime |
Author: Nellemann, Christian, ed. Title: The Environmental Crime Crisis: Threats to Sustainable Development from Illegal Exploitation and Trade in Wildlife and Forest Resources Summary: Given the alarming pace, level of sophistication, and globalized nature that illegal trade in wildlife has now notoriously achieved, UNEP initiated a Rapid Response Assessment to provide some of the latest data, analysis, and broadest insights into the phenomenon. Tackling illegal wildlife trade demands this examination of the relationship between the environmental resources at stake, their legal and illegal exploitation, the loopholes that exacerbate the situation, the scale and types of crimes committed, and the dynamics of the demand driving the trade. In the international community, there is now growing recognition that the issue of the illegal wildlife trade has reached significant global proportions. Illegal wildlife trade and environmental crime involve a wide range of flora and fauna across all continents, estimated to be worth USD 70-213 billion annually. This compares to a global official development assistance envelope of about 135 billion USD per annum. The illegal trade in natural resources is depriving developing economies of billions of dollars in lost revenues and lost development opportunities, while benefiting a relatively small criminal fraternity. This report focuses on the far-reaching consequences of the environmental crime phenomenon we face today. The situation has worsened to the extent that illegal trade in wildlife's impacts are now acknowledged to go well beyond strictly environmental impacts - by seriously undermining economies and livelihoods, good governance, and the rule of law Even the security and safety of countries and communities is affected: the report highlights how wildlife and forest crime, including charcoal, provides potentially significant threat finance to militias and terrorist groups. Already recognized as a grave issue in DRC and Somalia by the UN Security Council, the assessment reveals that the scale and role of wildlife and forest crime in threat finance calls for much wider policy attention, well beyond those regions. Details: Arendal, NO; Nairobi: GRID-Arendal, 2014. 106p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 30, 2014 at: http://www.grida.no/publications/rr/crime/ Year: 2014 Country: International URL: http://www.grida.no/publications/rr/crime/ Shelf Number: 132569 Keywords: Environmental CrimeForestsIllegal LoggingIllegal TradeNatural ResourcesOrganized CrimeWildlife Crime |
Author: Greenpeace Title: Licence to Launder: How Herakles Farms' Illegal Timber Trade Threatens Cameroon's Forests and VPA Summary: The oil palm plantation being developed by Herakles Farms in the southwest region of Cameroon - an area of great biodiversity surrounded by five protected areas - illustrates what happens when irresponsible companies are not held accountable to local laws and processes. The companies activities pose a serious threat to forested areas and the communities who rely upon the forest for their livelihoods. Herakles Farms was originally trying to acquire more than 70,000 hectares of forested land in the region in 2009. Its local subsidiary, SG Sustainable Oils Cameroon (SGSOC), began clearing forest despite the fact the project did not have a land lease signed by the president as required by Cameroon law. Greenpeace and other local and international NGOs have continued to exposed Herakles Farms' illegal operations and the threats its irresponsible project poses to local livelihoods, environment and global climate. In this report, Greenpeace reveals how the company is now colluding with the Cameroonian government to commercialise the timber - much of which was illegally felled - from its project, despite previously categorically stating that it had no intention to do so. This new development demonstrates the persistent illegalities at the heart of the Herakles Farms project, indicative of a wider problem in many land deals and the logging sector in Africa. If allowed to persist, it will also seriously undermine Cameroon's Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) with the EU to stop illegal logging. Finally, it sends the message that, if companies are allowed to behave as they wish, contravening national laws and ignoring the rights of local communities, then the forests and people of Africa will have no protection. Details: Amsterdam: Greenpeace, 2014. 15p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 14, 2014 at: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/publications/forests/2014/Licence-to-Launder.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Cameroon URL: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/publications/forests/2014/Licence-to-Launder.pdf Shelf Number: 129600 Keywords: DeforestationForestsIllegal LoggingIllegal TradeOffenses Against the Environment |
Author: TRAFFIC Title: Precious Woods: Exploitation of the Finest Timber Summary: Precious wood species are often restricted in geographical range or in habitat. This natural scarcity can increase the price further, as in addition to the desirable qualities of the PW that lead to its demand there is often limited availability. These species are usually slow-growing, and, according to the musical instrument trade, are almost never of sufficient quality if grown faster in plantations (the resultant wood is said to have a different density and therefore resonance due to the grow rings being further apart). It may be, however, that if a deliberate attempt were made to grow species more slowly, and for longer, better quality wood would result. There can be pressure to cut PWs before they reach optimum size as trees become scarce. PWs are anecdotally cited as being harvested on a tree-by-tree basis rather than from formal concessions. This type of harvesting is more difficult to control than in well-delimited concessions and can be illegal. These species are often listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. History shows that unabated trade pressure may result in PWs becoming extremely scarce and in very short supply, which may result in them becoming commercially or even biologically extinct. Species that are currently widespread but that have reasonably valuable inherent qualities, may become PWs in the future in the absence of careful management and responsible trade. Our experience during this study was that semi PW species were less likely to be listed in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species than PWs. However, this does not necessarily mean that they are not at risk; it often simply means that they have not been evaluated. This category of species may well become the PWs of the future. It is likely that some species currently considered PWs were in fact considered SPWs in the past. Details: London: Chatham House, 2012. 62p. Source: Internet Resource: Chatham House Workshop: Tackling the Trade in Illegal Precious Woods 23-24 April 2012: Accessed December 8, 2014 at: www.traffic.org Year: 2012 Country: International URL: www.traffic.org Shelf Number: 134267 Keywords: Environmental Conservation ForestsIllegal Logging Natural Resources Offenses Against the Environment Timber |
Author: Lawson, Sam Title: Stolen Goods: The EU's Complicity in Illegal Tropical Deforestation Summary: Previous studies commissioned by the EU have shown that the EU has been leading the world in imports of 'embodied deforestation' in the form of agricultural and timber products. This study goes a step further, by showing that the EU is also one of the largest importers of products resulting from illegal deforestation. The study estimates that in 2012, the EU imported EUR 6 billion of soy, beef, leather and palm oil which were grown or reared on land illegally cleared of forests in the tropics - almost a quarter of the total world trade. The Netherlands, the UK, Germany, Italy and France are among the largest consumers of these illegally sourced deforestation commodities, being collectively responsible for two-thirds of EU purchasing by value and three-quarters in terms of the areas of forest destroyed. Details: Moreton in March, UK: FERN, 2015. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: http://www.fern.org/sites/fern.org/files/Stolen%20Goods_EN.pdf Year: 2015 Country: International URL: http://www.fern.org/sites/fern.org/files/Stolen%20Goods_EN.pdf Shelf Number: 134949 Keywords: ForestsIllegal DeforestationOffenses Against the Environment |
Author: Pearce, Fred Title: Protecting Forests, Respecting Rights: Options for EU Action on deforestation and forest degradation Summary: This report examines the EU's "Deforestation Footprint" - its role in global deforestation. It looks at important action the EU has taken, through the Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan to improve how forests are owned and managed in timber-exporting countries and to prevent imports of illegal tropical timber entering EU borders. Details: Moreton in Marsh, UK: Fern, 2015. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 30, 2015 at: http://www.fern.org/sites/fern.org/files/Protecting%20Forests%20Respecting%20Rights.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Europe URL: http://www.fern.org/sites/fern.org/files/Protecting%20Forests%20Respecting%20Rights.pdf Shelf Number: 135077 Keywords: ConservationDeforestation (Europe)ForestsIllegal LoggingNatural Resources |
Author: Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) Title: Permitting Crime: How palm oil expansion drives illegal logging in Indonesia Summary: The clear-cutting of forests to make way for oil palm plantations is driving a wave of illegal logging in Indonesia, fundamentally undermining efforts to bring much-needed reform to the nation's forestry and timber sectors. A new report released today by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), Permitting Crime: How palm oil expansion drives illegal logging in Indonesia, reveals how a widespread culture of corruption and poor law enforcement is generating a flood of illicit timber as plantations surge into frontier forests. In-depth case studies of blatant violations of licensing procedures and other laws in Central Kalimantan - a hotspot for forest crime - detailed in the report include: - outright violations of plantation licensing, timber and environmental regulations by firms clear-cutting forests in some of Indonesia's richest tracts of rainforest; - clear links between a series of palm oil concessions, a corrupt regent and one of the highest-profile Indonesian political graft cases of recent years; - attempts by a palm oil firm to pay US$45,000 to police to bury an investigation into its illegal operations; - local governments selling-out customary communities and facilitating the transfer of millions of dollars of their resources to private firms. The report explains how almost all palm plantations nationwide are willfully evading Indonesia's Timber Legality Verification System (Sistem Verifikasi Legalitas Kayu, or SVLK), a mandatory law implemented in September 2010 as a cornerstone of efforts to ensure only legal timber is produced in the country. Details: Washington, DC; London: EIA, 2014. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 16, 2015 at: http://eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/Permitting-Crime.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Indonesia URL: http://eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/Permitting-Crime.pdf Shelf Number: 135244 Keywords: ConservationForestsIllegal LoggingOffenses Against the Environment (Indonesia)Palm Oil |
Author: World Growth Title: Wronging Indonesia -The EU's Bait and Switch Illegal Logging Policy and its Impact on Indonesian Enterprises Summary: The EU is delaying implementation of a 'Voluntary Partnership Agreement' (VPA) with Indonesia on illegal timber exports. Indonesia has complied with EU demands at significant cost, but the delays mean Indonesia's exporters will now have to comply with a different, more costly system of regulation. This report examines the implications. Illegal logging first emerged as a campaign issue in 1998. The illegal timber trade was linked to global concerns over deforestation. Action against illegal logging in developing countries was supported by Western industries that were facing increased competition from timber and paper producers, particularly in China. It was also supported by environmental campaign groups that made unsubstantiated claims about the levels of illegal logging taking place globally. However, there has been very little ground-based research on levels of illegal logging in many countries. Indonesia has often been considered a 'worst offender' for alleged exports of illegal timber. This has in part been due to high levels of administrative overlap during the country's transition into a democracy. Despite this, Indonesia has undertaken successful action to reduce levels of illegal logging and been a driving force in taking action against illegal logging internationally. In 2003 the European Union (EU) first announced it would attempt to prevent the sale of 'illegal' timber on European markets through a combination of domestic legal instruments and international agreements. They are the European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR) and Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPA) respectively. These policy instruments have emerged following a long international campaign based on unsound data and emotive campaigning by Green groups and uncompetitive manufacturers in Europe. Voluntary Partnership Agreements were introduced as the key policy measure for Europe to take action against 'illegal' timber. The VPAs were ostensibly introduced as a means for exporting nations to 'fast track' timber products into Europe from nations that comply with European regulatory demands. The real purpose is to pressure developing countries that export timber products to apply standards determined by the EU to regulate exports, under the threat of import bans. VPAs require the implementation of a licensing system for exporters wishing to export timber products to Europe that verify the legality of the product. For many developing nations this is a costly exercise. VPA uptake has been slow. This has been in part due to a reluctance of developing nations to enter into trade agreements that propose conditions on non-trade items, such as environment and labour. The slow uptake and potential loopholes for non-VPA timber prompted European Greens to press for the introduction of the European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR). The EUTR is set to come into effect in 2013. It threatens European operators with legal action if they sell 'illegal' timber in European markets and/or do not make efforts to mitigate the risk of selling 'illegal' timber on European markets. This risk can be mitigated with the implementation of tools such as independent third-party verification of timber being exported to Europe, distinct from the VPA licensing system. This is an expensive undertaking for many developing country exporters. Licensed VPA imports were supposed to be exempt from the EUTR and considered risk-free once VPAs were operational. In the case of Indonesia, a VPA has been completed and signed, but is yet to be ratified by the EU. According to Indonesian officials, the EU appears to have stalled the agreement completely. This means Indonesian timber exporters are effectively in policy limbo. They have chosen to have their products verified through the VPA-backed Sistem verifikasi legalitas kayu (SVLK - timber legality assurance system) with the promise of avoiding further costly verification under the EUTR. However, the VPA has stalled, and SVLK is not currently recognised under the EUTR. Indonesia's forest and forest-related industries are significant contributors to Indonesia's economy. There are many large and medium businesses exporting forest products to Europe. There are more than 18 million micro and small forest-based enterprises, producing wooden items, furniture and timber that also export to Europe. Most of these businesses are family enterprises comprising less than four people. For many Indonesian businesses, implementing the systems required under the VPA is prohibitively expensive. The EU's own modelling has indicated it will have a detrimental impact on Indonesia's industry. The new EU policies are likely to have a significant impact on trade with partner nations such as Indonesia. These impacts would ordinarily be obviated by legal obligations under international trade law and/or bilateral trade agreements. However, the legality of these policies under international trade agreements is questionable. The actions by the EU constitute a classic 'bait and switch' strategy. Indonesia has been promised a particular action by the EU; the EU has since reneged. It is now offering Indonesia an inferior agreement, despite securing significant and costly policy actions from Indonesia. Under bait and switch, customers are invited to purchase an item at a low price. The vendor then informs the customer that it is no longer available and must accept a more expensive item. Under European law this type of behaviour is illegal under the Unfair Commercial Practices Directive. Indonesia has taken leading action on illegal logging globally. It has negotiated in good faith with Europe. In this case, the 18 million-plus Indonesians dependent upon the forest industry are likely to consider themselves wronged by Europe. Given these grievances, Indonesia has solid grounds to consider action through the World Trade Organization Details: Arlington, VA: World Growth, 2012. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 4, 2015 at: http://worldgrowth.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/WG_FLEGT_2012_final.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Indonesia URL: http://worldgrowth.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/WG_FLEGT_2012_final.pdf Shelf Number: 135506 Keywords: ForestsIllegal Logging (Indonesia)Illegal TimberNatural ResourcesOffenses Against the Environment |
Author: World Growth Title: Cutting Down the Poor: How UK and EU aid is killing jobs in developing countries, wasting EU taxpayer funds and breaking international trade rules Summary: The government of the United Kingdom and the European Union have introduced measures against illegal logging with their trading partners that are currently costing approximately L22.4 million annually. By the EU-s own estimates these measures are likely to be ineffective and will: - cause job losses among the rural poor in developing countries, - have little impact on illegal logging; - have virtually no impact on deforestation, if any. The measures are also likely to put the EU in breach of international trade laws. Timber exporters to the EU should consider trade retaliation. EU taxpayers should demand an inquiry. Illegal logging first emerged as a campaign issue in 1998. The illegal timber trade was linked to global concerns over deforestation. Action against illegal logging in developing countries was supported by Western industries that were facing increased competition from timber and paper producers, particularly in China. It was also supported by environmental campaign groups that made unsubstantiated claims about the levels of illegal logging taking place globally. However, there has been very little ground-based research on levels of illegal logging in many countries. Details: Arlington, VA: World Growth, 2013. 21p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 4, 2015 at: http://worldgrowth.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/WG_FLEGT_2013_revision_formatted.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Indonesia URL: http://worldgrowth.org/site/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/WG_FLEGT_2013_revision_formatted.pdf Shelf Number: 135507 Keywords: DeforestationForestsIllegal LoggingOffenses Against the Environment |
Author: Smit, Hans Title: Implementing Deforestation-Free Supply Chains - Certification and Beyond Summary: Deforestation and forest degradation result in biodiversity losses and are major sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. In an effort to delink agricultural production from deforestation, a growing number of companies and national governments are making public commitments to purchasing products which do not cause deforestation. SNV's REDD+ Energy and Agriculture Programme (REAP) published a report examining the role of agricultural certification standards in effectively halting forest conversion and explores some of the key ingredients which need to be in place in order to establish deforestation-free supply chains. Based on the findings, a toolkit is provided which can help to address identified challenges. The package consists of three components: a traceability and monitoring system, our Inclusive Business approach and the SNV Siting Tool. The toolkit is designed to assist companies and governments in going beyond certification standards in order to bring about the systemic changes needed to delink agricultural production from deforestation and forest degradation at a landscape level. Details: Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam: SNV REDD+ Energy and Agriculture Programme, 2015. 39p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 23, 2015 at: http://www.snvworld.org/en/redd/publications/implementing-deforestation-free-supply-chains-certification-and-beyond Year: 2015 Country: International URL: http://www.snvworld.org/en/redd/publications/implementing-deforestation-free-supply-chains-certification-and-beyond Shelf Number: 135776 Keywords: DeforestationForestsNatural ResourcesOffenses Against the EnvironmentSupply Chains |
Author: INTERPOL Environmental Crime Programme Title: Assessment of Law Enforcement Capacity Needs to Tackle Forest Crime Summary: INTERPOL recognises forest crime as a significant and growing problem that is undermining government policies to sustainably manage and protect forests. Through Project Leaf, INTERPOL is working with governments to further the skills, capabilities, and capacities of their law enforcement agencies to undertake intelligence-led law enforcement to combat forest crime. INTERPOL recognises, however, that in many timber-producing countries law enforcement officers face severe difficulties, including low wages, little training and poor equipment. This report has been undertaken by INTERPOL to assess the needs of those officers in the field, and identify areas that need to be addressed to strengthen their law enforcement capacity. International mechanisms, such as REDD+, and the international donor community can play an important role in providing countries with the funding and resources they need to build the capacity of their law enforcement agencies, through supporting capacity building and training programmes. Details: Lyon, France: INTERPOL, 2013. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 30, 2015 at: http://www.interpol.int/Crime-areas/Environmental-crime/Resources Year: 2013 Country: International URL: http://www.interpol.int/Crime-areas/Environmental-crime/Resources Shelf Number: 136275 Keywords: ForestsIllegal Logging Offenses Against the Environment |
Author: Hoare, Alison Title: Tackling Illegal Logging and the Related Trade: What Progress and Where Next? Summary: This report is the culmination of the multi-year 'Indicators of Illegal Logging' project, in which Chatham House has sought to monitor and understand what progress is being made in global efforts to improve forest governance and address illegal logging. The first assessment, published in 2010, presented findings from 12 countries. For the second and current assessment, which is the subject of this Chatham House report, another seven countries have been added, with individual reports on all 19 countries published in 2014-15. The countries were selected on the basis of their relative importance in the world's forest sector. The nine producer countries account for about 10 per cent of global exports of wood-based products (in roundwood equivalent [RWE] volume), while the 10 processing and consumer countries account for approximately half of all global imports of wood-based products. Details: London: The Royal Institute of International Affairs, 2015. 79p. Source: Internet Resource: Chatham House Report: Accessed August 3, 2015 at: http://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/files/chathamhouse/field/field_document/20150715IllegalLoggingHoare.pdf Year: 2015 Country: International URL: http://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/files/chathamhouse/field/field_document/20150715IllegalLoggingHoare.pdf Shelf Number: 136280 Keywords: ForestsIllegal LoggingIllegal TradeNatural ResourceOffenses Against the Environment |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Title: Criminal Justice Response to Wildlife and Forest Crime in Cambodia: A Rapid Assessment Summary: The Kingdom of Cambodia is a land rich in biological diversity, home to unique and rare species of flora and fauna. It is the most ethnically homogenous country in South East-Asia with 94% of its 15.5 million population made up of Ethnic Khmer. It is bordered by Vietnam, Thailand and Lao PDR and it is a royal monarchy governed by the Cambodian People's Party. The Cambodian government and people have made tremendous advances rebuilding the social infrastructure that was so devastated by decades of war. This growth has been fuelled by international aid and the exploitation of their natural resources, both flora and fauna. In particular the Cambodian forests have undergone extensive commercial logging over the last 30 years with forest cover dropping from 72% in 1973 to 46% in 2013. The percentage of timber products in 2011 was an estimated production volume of 50,000m3 of sawn-timber minus 25,000m3 of reported export timber, which clearly indicates that the domestic market consumes about 50% of the total production. Companies exporting wood products must obtain an export license usually valid for one year based on the sales contract. The export systems adopted in Cambodia, also, include the inspection of products that can be ultimately traced to the exporter and production mill, through export documentation such as PC-IMEX, export permits and export licenses. This exploitation has resulted in the extinction of some species and the reduction in others to such a degree as to make any trade in them illegal. Several flora and fauna species indigenous to Cambodia are now afforded protection under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). These species include high value timber species such as Dalbergia cochinchinensis commonly known as Siamese Rosewood (Appendix II) and fauna species such as the Tiger (Appendix I), Leopard (Appendix I), Clouded Leopard (Appendix I) Elephant (Appendix I), Sun Bear (Appendix I), Banteng (Appendix I), Pangolin (Appendix II) and the iconic Irrawaddy Dolphin (Appendix I). Despite protection under CITES, national laws, Royal Decrees and Prime Ministerial Sub Decrees there is growing evidence that transnational organised crime groups are continuing to target high value timber species in Cambodia and adjoining countries, particularly Thailand. Illegal logging and timber smuggling are a high reward but risky criminal activity which have resulted in armed confrontations, casualties and several deaths among rangers and smugglers. It is not only Cambodia's forests that have been exploited. Many of Cambodia's fauna species have also been targeted and continue to be subjected to illegal trafficking to feed markets in China and Vietnam. Recent seizures point to transnational organised crime groups targeting Cambodia as a transit point for ivory and rhino horn from Africa. The objective of this study therefore is to determine what role the criminal justice system in Cambodia plays in combating the illegal trade in timber and wildlife. In order to coherently achieve this goal, this report relayed primarily on qualitative research methods applying an inductive interpretivist approach, by adopting a series of methods of data generation. This information, empirical and statistical, has been obtained through a variety of sources which include both primary - in the form of structured interviewing techniques - and secondary sources, i.e. publications, articles, government documents. Although a variety of sources, and consequently conclusions and recommendations, will be presented at the end of this study, this report aspires to analyse the role of the criminal justice system in combating the illegal trade in timber and wildlife with a view to engage the Government of Cambodia to improve its performance. There has been careful consideration in the selection of the studied documents with regards to the origins in order to obtain a diverse range of material and at the same maintain a constructive dialogue with the Government. Ultimately, one must also acknowledge that establishing a methodology with the aim of assessing the criminal justice system in Cambodia is problematic within itself and a process susceptible of bias as influenced by numerous assumptions. The political commitment to use criminal justice resources to target the illegal exploitation and trade in timber and wildlife crime is one of the starting points for this country analysis. Criminal justice systems deal with multiple crimes and face considerable public and political pressure on a range of issues. Prioritising interventions is in practice the mechanism that criminal justice actors use to meet large demands with limited resources. The issue of political will is of great relevance too given on-going accusations of wide spread corruption and the protection of wildlife and timber smuggling by those, including political leaders and senior officials, who profit from it. For the purposes of this report "Wildlife and Forest Crime" refers to the taking, trading (supplying, selling or trafficking), importing, exporting, processing, possessing, obtaining and consumption of wild fauna and flora, including timber and other forest products in contravention of national or international law. This study has analysed the framework of responses to crime as defined by national laws. Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2015. 38p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 3, 2015 at: https://www.unodc.org/southeastasiaandpacific/en/regional-programme/toc/environmental-crime.html Year: 2015 Country: Cambodia URL: https://www.unodc.org/southeastasiaandpacific/en/regional-programme/toc/environmental-crime.html Shelf Number: 136295 Keywords: ForestsIllegal LoggingNatural ResourcesOffenses Against the EnvironmentOrganized CrimeWildlife CrimeWildlife Trafficking |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Title: Criminal Justice Responses to the Illegal Trade in Timber in Vietnam Summary: A third of South East Asia is covered by forests and Asia as a whole accounts for 18 per cent of total global forested areas. This substantial resource has attracted considerable attention from national and international institutions, civil society and analysts, all concerned by the rate at which the forest is legally and illegally felled. Most discussions have focused on these threats from an ecological standpoint while, until recently, less attention has being given to assessing this depletion as a result of criminal activity. There is however growing evidence that sophisticated criminal operations are contributing to a significant degree to forest exploitation. As more laws and regulatory frameworks are applied to manage the remaining forests in a sustainable way, and in the context of the on-going demand for timber, this is a challenge which is likely to grow rather than diminish. The objective of this study therefore is to determine what role criminal justice system in Viet Nam is playing in the struggle against the illegal trade in timber. It is based on a series of field visits to the country, a review of the available primary and secondary data, as well as interviews with key interlocutors. Interviews were mainly conducted with key players of the criminal justice system such as prosecutors, police, customs and environment/forestry officials involved in law enforcement. Whenever possible interviews were conducted at the level of officers in charge of investigations. In parallel, interviews were conducted with representatives of International Organizations and Civil Society. The results of the study were presented to the Government of Viet Nam during the workshop Good Governance and the threats of Transnational Organized Crime in the forestry sector, organized by UNODC in Hanoi on 14 October 2013. This report is primarily concerned with the illicit exploitation of timber within forest areas and its movement and then trafficking across borders for profit. These activities often exist in the grey area between clandestine and legitimate business activities. For the purposes of this report then the broad term "illegal timber trade" will be used to refer to the illicit movements (often transboundary) of illegal and quasi-legal timber and wood products. When used in the report, the term "forest crime" refers to a broader set of criminal activities against flora and fauna in forest areas. In this formulation, the illegal trade in timber is a subset of forest crime. For the purpose of this study no specific analysis has been conducted to identify a common and internationally acceptable notion of "illegal timber". This study has simply analyzed the framework of responses to crime as defined by national laws. The political commitment to use criminal justice resources to target the illegal exploitation and trade in timber is one of the starting points of the country analysis. The criminal justice system deals with multiple crimes and face considerable public and political pressure on a range of issues. Prioritising interventions is in practice the mechanism that criminal justice actors use to meet large demands with limited resources. The issue of political will is of great relevance too given on-going accusations of level corruption and the protection of illicit logging by those, including political leaders and senior officials, who profit from it. While criminal justice systems are designed in theory to respond to all crimes, the purpose of this report is to map out as far as possible the processes in which forest crimes are detected, investigated and prosecuted - and by whom. The latter question is critical: the crime of timber exploitation and trafficking falls in the purview of multiple departments and effective coordination between them is crucial for success. Examining the different inter-linkages between the agencies involved, the report aims at stimulating a wider debate as to how the system may be assisted by external actors. The recommendations of the report are aimed at national policy makers, but also at generating a wider discussion as to how criminal justice interventions could play a more effective role in curbing the illegal exploitation and trafficking of timber. The opening section of the report introduces briefly the extent of the illicit timber trade in South East Asia and some of the challenges that have been associated with controlling it. It then provides a short overview of the key issues and mechanisms through which the criminal justice system could play a more important role in the response to the illicit timber trade. The main body of the report is constituted by the country study. This is followed by a series of concluding recommendations. Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2013. 44p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 3, 2015 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/southeastasiaandpacific//Publications/wildlife/CJS_Response_-_VIETNAM_01_13_Dec_201.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Vietnam URL: http://www.unodc.org/documents/southeastasiaandpacific//Publications/wildlife/CJS_Response_-_VIETNAM_01_13_Dec_201.pdf Shelf Number: 136297 Keywords: ForestsIllegal LoggingIllegal TradeOffenses Against the EnvironmentOrganized Crime |
Author: Marijnissen, Chantal Title: Facing Reality: How to halt the import of illegal timber in the EU Summary: By mid-2004, the European Commission is due to report back to the Council of the European Union with its proposals for implementing the EU Action Plan on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) that it released in May 2003. FERN, Greenpeace and WWF welcome the Plan and aim, with this report, to provide further recommendations to EU policy makers that will assist their efforts to ensure its successful implementation. Given the stage of development of the FLEGT Action Plan, this report will focus primarily on criminal aspects of the timber industry. However, it is important to remember that much legal logging is also highly destructive - and that ultimately it is the issue of forest sustainability that needs to be addressed. As the environmental NGO community has repeatedly shown, the impacts of illegal logging on wildlife and human welfare are devastating. Illegal logging contributes to deforestation and loss of biodiversity; fuels civil wars and threatens international security through bribery, organised crime and human rights abuses; cuts tax revenue of producer countries; destabilises international markets and undermines both legitimate business and responsible forest management. As a major buyer and importer of illegal forest products, and with European timber companies heavily implicated in this trade, the European Union has the duty as well as the power to curtail criminal activities linked to it. We believe that, to be successful, the FLEGT process cannot be restricted to voluntary mechanisms. Illegal logging has reached an unprecedented high level, proving that voluntary measures, together with industry self-regulation, have been insufficient to stop illegal logging. Therefore, although we welcome the planned EU regulation for a voluntary licensing scheme and the development of voluntary partnership agreements, we believe that the EU must develop a regulation to outlaw the import of illegally sourced timber and forest products. This regulation must be implemented at the same time as the regulation for the voluntary licensing scheme and should allow EU enforcement officials to seize illegally sourced forest products and to prosecute those that trade in them. We also ask the European Union to build political support within producer countries for the voluntary partnership agreements proposed by the FLEGT Action Plan. The negotiations of these agreements should bring together all stakeholders in producer and consumer countries in developing solutions and promoting responsible forest management. Details: Brussels: FERN, 2004. 38p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 19, 2015 at: http://www.fern.org/sites/fern.org/files/pubs/reports/facing_reality.pdf Year: 2004 Country: Europe URL: http://www.fern.org/sites/fern.org/files/pubs/reports/facing_reality.pdf Shelf Number: 136456 Keywords: DeforestationForest ManagementForestsIllegal LoggingIllegal ProductsOffences Against the Environment |
Author: Saunders, Jade Title: EUTR CITES and money laundering: A case study on the challenges to coordinated enforcement in tackling illegal logging Summary: This paper considers three EU policy mechanisms which have the potential to reduce incentives for illegal exploitation of forest resources in producer countries: the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), CITES and anti-money laundering legislation. Looking at four EU countries (the Czech Republic, Italy, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom) and two producer countries (Ghana and Indonesia) it describes sanctions regimes and enforcement efforts, and identifies opportunities for improved cooperation by national and EU agencies. While the available data is limited, the paper finds that enforcement has been reasonably successful given the early stage of implementation. There are some synergies between EUTR and CITES, whereas anti-money laundering legislation is not generally relied on to address environmental crimes. The paper finds significant variance between enforcement systems in the EU member states, and concludes that European Commission leadership is essential to establishing the consistency necessary for effective enforcement in the EU market. With regard to the issue of environmental crime generally, the paper concludes that in the case studies, 'criminalization' of environmentally harmful activities has primarily been guided by the nature of the sanctions considered necessary to address the problem in question. Details: London: Chatham House, 2015. 47p. Source: Internet Resource: A study for the EFFACE project. Accessed August 21, 2015 at: http://efface.eu/sites/default/files/EFFACE_EUTR%20CITES%20and%20money%20laundering%20A%20case%20study%20on%20the%20challenges%20to%20coordinated%20enforcement%20in%20tacking%20illegal%20logging.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Europe URL: http://efface.eu/sites/default/files/EFFACE_EUTR%20CITES%20and%20money%20laundering%20A%20case%20study%20on%20the%20challenges%20to%20coordinated%20enforcement%20in%20tacking%20illegal%20logging.pdf Shelf Number: 136522 Keywords: ForestsIllegal LoggingMoney LaunderingOffenses Against the EnvironmentOrganized Crime |
Author: Downs, Fiona Title: Rule of law and environmental justice in the forests: The challenge of 'strong law enforcement' in corrupt conditions Summary: Widespread illegal forest activities have contributed to deforestation, forest degradation, economic losses to nations and injustices for forest communities in many countries. Promoting rule of law, particularly through 'strengthening law enforcement', is an important part of improving forest management and ensuring justice for forest dependent communities. This includes strengthening police and the courts to better detect and punish illegal forest activities. However, available evidence has shown that strong law enforcement activities often fail to address broader systems of illegal activities and can lead to further injustices. Corruption is one reason for these failures and is the focus of this U4 Issue Paper, which draws lessons from Cameroon and Indonesia. Efforts to strengthen law enforcement in the forests need to consider how corruption may interfere with successful detection and suppression of illegal activities. If they are to be successful, programmes promoting forest law enforcement in corrupt contexts also need to be sensitive to how they are implemented, with particular focus on the rights of forest dependent communities. Details: Bergen: Chr. Michelsen Institute, Anti-Corruption Resource Centre, 2013. 32 p. Source: Internet Resource: U4 Issues, 2013, no. 6: Accessed August 24, 2015 at: http://www.u4.no/publications/rule-of-law-and-environmental-justice-in-the-forests-the-challenge-of-strong-law-enforcement-in-corrupt-conditions/ Year: 2013 Country: International URL: http://www.u4.no/publications/rule-of-law-and-environmental-justice-in-the-forests-the-challenge-of-strong-law-enforcement-in-corrupt-conditions/ Shelf Number: 136562 Keywords: CorruptionForest Law EnforcementForestsIllegal LoggingOffenses Against the Environment |
Author: Environmental Investigation Agency Title: Organised Chaos: The illicit overland timber trade between Myanmar and China Summary: The conviction and subsequent pardon of 155 Chinese nationals in July for illegal logging in Myanmar threw a spotlight on how massive volumes of timber stolen from the county's precious frontier forests have been flowing unhindered into China for decades. The murky trade is worth hundreds of millions of dollars every year, making it one of the single largest bilateral overland flows of illegal timber in the world. The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) today releases a new report following extensive undercover investigations into the trade in China and Myanmar, exposing the key actors and systemic corruption which drive and facilitate it. Organised Chaos: The illicit overland timber trade between Myanmar and China documents how in Kachin State all parties profit, from shady Chinese businesses paying in gold bars for the rights to log entire mountains to the official corruption which allows the timber to pass through various checkpoints. Kachin and Yunnan Province in China are at the heart of trade but stolen timber is increasingly being sourced from deeper within Myanmar to feed factories in south and east China. The bulk of the timber moving across the border is now high value species of rosewood and teak. Talks between Myanmar and China are due to take place in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, on September 24 and EIA calls on both countries to take urgent effective action against the massive illicit timber trade. Faith Doherty, EIA Forest Campaign Team Leader, said: "At first glance, this cross-border trade looks to be both chaotic and complex, with most of the stolen timber trafficked through Myanmar's conflict-torn Kachin State, but the reality beneath the apparent anarchy is an intricate and structured supply chain within which different players have defined functions and collude to ensure the logs keep flowing." The trade appeared to have peaked in 2005 when one million cubic metres of logs crossed the border but, following a brief hiatus when Chinese authorities clamped down, the scale is once again nearing peak levels. This trade contravenes Myanmar regulations prohibiting overland export of wood and the country's log export ban introduced in April 2014. At stake are some of the most ecologically important remaining forests in South-East Asia. EIA's evidence shows that as intensive logging exhausts forests in the border area, Chinese-run operations are encroaching deeper into Myanmar. Doherty added: "Both Myanmar and China need to take urgent and effective action to stem the torrent of illicit timber flowing across their joint border or watch conflict, violence and forest destruction continue to escalate." Details: London: EIA, 2015. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 18, 2015 at: https://drive.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/EIA-Organised-Chaos-FINAL-lr1.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Asia URL: https://drive.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/EIA-Organised-Chaos-FINAL-lr1.pdf Shelf Number: 136814 Keywords: ForestsIllegal LoggingIllicit TradeOffenses Against the EnvironmentTimber |
Author: Sundstrom, Aksel Title: Understanding Illegality and Corruption in Forest Management: A Literature Review Summary: This review synthesizes the literature studying illegality and government corruption in forest mangement. After discussing the theoretical connections between different types of corruption and illegal forest-related activities it describes the major trends in previous studies, examining cross-national patterns as well as local in-depth studies. Both theory and available empirical findings pro-vide a straightforward suggestion: Bribery is indeed a "door opener" for illegal activities to take place in forest management. It then discusses the implications for conservation, focusing first on international protection schemes such as the REDD+ and second on efforts to reduce illegality and bribery in forest management. Key aspects to consider in the discussion on how to design monitoring institutions of forest regulations are how to involve actors without the incentive to engage in bribery and how to make use of new technologies that may publicize illegal behavior in distant localities. The review concludes by discussing avenues for future research. Details: Goteborg: University of Gothenburg, QOG The Quality of Government Institute, 2016. 39p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper Series 2016:1: Accessed February 2, 2016 at: http://qog.pol.gu.se/digitalAssets/1558/1558576_2016_1_sundstrom.pdf Year: 2016 Country: United States URL: http://qog.pol.gu.se/digitalAssets/1558/1558576_2016_1_sundstrom.pdf Shelf Number: 137736 Keywords: BriberyCorruptionDeforestationsForest ManagementForestsIllegal LoggingOffenses Against the Environment |
Author: Ferguson, Alan Title: Final Evaluation of the Cardamon Mountains Protected Forest and Wildlife Sanctuaries Project Summary: The Cardamom Mountains Protected Forest and Wildlife Sanctuaries Project in southwest Cambodia comprises two sub-projects: - Central Cardamom Protected Forest (CCPF) project, funded by United Nations Foundation (UNF) and Conservation International (CI) and implemented by CI and the Forestry Administration from July 2001 to September 2004; and - Cardamom Mountain Wildlife Sanctuaries (CMWS) project in Phnom Aural and Phnom Samkos sanctuaries, funded by UNF, GEF and Flora and Fauna International (FFI) and implemented by FFI and Ministry of Environment from April 2003 to April 2007. The CMWS Project had five major planned Outcomes for the wildlife sanctuaries: - Improved planning, management and regulatory frameworks - Improved governmental operational capacity - Communities engaged in the protection, management and sustainable use of natural resources - Secured international recognition and increased national and local awareness - Established a long-term financing mechanism The Final Evaluation was undertaken from February 19 - March 16, 2007. It focused on the CMWS, with only general review of the CCPF. The evaluation involved individual and group interviews, an initial workshop to discuss project design issues, and a larger wrap-up meeting to discuss preliminary findings. In total, 95 people were consulted. The study method was guided by the evaluation Terms of Reference and included identifying Indicators, preparing Evaluation Questions to guide interviews and meetings, and undertaking participatory discussions. The challenging startup conditions for this project should be duly noted: the project area is a former stronghold of the Khmer Rouge, settlements of indigenous people and ex-Khmer Rouge families, the wildlife sanctuary designation was unknown, traditional use of forest resources was commonplace, the area is large and difficult to monitor, and both corruption and lack of respect for the law were widespread in government and the military due to the poor salaries and lack of institutional modernization. These baseline conditions presented major impediments to introducing conservation. The two-project concept of the CCPF and CMWS has involved separate sub-projects that have different clients, approaches, methods and databases The project was structured in accordance with the mandate and boundaries of the wildlife sanctuaries under DNCP-MoE jurisdiction, and those of the Central Cardamom Protected Forest under FA jurisdiction. The original idea of synchronizing the DNCP/MoE - FFI and FA-CI projects was constrained due to differences in start-up dates, and the limited overall coordination of the projects. The different time frames adversely affected results and potential synergies. A brief review of follow-up to the CMWS Mid Term Review concluded that the project has undertaken reasonable action to address most of the MTR recommendations. The lack of action on a project Steering Committee and institutional coordination are the major outstanding issues. Details: Phnom Penh, Cambodia: UNDP Cambodia, 2007. 116p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 28, 2016 at: https://erc.undp.org Year: 2007 Country: Cambodia URL: https://erc.undp.org Shelf Number: 138841 Keywords: ForestsIllegal LoggingOffenses Against the EnvironmentWildlife ConservationWildlife CrimeWildlife Law Enforcement |
Author: World Wildlife Fund Title: Illegal Logging and its Impact in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve Summary: 1. Illegal logging is the main conservation problem in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere Reserve. This report presents the direct and indirect evidence of illegal logging from 2001 to the beginning of 2004. 2. The report is based on the following evidence: (i) a change analysis of the forest cover in the central core zone (that has a total of 9,671 ha) of the Reserve through aerial photographs obtained in 2001 and 2003, (ii) field samplings of 12 properties in 2003, and (iii) the deforestation analysis in two areas of the buffer zone from 2001 to 2003. The report also discusses: sites where the impact of logging was especially evident in the buffer zone; data obtained during 21 aerial flights in 2003 and 2004; and 42 letters and complaints made primarily by the agrarian communities requesting support from the authorities to solve the issue of illegal logging. Additionally, reference is made to 23 inspections carried out by the Michoacan Delegation of the Federal Attorney General's Officer for Environment Protection (PROFEPA), between 2002 to 2004 in five properties; the construction of 43 trenches by the communities to stop illegal logging trucks; and of the location of 61 sawmills documented in the region. 3. The circumstances surrounding the illegal logging in five properties in the state of Michoacan are analyzed in detail: the ejido of Francisco Serrato, the Federal Property, and the indigenous communities of San Francisco Curungueo, Francisco Serrato and Crescencio Morales. 4. The available data on logging in the Monarch Butterfly Biosphere shows that between 2001 and 2003 at least 370 hectares have been deforested in the buffer zone (Francisco Serrato and Emiliano Zapata ejidos) and 140 hectares have suffered from serious forest degradation in the core zone. However the number of hectares logged does not reflect the seriousness of the problem. Considering the various types of evidences studied, a total of 28 communities have suffered from illegal logging during the last three years. Twenty three of these communities are located in the core zone (an area where logging is prohibited according to the 2000 Presidential Decree) and the remaining five communities are located on the buffer zone). On the other hand, it is not necessary to loose all the trees to affect the overwintering sites of the Monarch butterfly, since the removal of only a few trees may substantially alter the microclimatic conditions required for their survival. 5. The case studies presented here show local efforts to combat the illegal logging, including the letters of complaint sent to the to the authorities and obstructions created to stop the trucks of the illegal loggers. Communities have repeatedly requested the permanent presence of the army to fight this problem which affects their forests. 6. Despite this, the response from the authorities has been sporadic and not of the necessary magnitude to stop this environmental crime. The law enforcement operations carried out by the authorities in April and May 2004 were important, however, these operations must be permanent in order to ensure the effective protection of the protected area. 7. Recommendations to stop the illegal logging include : (i) permanent presence of the army (as requested by the leaders of the agrarian communities), (ii) the obstruction of entrances to the core zone of the protected area to block the access of the illegal loggers, (iii) the periodical inspections of the Reserve and sawmills of the region, and (iv) the implementation of immediate communication mechanisms, so that the communities may inform the authorities of logging activities effectively . Details: Washington, DC: World Wildlife Fund, 2004. 37p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 1, 2016 at: http://www.eco-index.org/search/pdfs/363report_3.pdf Year: 2004 Country: Mexico URL: http://www.eco-index.org/search/pdfs/363report_3.pdf Shelf Number: 139542 Keywords: DeforestationForestsIllegal Logging |
Author: European Commission Title: Evaluation of the EU FLEGT Action Plan (Forest Law Enforcement Governance and Trade) 2004-2014 Summary: In July 2014 the European Commission started an evaluation of the first 11 years of implementation (2003-2014) of the EU FLEGT Action Plan. The evaluation was based on a wide-ranging consultation process that included an independent evaluation undertaken by an external consultant, surveys, single and multi-stakeholder workshops, targeted interviews, as well as unsolicited inputs from stakeholders. The evaluation process will be concluded shortly with the release of a Commission's Staff Working Document. The evaluation had three main objectives: To assess and document progress, achievements, shortcomings and gaps To assess and analyse changes in the global context To draw lessons learnt and formulate recommendations that could guide future EU efforts on forest law enforcement, governance and trade The evaluation covered 2003-2014, the first 11 years of implementation of the EU FLEGT Action Plan. It included in its scope all actions undertaken by EU institutions, EU Member States and partner countries, including efforts of non-state actors and international organisations. It covered the EU FLEGT Action Plan's seven action areas and their interrelationships. The evaluation report comprises two volumes: Volume 1 is the main report, Volume 2 provides supporting documentation. Details: Brussels: The Commission, 2016. 185p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 21, 2016 at: https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/evaluation-eu-flegt-action-plan-forest-law-enforcement-governance-and-trade-2004-2014_en Year: 2016 Country: Europe URL: https://ec.europa.eu/europeaid/evaluation-eu-flegt-action-plan-forest-law-enforcement-governance-and-trade-2004-2014_en Shelf Number: 139588 Keywords: ForestsIllegal Logging |
Author: Dranginis, Holly Title: The Mafia in the Park: A charcoal syndicate is threatening Virunga, Africa's oldest national park Summary: An illegal charcoal cartel is helping to finance one of the most prominent militias in central Africa and destroying parts of Africa's oldest national park. Nursing alliances with Congolese army and police units and operating remote trafficking rings in the sanctuaries of Congo's protected forests, the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) is a kingpin in Africa's Great Lakes region's organized crime networks and a continuing threat to human security. Details: Washington, DC: Enough Project, 2016. 45p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 22, 2016 at: http://www.enoughproject.org/files/report_MafiaInThePark_Dranginis_Enough_June2016.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Africa URL: http://www.enoughproject.org/files/report_MafiaInThePark_Dranginis_Enough_June2016.pdf Shelf Number: 139794 Keywords: CharcoalForestsIllegal TradeNatural ResourcesOrganized CrimeTheft of Natural Resources |
Author: Dibley, Arjuna Title: The Hidden Driver of Deforestation: Why Effecting Reform of Indonesia's Legal Framework is Critical to the Long-term Success of REDD+ Summary: In 2015, the state parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) agreed a mechanism that could be deployed by developing country governments to create economic, social and environmental incentives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through avoiding deforestation and forest degradation, called REDD+. Countries around the globe have commenced the process of implementing REDD+, including Indonesia. Indonesia introduced a dedicated REDD+ Agency, regulations on the topic, and made policy progress in key areas of REDD+. The legal and policy framework supporting REDD+ is, however, in a state of flux, after the legal and bureaucratic infrastructure put in place to support it was recalibrated following the election of President Joko Widodo in 2014. Given this uncertainty, this paper assess Indonesia's existing legal framework for REDD+ and outlines some legal strategies that could be implemented to revive the REDD+ policy process in Indonesia. Details: Melbourne: Centre for Indonesian law, Islam and Society, 2016. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: CILIS Policy Paper no. 11: Accessed July 23, 2016 at: http://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/1962167/CILIS-Policy-Paper-No-11-Dibley_Khatarina.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Indonesia URL: http://law.unimelb.edu.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/1962167/CILIS-Policy-Paper-No-11-Dibley_Khatarina.pdf Shelf Number: 139815 Keywords: DeforestationEnvironmental CrimeForestsOffenses Against the Environment |
Author: Anh, Cao Ngoc Title: Timber Trafficking and its Impacts on Human Security in Vietnam Summary: As with other forms of green crime, timber trafficking is frequently overlooked by traditional criminology. This research is an exploratory investigation into the problem of timber trafficking in Vietnam, which aims to obtain a detailed understanding of the typology of, victimisation from, and key factors driving this crime. To achieve this aim, 41 semi-structured interviews with seven different cohorts (environmental police, investigative police, forest protection officers, commune authorities, forest-based inhabitants, timber traders, and green NGO staff) were conducted. Over one hundred pages of official documents (criminal case records, operational reports, and conference papers), and more than two hundred relevant newspapers were collected and analysed to enhance and triangulate the primary data. This research reveals a multifaceted typology of timber trafficking in Vietnam, comprising five different components: harvesting, transporting, trading, supporting, and processing. Each of these components is further constituted by distinctive, parallel forms of illicit operation. There are, for example, three parallel forms of illegal timber harvesting, termed small-scale, medium-scale and large-scale (SSITH, MSITH and LSITH). While having certain overlaps, in general SSITH, MSITH and LSITH are fundamentally distinctive not only in terms of the volumes of illicit timber they produce and the methods of illegally felling trees they employ, as typically identified in the previous studies, but more importantly in terms of the harvesters' attributes, their motivations, and the sophistication and security implications of the criminal operations. It is thus argued that the typology of illegal timber harvesting in this research challenges the typical classification in the existing literature, and offers an alternative way of understanding more comprehensively the dynamic of illegal logging. Regarding the victimisation from timber trafficking, due to the employment of a broad conceptual framework of human security, it is revealed that timber trafficking has substantial harmful impacts on all seven elements of human security: economic, food, health, environmental, personal, community, and political. These impacts are closely interconnected, but vary between different groups of victims. These findings culminate in the proposal that there are three main typical characteristics of green victimisation: suffering hierarchy, victim-offender overlap, and multidimensionality. Additionally, the employment of a human security paradigm in this research leads to another proposal that it is highly achievable and productive to integrate perspectives from the field of security studies into the discipline of green criminology, for the purpose of systematically examining green victimisation. Finally, this research offers five solutions to control timber trafficking in the context of Vietnam, by refining the current policy framework of forest governance and improving the efficiency of law enforcement. Details: Newcastle, UK: University of Northumbria at Newcastle, 2016. 310p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed August 6, 2016 at: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/27316/ Year: 2016 Country: Vietnam URL: http://nrl.northumbria.ac.uk/27316/ Shelf Number: 140025 Keywords: ForestsGreen CriminologyIllegal LoggingOffenses Against the EnvironmentTrafficking in Timber |
Author: Forest Trends Title: European Trade Flows and Risk Summary: Illegal logging, as defined in the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), is the harvesting of timber in contravention of the laws and regulations of the country of harvest. Illegal logging is a global epidemic with significant negative economic, environmental and social impacts. Recent studies indicate that illegal logging accounts for 50-90 percent of the volume of all timber production in key producer tropical countries in the Amazon Basin, Central Africa, and Southeast Asia, and 15-30 per cent globally. In economic terms illegal logging results in lost revenues from taxes and other duties that could be used by producer countries for sustainable development purposes and other benefits. In environmental terms illegal logging is associated with deforestation, water pollution, spread of disease, climate change and a loss of biodiversity due to habitat destruction. In social terms illegal logging can be linked to conflicts over land and other resources, the disempowerment of local and indigenous communities, the loss of lives and livelihoods, human rights violations, corruption, and armed conflicts. Illegal logging also undermines international security, supports organized crime and money laundering activities, and leads to unfair competition in the marketplace that negatively impacts the sincere efforts of responsible operators in Europe and other regions of the world to comply with the law. Details: Washington, DC: Forest Friends, 2013. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 17, 2016 at: http://forest-trends.org/documents/files/doc_4085.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Europe URL: http://forest-trends.org/documents/files/doc_4085.pdf Shelf Number: 140329 Keywords: DeforestationForestsIllegal LoggingMoney LaunderingNatural ResourcesOffenses Against the EnvironmentOrganized 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: Woods, Kevin Title: Baseline Study 5, Thailand: Overview of Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Summary: Thailand diverges from neighboring regional Mekong countries, with a decade or more experience of actively pursuing policies to combat domestic illegal logging and internal transportation. The 1989 logging ban, and the rise of grassroots social movements organizing around large-scale plantations and community displacement, has meant that Thai forestry institutions have needed to become more responsive to environmental and social concerns. Forest cover decline in Thailand has generally been stabilized in the last few decades, and forests are even increasing in extent in some areas. Decentralization and community-based natural resource management is now a mainstream policy theme in the country, although tangible implementation has been uneven. In general, Thai state institutions have been responsive to local stakeholders and forest sector enterprises, in terms of developing a dynamic and effective policy framework based on a long-term vision that links forests, communities, conservation and economic development. These are welcome developments - the question is whether the reforms will be implemented equitably and effectively. Details: Washington, DC: Forest Trends, 2011. 66p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 20, 2016 at: http://www.forest-trends.org/documents/files/doc_3180.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Thailand URL: http://www.forest-trends.org/documents/files/doc_3180.pdf Shelf Number: 145608 Keywords: Forest Law EnforcementForestsIllegal LoggingNatural ResourcesOffenses Against the Environment |
Author: Brack, Duncan Title: Ending Global Deforestation: Policy Options for Consumer Countries Summary: Over the last decade, governments in timber-producing and timber-consuming countries have implemented a range of policies and measures aimed at improving forest governance and reducing illegal logging. One important category of measures has been attempts to exclude illegal (and sometimes unsustainable) timber products from international trade through the use of regulatory measures such as public procurement policy, licensing systems, and legal and company due diligence requirements. Yet illegal logging and the international trade in illegal timber is not the most important cause of deforestation. Clearance of forests (legal or illegal) for agriculture, often for export, is far more significant. The purpose of this report is to examine the potential applicability of the consumer-country measures used to exclude illegal timber to illegal or unsustainable agricultural products associated with deforestation: specifically, palm oil, soy, beef and leather and cocoa. The study primarily considers options open to the European Union (which is the main global importer of these commodities), but in principle they are open to other consumer-country governments too. Details: London: Chatham House; Washington, DC: Forest Trends, 2013. 89p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 20, 2016 at: https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/files/chathamhouse/public/Research/Energy,%20Environment%20and%20Development/0913pr_deforestation.pdf Year: 2013 Country: International URL: https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/files/chathamhouse/public/Research/Energy,%20Environment%20and%20Development/0913pr_deforestation.pdf Shelf Number: 145605 Keywords: DeforestationForestsIllegal LoggingIllegal ProductsNatural ResourcesOffenses Against the Environment |
Author: Wakker, Eric Title: Indonesia: Illegalities in Forest Clearance for Large-Scale Commercial Plantations Summary: This is the second in a series of case studies examining the nature, scale and extent of illegalities and irregularities in the process of forest clearance for large-scale agricultural estates and ranchlands, and the scale of the trade in commodities grown or reared on land illegally cleared of forests. Each country assessment examines the state of knowledge on the topic, and the recent history of relevant sectoral activity in each country, profiles key companies, outlines the legal and regulatory environment, and summarizes available evidence of illegalities and irregularities. This study focuses on oil palm and pulp and paper plantations, generally seen as the main drivers of deforestation over the past ten to twenty years. The past fifteen years have seen increased global public and political acknowledgement of the environmental, social and economic costs of illegal logging, but this discourse has largely focused on tree harvesting under selective logging forestry and associated timber trade. This study represents a first step towards broadening our understanding of the nature, scale and extent of illegalities and irregularities in deforestation for oil palm and tree plantation expansion in Indonesia. Details: Washington, DC: Forest Trends, 2014. 63p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 20, 2016 at: http://www.forest-trends.org/documents/files/doc_4528.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Indonesia URL: http://www.forest-trends.org/documents/files/doc_4528.pdf Shelf Number: 145606 Keywords: DeforestationForestsIllegal LoggingOffenses Against the Environment |
Author: Woods, Kevin Title: Baseline Study 4, Myanmar Overview of Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Summary: Myanmar remains one of the world's only countries with no prohibitions on log exports. The country provides much coveted teak and other hardwood logs to the region and beyond. Sawn wood, and to a lesser extent finished wood products, contribute a relatively small amount to Myanmar's total exports of wood products. As in the majority of Mekong countries, one of the most significant trends affecting forest lands in Myanmar relates to the considerable, and often times informal, foreign direct investments (FDI) in agribusiness plantations such as rubber, oil palm, timber plantation, cashew nut and other horticultural crops. FD are also being made in other resource sector developments, including hydropower and mineral extraction. These types of developments often require the clearing of natural forest areas and has led to land disputes with local communities. Details: Washington, DC: Forest Trends, 2011. 59p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 20, 2016 at: http://www.forest-trends.org/documents/files/doc_3159.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Burma URL: http://www.forest-trends.org/documents/files/doc_3159.pdf Shelf Number: 145609 Keywords: Forest Law Enforcement Forests Illegal Logging Natural Resources 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: Forest Trends Title: Logging, Legality, and Livelihoods in Papua New Guinea: Sythesis of Official Assessments of the Large-Scale Logging Industry Volume I Summary: Between 2000 and 2005, in response to a widely held view that forest management in Papua New Guinea was not providing long-term benefits to the country or its citizens, and to assess the implementation and effectiveness of the new governance regime introduced in the PNG Forestry Act of 1991, the Papua New Guinea government commissioned five separate reviews of the administration and practice of the logging industry. This report, Volume I in a three volume series, summarizes the key findings of the five reviews to present a clear and precise picture of the legal status, environmental sustainability and social impacts of current large-scale logging operations in PNG. We follow this synthesis of the existing studies with our own recommendations for steps that would move PNG toward legal and sustainable logging, provide satisfactory livelihood opportunities for forest dependent communities, and promote sustainable economic development for the nation as a whole. Details: Washington, DC: Forest Trends, 2006. 70p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 22, 2016 at: http://www.forest-trends.org/publication_details.php?publicationID=105 Year: 2006 Country: Papua New Guinea URL: http://www.forest-trends.org/publication_details.php?publicationID=105 Shelf Number: 145626 Keywords: DeforestationsForest Management Forests Illegal Logging Offenses Against the Environment |
Author: Forest Trends Title: Logging, Legality, and Livelihoods in Papua New Guinea: Sythesis of Official Assessments of the Large-Scale Logging Industry Volume II Summary: Between 2000 and 2005, the Papua New Guinea government commissioned five separate reviews of the administration and practice of the logging industry: - Review of Forest Harvesting Projects Being Developed Towards a Timber Permit of Timber Authority (2000-01); - Review of the Forest Revenue System (2001-02); - Independent Review of Disputed Timber Permits and Permit Extensions (2003); - Review of Current Logging Projects (2004-05); and - Compliance Audits (2004-05) In addition, a sixth report from an Ombudsman Commission investigation into the allocation of one concession (Kamula Doso) was published in July 2002. The five Reviews were conducted under Terms of Reference agreed between the Government of Papua New Guinea and the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (the 'World Bank'), by teams of experts that included lawyers, foresters, economists and environmental and social scientists. The review teams were given unique access to official records, logging sites and company documents and were able to conduct wide-ranging interviews with industry participants, landowners and government officials. The findings of the five government-initiated Reviews were presented in sixty-three individual reports that together provide a unique assessment of Papua New Guineas forest administration system and the sustainability of current and future large-scale logging operations. They provide a thorough examination of the whole timber harvesting process from initial project development through permit allocation to the actual logging operations and their long term impacts. The Reviews considered a range of different criteria for assessing the status of timber harvesting operations and analyzed their impact from the perspective of all the key stakeholders. Of the five Reviews, only some of the reports were made publicly available through the PNG Prime Minister's website. Copies of the other documents produced were circulated amongst government departments, industry and civil society organizations in PNG and subsequently distributed internationally. The Ombudsman Commission report was tabled in Parliament and can be viewed in the Parliamentary library In this Report (Volume II), we bring together all the reports from the five Reviews and the Ombudsman Commission investigation and present a complete summary of their findings. Maps and imagery in this publication were sourced from the UPNG Remote Sensing Centre via www.rsc.upng.ac.pg (and were not part of the Review Reports). Updates on any follow-up actions on the recommendations in the Review Reports have been added based on publicly available information as of January 31, 2006 (and were not part of the Review Reports). Details: Washington, DC: Forest Trends, 2006. 88p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 22, 2016 at: http://www.forest-trends.org/documents/files/doc_161.pdf Year: 2006 Country: Papua New Guinea URL: http://www.forest-trends.org/documents/files/doc_161.pdf Shelf Number: 146045 Keywords: DeforestationForest Management Forests Illegal Logging Offenses Against the Environment |
Author: Greenpeace Title: How Unilever Palm Oil Suppliers Are Burning Up Borneo Summary: In November 2007, Greenpeace released 'Cooking the Climate', an 82-page report summarising the findings of a two-year investigation that revealed how the world's largest food, cosmetic and biofuel companies were driving the wholesale destruction of Indonesia's rainforests and peatlands through growing palm oil consumption.This follow-up report provides further evidence of the expansion of the palm oil sector in Indonesia into remaining rainforests, orangutan habitat and peatlands in Kalimantan. It links the majority of the largest producers in Indonesia to Unilever, probably the largest palm oil corporate consumer in the world. Details: Amsterdam: Greenpeace, 2008. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 23, 2016 at: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/planet-2/report/2009/10/how-unilever-palm-oil-supplier.pdf Year: 2008 Country: Asia URL: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/planet-2/report/2009/10/how-unilever-palm-oil-supplier.pdf Shelf Number: 146050 Keywords: DeforestationForestsOffenses Against the EnvironmentPalm Oil |
Author: Gupta, Saloni Title: Contesting conservation: shahtoosh trade and forest management in Jammu and Kashmir, India Summary: This thesis examines the recent politics of wildlife and forest conservation with reference to Jammu and Kashmir (J&K) state in India. It analyses two processes initiated in 2002, and their effects on conservation and livelihoods: a) the international ban on the trade of shahtoosh (wool derived from the Tibetan antelope), resulting in the loss of the traditional occupation of a large number of shawl workers in the Kashmir valley; and b) the implementation of joint forest management projects under the 'National Afforestation Programme' in Jammu region, resulting in new spaces for cooperation and conflict between forest bureaucracy and local communities. The thesis explains how global environmental policies permeate different layers of politics from macro- to microlevels in the process of implementation. The following four questions are addressed in the thesis: first, how does power determine access to and control over natural resources? Second, how are global conservation interventions understood, accepted and reshaped by various actors? Third, what has been the impact of these recent interventions on different categories of resource users? Fourth, in what ways do these conservation processes converge with the attempts of historically powerful actors (state and local elites) to dominate the poor and marginalised populations, specifically shawl workers and forest dependent communities? On the basis of a detailed examination of the two processes, I argue that nature conservation policies do not go unchallenged but are contested and coloured by the power, agendas and interests of different stakeholders. I demonstrate that in the pursuit of conservation measures, powerful actors are able to secure their respective interests while directing the cost of nature conservation to the poor who are traditionally dependent on wildlife and forest resources for sustenance. This is not to deny the seriousness of environmental concerns, but to point out the repercussions of a blanket ban on the livelihoods of the shahtoosh workers, and of limiting the access to forest resources for local communities, who are trying to survive in an already fragile economy amidst militant separatist movement in J&K. Details: London: University of London, Development Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies, 2011. 324p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed November 1, 2016 at: http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/12759/1/Gupta_3264.pdf Year: 2011 Country: India URL: http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/12759/1/Gupta_3264.pdf Shelf Number: 145782 Keywords: AntelopeForestsWildlife ConservationWildlife CrimeWildlife Management |
Author: Assuncao, Juliano Title: DETERring Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon: Environmental Monitoring and Law Enforcement Summary: The Amazon is the world's largest rainforest. In Brazil, the forest originally occupied over four million km2 an area equivalent to almost half of continental Europe. Amazon deforestation rates escalated in the early 2000s, peaking at over 27,000 km2 in 2004, but fell sharply to about 5,000 km2 in 2011 (INPE [2012]). Empirical evidence presented in a previous CPI/PUC-Rio study suggests that changes in Brazilian conservation policies helped address the challenge of protecting this immense area and significantly contributed to the recent deforestation slowdown. In this study, we take a step further and answer the question: Which specific policy efforts contributed most to the reduction in Amazon deforestation? Our analysis reveals that the implementation of the Real Time System for Detection of Deforestation (DETER), a satellite-based system that enables frequent and quick identification of deforestation hot spots, greatly enhanced monitoring and targeting capacity, making it easier for law enforcers to act upon areas with illegal deforestation activity. This improvement in monitoring and law enforcement was the main driver of the 2000s deforestation slowdown. We estimate that DETER-based environmental monitoring and law enforcement policies prevented the clearing of over 59,500 km2 of Amazon forest area from 2007 through 2011. Deforestation observed during this period totaled 41,500 km2 59% less than in the absence of the policy change. We also find that the policy change had no impact on agricultural production. Details: s.l.: Climate Policy Initiative, 2013. 36p; executive summary. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 13, 2016 at: https://climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/deterring-deforestation-in-the-brazilian-amazon-environmental-monitoring-and-law-enforcement/ Year: 2013 Country: Brazil URL: https://climatepolicyinitiative.org/publication/deterring-deforestation-in-the-brazilian-amazon-environmental-monitoring-and-law-enforcement/ Shelf Number: 144911 Keywords: ConservationDeforestationEnvironmental Law EnforcementForestsIllegal LoggingOffenses Against the Environment |
Author: Kleinschmit, Daniela Title: Illegal logging and related timber trade: dimensions, drivers, impacts and responses Summary: This report entitled "Illegal Logging and Related Timber Trade: Dimensions, Drivers, Impacts and Responses" presents the results of the fifth global scientific assessment undertaken by the GFEP initiative. The report set out to gain deeper understanding of the meaning of illegal logging and related timber trade, its scale, drivers and consequences. It provides a structured synthesis of available scientific and expert knowledge on illegal logging and associated timber trade while adding to existing studies and reports by sharing new insights, including a criminology perspective and new information about timber and timber product trade flows as well as exploring future policy options and governance responses. This assessment report and the accompanying policy brief provide an authoritative source of information for policymakers and stakeholders involved in the fight against illegal logging and associated timber trade, in order to support effective action in tackling this pressing global problem. Details: Vienna: International Union of Forest Research Organizations (IUFRO), 2016. 148p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed IUFRO World Series Volume 35: Accessed December 20, 2016 at: http://www.illegal-logging.info/sites/files/chlogging/IUFRO_illegallogging.pdf Year: 2016 Country: International URL: http://www.illegal-logging.info/sites/files/chlogging/IUFRO_illegallogging.pdf Shelf Number: 146000 Keywords: ForestsIllegal LoggingIllegal TradeOffenses Against the Environment |
Author: Treanor, Naomi Basik Title: China's Hongmu Consumption Boom: Analysis of the Chinese Rosewood Trade and Links to Illegal Activity in Tropical Forested Countries Summary: Over the past decade, Chinese demand for classic furniture made from slow-growing hardwood species collectively known as hongmu, encompassing rosewood species and others such as Padauk, has soared. The majority of furniture is both manufactured and consumed within China, as indicated by the trade balance reflecting high levels of log and sawnwood imports and lower levels of roundwood equivalent (RWE) furniture exports. China's rosewood log and sawnwood imports, on an unprecedented rise since 2010, hit an all-time high in 2014, while exports of rosewood products have declined severely. Unfortunately, much of the world's valuable rosewoods are being depleted at an alarming rate, with the global trade in rosewood suffering from high rates of illegal harvesting, transport, and trade. These illegal practices have exacerbated the destruction of complex ecosystems in some of the world’s most biodiverse forests and in many cases have negatively impacted the livelihoods of forest-dependent people who rely on hongmu as a source of fuel and medicine. China is in a unique position to take a leadership role to ensure that only legally and sustainably sourced rosewood enters the country, given the large role that Chinese traders,2 manufacturers, retailers, and consumers play in the global harvesting and trade of rosewood. The Chinese government has already put in place a system of rules and regulations for product quality assurance for the import and processing of rosewood that is enforced by a wide number of government agencies (Box 1), but does not address issues related to sustainable or legal harvesting, transportation, or import of hongmu species. This system could serve as the foundation for more direct action to ensure legality and sustainability. This paper analyzes recent trends in Chinese rosewood trade, using import data from China Customs from 2000 to 2014. It then synthesizes existing literature highlighting widespread violations of national laws and regulations in source countries that are occurring in the harvesting and trade of rosewood, particularly in key countries in Africa and Asia. It concludes with policy recommendations for Chinese policy-makers and other actors, which would foster the trade in legal hongmu species, mainly through use of existing mechanisms and guidelines, but also by increasing coordination with Hong Kong and ensuring better enforcement of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Details: Washington, DC: Forest Trends, 2015. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 23, 2016 at: http://www.forest-trends.org/documents/files/doc_5057.pdf Year: 2015 Country: China URL: http://www.forest-trends.org/documents/files/doc_5057.pdf Shelf Number: 146423 Keywords: Forest ProductsForestsIllegal LoggingIllegal TradeOffenses Against the EnvironmentRosewood |
Author: Satyal, Poshendra Title: Assessing Civil Society Participation in REDD+ and FLEGT: Case Study Analysis of Cameroon, Ghana, Liberia and the Republic of Congo Summary: he report presents findings from an assessment study on the quality of participation of civil society actors in REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) and FLEGT VPA (Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade – Voluntary Partnership Agreement) processes in four countries in Africa: Cameroon, Ghana, Liberia and the Republic of Congo. The study was part of an EU funded project, coordinated by Fern on "Tackling Deforestation through Linking FLEGT and REDD+" for which the quality of participation in REDD+ and FLEGT was outlined as an indicator to assess one of the project’s objectives (i.e. key REDD+ safeguards are respected in practice). The focus of the assessment study on civil society participation is at national policy making level in FLEGT and REDD+ processes. Building on key literature on participation and research on civil society participation in REDD+ and FLEGT, a questionnaire tool was developed and applied in practical case studies in the four countries. The analysis is drawn from the interviews based on the questionnaire tool; some in-depth interviews and secondary research in these countries. Details: Norwich, UK: The School of International Development, 2017. 46p. Source: Internet Resource: DEV Reports and Policy Papers: Accessed January 25, 2017 at: http://pfbc-cbfp.org/news_en/items/Report-FLEGT.html Year: 2017 Country: Africa URL: http://pfbc-cbfp.org/news_en/items/Report-FLEGT.html Shelf Number: 145572 Keywords: DeforestationForest Law EnforcementForest ManagementForestsIllegal LoggingNatural Resources |
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: Macqueen, Duncan Title: Boosting governance in Mozambique's forests: Options for more sustainable forestry among Chinese timber traders and Mozambican partners Summary: Mozambique is Africa's largest exporter of timber to China. Yet multiple published concerns over the sustainability and legality of that timber trade assert the rapid commercial depletion of future timber stocks, the marginalisation of local forest communities, and the loss of revenue to government estimated at US$146 million between 2007 and 2013 alone. This report takes a step back to explore what options exist for incentives to improve the forest practice of Chinese timber traders and concession holders and their Mozambican partners. Drawing on research in the forest sector, it identifies six potential areas of concern for those operators. It then outlines for each area possible incentives that might be developed to improve forest practice. The set of 18 incentive types may not be exhaustive, but the questionnaire survey of government, civil society and private sector actors did not reveal further major sources of incentive. Table 1 summarises our initial understanding about these areas of concern for operators and possible incentive types to improve their practice. Each incentive type is ranked in terms of its perceived potential for beneficial impact by 26 Mozambique forest experts (five private-sector experts, seven NGO forest experts, five government forest authority staff, and nine forest experts from research or teaching institutions). Many of these incentive types are generic, in the sense that they are applicable as much to Mozambican operators as to Chinese operators. But there are also some China - specific opportunities. These relate to the characteristics, preferred timber specifications and reputational sensitivities of the Chinese timber market, to emerging Chinese policies based on guidelines and a timber legality verification system, and to the organisational dynamics of Chinese traders and concession holders in Mozambique. In short, there are ways in which a useful China-Mozambique engagement could incentivise change above and beyond what might be possible by working with Mozambican operators alone. A summary of the multiple different incentive categories is presented below in Table 1. The pie charts summarise a sequential numerical ranking made by the 26 Mozambique forest experts described above. For each expert, their first six ranked options were afforded the status of high priority, the second six ranked options of medium priority, and the final six ranked options of low priority. The aggregate number of times an option was ranked high, medium or low priority forms the basis for the pie chart. In addition, the top six ranked options overall are highlighted in yellow with a description of their numerical ranking. Details: London: International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED), 2017. 98p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 2, 2017 at: http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/17601IIED.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Mozambique URL: http://pubs.iied.org/pdfs/17601IIED.pdf Shelf Number: 145243 Keywords: ForestsIllegal LoggingNatural ResourcesOffenses Against the Environment |
Author: Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) Title: Repeat Offender: Vietnam's Persistent Trade in Illegal Timber Summary: Despite growing global attention to the problem of illegal logging over the past 15 years, Vietnam continues to rely on imports of illicit timber to supply its burgeoning wood processing sector, especially from the neighbouring countries of Laos and Cambodia. Since 2007, EIA has repeatedly documented flows of illegal logs across the land border between Laos and Vietnam, and more recently from Cambodia. Vietnam has made strenuous efforts to increase its own forest cover, including strict controls on the logging of natural forests. In 2016, a total ban on logging natural forests was announced. By 2015, the country's forest cover had increased to 14.7 million hectares (44.6 per cent of total land area), compared with nine million hectares in 1990. At the same time, the Vietnamese Government has promoted the rapid expansion of an export-oriented wood processing sector, which has become the sixth largest in the world. In 2017, the country's exports of wood products are predicted to be worth $8 billion, compared with $7.3 billion in 2016. Vietnam's wood processing industry is heavily reliant on imports for the supply of raw materials, principally round logs and sawn timber. Imports have been growing at about 10 per cent a year, reaching 4.79 million m3 in 2015. While timber imports come from over 100 countries, the biggest source region is Asia, especially Laos and Cambodia. Overall, Vietnam relies of imports for at least 80 per cent of the raw materials consumed by its factories. Analysis of Vietnam's imports by source country indicates that in 2013, 18 per cent were judged to have a high risk of illegality. It is neighbouring countries which have borne the brunt of this illicit trade. Until 2015, Laos - which has a log export ban - was the largest single supplier of timber to Vietnam by value. Due to stronger political will in the country to curb illegal logging, it has now been supplanted by Cambodia, another neighbouring country which bans the export of raw timber. In 2015, Vietnam imported timber worth $386 million from Cambodia, a 52 per cent increase on the previous year, and $360 million from Laos. Combined, the two countries provided Vietnam with illicit timber worth almost three quarters of a billion dollars in a single year. This shift in sourcing has been driven solely by supply-side measures. Rather than improve its regulatory controls over imports of illicit timber, Vietnam has actually introduced measures to ease the flow of timber from Cambodia, once again showing flagrant disregard for the forest laws of its neighbouring countries. Details: London: EIA, 2017. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 21, 2017 at: https://eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/Repeat-Offender.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Vietnam URL: https://eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/Repeat-Offender.pdf Shelf Number: 146336 Keywords: Deforestation Environmental Crime Forests Illegal Logging Illegal Trade Offenses 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: Global Witness Title: Buyers in Good Faith: How Timber Exporters are Complicit in Plundering Peru's Amazon Summary: A new report into an emblematic case of timber trafficking in Peru highlights the corruption and fraud that continue to sabotage attempts to crack down on a trade that is devastating the Amazon region. The report, released on November 9 by investigative watchdog group Global Witness, tells the story of the most high-profile anti-timber trafficking operation in Peruvian history: the November 2015 attempted seizure of illegal timber from the ship Yacu Kallpa as it was anchored in the Amazon River near the city of Iquitos. On the morning the Yacu Kallpa was set to depart on a journey that would have eventually taken it to Houston, Texas, a public prosecutor boarded the ship and attempted to seize 15 percent of its cargo - 1,200 square meters of wood that investigators had proven was of illegal origin. The boat eventually departed after a day of murky interventions and legal wrangling that ended with the ship's captain promising the prosecutor to return with the 15 percent after dropping off the rest of the cargo, according to an account of events in an investigation by Wired. However, investigators continued their work, visiting the locations cited in the wood's certificates of origin to verify its extraction. The Yacu Kallpa was eventually detained in Mexico and its cargo seized. By the time they had finished their verification, investigators had established that 96 percent of the cargo - more than 9,500 square meters - was "not of legal origin." Details: London: Global Witness, 2017. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 20, 2017 at: http://globalinitiative.net/timber-peru/ Year: 2017 Country: Peru URL: http://globalinitiative.net/timber-peru/ Shelf Number: 148273 Keywords: ForestsIllegal LoggingNatural ResourcesTimberTrafficking in Timber |
Author: Ayari, Ines Title: The Human Cost of Conservation in Republic of Congo Summary: This report is based on investigations in Republic of Congo by our local civil society partners, mainly within six forest communities living in or on the periphery of Conkouati-Douli National Park (CDNP) and Nouabale-Ndoki National Park (NNNP). Both of these protected areas have largely been shaped by the intervention of the US-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). The aim of our investigations was to understand the impact of the protected areas on those communities and the evolution of the relationships between them. If not conceived in a participatory manner, protected areas can dramatically affect communities' livelihoods and infringe upon their most basic rights; and may not even enhance biodiversity protection1. Although the Congolese legal framework offers some consideration of forest communities' land and resources rights, this report highlights outstanding issues which need be addressed in order to avoid further infringements of forest peoples' rights and foster an inclusive approach to conservation in the country. The main findings of the report are as follows: - Both protected areas have outdated management plans and inappropriate zoning, failing to include communities or to understand their land use dynamics. Local inhabitants generally aren't aware of the laws related to protected areas. When they are aware, there is confusion about which laws apply to them (such as in relation to the prohibition of species to be hunted) and about the geographical areas within which any laws may apply. Physical demarcation of park boundaries is neglected, which adds to the confusion. - Conservation-related restrictions prevent communities from accessing their traditional lands and resources, hampering villagers' subsistence activities - such as hunting and gathering - and affecting their social identities. Difficulties encountered by communities to readjust their livelihoods to the imposed restrictions are often overlooked or ignored by conservation programmes. Livelihoods are further compromised by wildlife-human conflict, which is amplified by conservation programmes and often disregarded by the authorities. No defensive measures can be taken by farmers - often women - who suffer material damage and sometimes face physical danger due to the presence of elephants in proximity to their fields. They have to carry the costs of protecting their cultivated lands and crops; and they often have no other choice than relocating or giving up on gathering and farming activities. - Economic displacement is a significant and detrimental issue, especially as it is almost never accompanied by adequate reparation of the damage and losses endured by local people. Despite some local employment related to anti-poaching monitoring and/or ecotourism and some housing improvements for certain villages (mostly in NNNP), the lack of economic benefits accruing to communities from conservation areas is stark. Existing benefit-sharing plans are often inefficient, leaky and non-transparent. Overall, flows of funding into the two national parks fail to compensate communities for the loss of livelihoods and rights. Such compensation could be done, for example, through the enhancement of basic infrastructure (schools, hospitals and decent transportation networks). The few attempts at 'economic alternative' measures have failed, particularly bushmeat substitution programmes, which neglect the cultural importance of wild game to forest communities and have not proven to decently and adequately provide dwellers with culturally-appropriate and affordable meat substitutes. - 'Consultation' processes - however poor - did take place in the initial phases of the two national parks' establishment, but were undertaken with only a limited number of concerned communities and often involved only a certain segment of each of them. Although inaugural steps in CDNP's creation seemed promisingly inclusive, the measures did not last. The intervention of WCS in the process undermined rather than enhanced a challenging but ongoing participatory process. - Indigenous hunter-gatherers appear to have suffered the biggest impacts related to conservation programmes taking place on their customary lands. They find themselves not only discriminated against by their Bantu neighbours and authorities, but they also carry the biggest burden of conservation-related restrictions and limitations. - Conservation actors tend to favour agreements with the private sector - including logging and mining interests - over constructive and strong partnerships with communities. This strategic approach to generate technical and financial support for protected areas' management and anti-poaching monitoring activities tends to increase communities' land tenure insecurity, as well as their sense of grievance towards park managers. - One of the most significant and detrimental consequences of imposed conservation models in the areas investigated are the tensions between communities and park management authorities - ultimately embodied by eco-guards - leading sometimes to serious conflicts. In some reported cases, these tensions have resulted in fatalities among villagers. Such conflicts are often the direct consequence of recurring abuses of power, intimidating and harassing behaviour (including physical violence), application of arbitrary sanctions, and unfair treatment of forest dwellers by eco-guards. This seriously problematic situation is exacerbated by a lack of access to justice for communities, as well as the impunity from which eco-guards often seem to benefit. The present report also stresses the current state of the Congolese legal framework, which is often incomplete and/or unenforced. Urgent measures need to be taken to ensure participatory management is developed and that it includes communities in projects affecting them. Legal loopholes need to be addressed, and the laws and rights of communities must be made clear and available to them. Based on the numerous observations and findings of this report, we propose a number of recommendations. These include the integration of indigenous peoples' and local communities' rights to lands, livelihoods, participation and free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) into protected areas planning and management. In order for this to become a reality, a number of practical steps need to be taken: - The principles of participation and the obligation to satisfy local populations' needs within the frame of protected areas management does exist in Congolese law (Law No. 37-2008 on Wildlife and Protected Areas). It is crucial to build the conditions and define terms under which local communities and indigenous peoples are to be fully involved in the elaboration and implementation of protected area's management plans. It is of utmost importance that this is done through a participatory approach and by including obligations in terms of stakeholders' involvement in mapping and planning. In that sense, conservation organisations also need to make proactive efforts to ensure effective representation of local people in decision-making processes and strengthen partnerships with them. This entails that communities have access to adequate information about all current or future conservation measures, as well as information about park zoning and eco-guards' scope of intervention. - Ensuring the effectiveness and accessibility of mechanisms aimed at making individual and collective customary land recognition easier, as foreseen by law (Decrees No. 2006-255 and No. 2006-256 and Law No. 10 2004). - Ensuring the recognition of land rights prior to the creation of protected areas and the enactment of legislation to guarantee redress and compensation in cases of restricted rights to customary land and usage rights, such as for damage caused by wildlife to community assets, including in buffer zones. - The national land use plan - the elaboration of which is currently ongoing - needs to help prevent land allocations for different uses from overlapping; something that is all the more important with regards to customary lands. - Negotiations and agreements between conservation organisations and industrial interests need to include local communities from the outset; land use planning processes should be undertaken only with their full consent and in total transparency. - Communities' livelihoods are at stake and often threatened when protected areas are established without consideration for local populations' rights, traditions and socio-economic dynamics. While this issue is common to most protected areas across the country (including the two under investigation in this report), it could be addressed by taking several steps, such as: making benefitsharing schemes mandatory and effective, as per law; extending such schemes to peripheral zones and conservation areas under public-private partnerships; and designing culturally-appropriate development alternatives that promote and respect traditional knowledge and dynamics. 10 The Rainforest Foundation UK: The Human Cost of Conservation in Republic of Congo - December 2017 - The Congolese legal framework lacks a clear and adequate definition of usage rights in protected areas and their buffer zones, and this needs be addressed with full participation and consent of local and indigenous communities. These usage rights then need to be respected by external stakeholders. - The specific needs of indigenous communities have to be taken into consideration in conservation initiatives and measures. Indigenous communities' rights lag far behind despite the existence of Law No. 5-2011 on the Promotion and Protection of Rights of Indigenous Populations, which is considered as pioneering in the region but is not yet enforced. Measures need to be taken to ensure that indigenous peoples are consulted (via application of FPIC) prior to any project on their lands, including for conservation purposes, and that they are involved in land and resource management, according to the law. Conservation organisations and donors need to ensure indigenous people benefit equally from employment opportunities or alternative subsistence schemes and to consider them as equal stakeholders in discussions. - There is an urgent need for the country to respect its obligations with regards to international human rights standards, including in the context of nature conservation policies and programmes. This goes along with improving access to justice for communities and providing remedy for previous violations. Eco-guards should be held accountable for their repressive behaviour, and should be subject to effective sanctions. The government of Republic of Congo would gain from collaborating with national and local human rights organisations - including indigenous peoples' organisations - in the interest of both forest communities and conservation objectives. Conservation NGOs should proactively ensure that their projects do not undermine local rights, by integrating human rights in their plans, fostering participatory approaches, and giving more credit to (and promoting) local peoples' traditional knowledge and governance schemes. Special attention must be placed on indigenous peoples' special needs and situations, to avoid further discrimination and violations affecting them in particular. Institutional and private donors also have a role to play in a more proactive approach to this situation, such as through monitoring conservation projects' compliance with relevant laws and human rights standards. Donors can provide more specific support to both governments and conservation bodies for better application of human rights standards in conservation. They could also provide more support for community-based conservation programmes and make sure local communities benefit adequately from conservation initiatives. Above all, this requires a better understanding of customary land tenure, livelihoods and social dynamics Details: London: Rainforest Foundation UK, 2017. 108p. Source: Internet Resource: accessed January 31, 2018 at: http://www.rainforestfoundationuk.org/media.ashx/the-human-impact-of-conservation-republic-of-congo-2017-english.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Congo, Republic of the URL: http://www.rainforestfoundationuk.org/media.ashx/the-human-impact-of-conservation-republic-of-congo-2017-english.pdf Shelf Number: 148939 Keywords: EconomicsForestsWildlife ConservationWildlife Crime |
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: 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: Transparency International Title: Analysing Corruption in the Forestry Sector Summary: Corruption - the abuse of entrusted power for private gain - undermines good governance and the rule of law. Corruption in forestry further degrades the environment, threatens rural communities and robs the public of billions of dollars each year. Transparency International (TI) is committed to a society where corruption-free forest governance and sustainable management enable increased economic development, poverty reduction and environmental protection. To help achieve this objective, TI's Forest Governance Integrity (FGI) Programme monitors the existing anti-corruption instruments that bring about the greatest improvement in the forestry sector and in good governance overall. Each country's forestry sector is unique, as are each country's anti-corruption mechanisms - its laws and the initiatives led by government, the private sector and civil society. Therefore, in order to best use their human and financial resources, civil society organisations (CSOs) must prioritise which corrupt practices to monitor. Otherwise, the temptation is to try to monitor all corrupt practices, or at least those associated with current programmes. Given the limited resources most CSOs have this would be a logistical impossibility, but perhaps more important, it is vital that activists are critically selective in choosing targets that will provide the most effective impact in the long run. This manual outlines a generic methodology for prioritising the corrupt practices that pose the greatest risk to governance - i.e. those practices that are the most likely to occur and have the greatest impact. Interviews with key experts, supplemented by publicly available data, inform the rapid risk assessment, the results of which are validated through stakeholder consultation. Based on this priority setting, it will be possible to assess more thoroughly the corrupt practices that pose the highest risk. In a second step, expert analysis and stakeholder consultation then help identify the existing anti-corruption instruments that most efficiently tackle these priority practices. These anticorruption instruments then serve as the focus for TI's forestry programme - including its monitoring, outreach and advocacy. A greater understanding of corrupt practices in the forestry sector should help focus the public and decision-makers on generating the political will needed to tackle criminal activity associated with the forestry sector - activity which in many countries drastically reduces revenues that could be used for economic development. Details: Berlin: Forest Governance Integrity Programme, Transparency International, 2010. 102p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 24, 2018 at: https://www.transparency.org/whatwedo/publication/analysing_corruption_in_the_forestry_sector_a_manual Year: 2010 Country: Asia URL: https://www.transparency.org/whatwedo/publication/analysing_corruption_in_the_forestry_sector_a_manual Shelf Number: 150359 Keywords: Forest Law EnforcementForestsIllegal LoggingNatural ResourcePolitical CorruptionRisk Assessment |
Author: Global Witness Title: A Major Liability: Illegal Logging in Papua New Guinea Threatens China's Timber Sector and Global Reputation Summary: In 2016, PNG provided 29% of China's tropical log imports, making it the country's single largest supplier. But our investigation reveals how a large number of logging operations in Papua New Guinea (PNG) violate the law despite holding government-issued permits. China is the world's largest consumer and manufacturer of wood and wood products. Yet it has no regulation to keep illegal timber from entering its borders. The risk of illegal timber from countries like PNG flooding China's markets has the potential to damage its reputation and major trade relationships as buyers in the U.S. and EU, which ban illegal timber imports, take action to protect themselves. This trade has profound implications for PNG as well. 70% of the country is covered by forest ecosystems that are home to some of the world's rarest plants and animals. The forest is also central to the cultural traditions and livelihoods of PNG's eight million people. By continuing to import tropical timber from PNG on such a scale, China is driving the destruction of a vulnerable and ancient forest. In A Major Liability, we draw on satellite imagery to show hundreds of apparent violations of the country's Forestry Act in major logging operations - all of which hold government permits and all of which continue to export timber. Details: London: Global Witness, 2018. 19p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 7, 2018 at https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/forests/major-liability-illegal-logging-papua-new-guinea-threatens-chinas-timber-sector-and-global-reputation/ Year: 2018 Country: Asia URL: https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/forests/major-liability-illegal-logging-papua-new-guinea-threatens-chinas-timber-sector-and-global-reputation/ Shelf Number: 151431 Keywords: Deforestation Environmental CrimeForests Illegal LoggingIllegal Trade Natural ResourcesOffenses Against the Environment Timber Industry |
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 |