Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase, or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a protected area; the cutting down of protected species; or the extraction of timber in excess of agreed limits. Illegal logging is a driving force for a number of environmental issues such as deforestation, soil erosion and biodiversity loss which can drive larger-scale environmental crises such as climate change and other forms of environmental degradation.
Illegality may also occur during transport, such as illegal processing and export (through fraudulent declaration to customs); the avoidance of taxes and other charges, and fraudulent certification. These acts are often referred to as "wood laundering".
Illegal logging is driven by a number of economic forces, such as demand for raw materials, land grabbing and demand for pasture for cattle. Regulation and prevention can happen at both the supply side, with better enforcement of environmental protections, and at the demand side, such as an increasing regulation of trade as part of the international lumber industry.
The term 'timber theft' is an alternate name for illegal logging, especially logging done on a smaller scale and without the landowner's permission.
Overview Illegal logging is a pervasive problem, causing enormous damage to forests, local communities, and the economies of producer countries. The EU, as a major timber importer, has implemented the European Union Timber Regulation as a means to halt the import of illegally sourced wood products. The identification of illegally logged or traded timber is technically difficult, but a series of attempts is made. presentation by Dr. Gerald Koch Therefore, a legal basis for normative acts against timber imports or other products manufactured out of illegal wood is missing. Scientific methods to pinpoint the geographic origin of timber are currently under development. Possible actions to restrict imports cannot meet with WTO regulations of non-discrimination. They must instead be arranged in bilateral agreements. TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, strives to monitor the illegal trade of timber and provide expertise in policy and legal reviews.
Scale It is estimated that illegal logging on public land alone causes losses in assets and revenue in excess of US$10 billion annually. Although exact figures are difficult to calculate, given the illegal nature of the activity, decent estimates show that more than half of the logging that takes place globally is illegal, especially in open and vulnerable areas, such as the Amazon Basin, Central Africa, Southeast Asia and the Russian Federation.For further details on illegal logging, see: Duncan Brack and Gavin Hayman (2001) Intergovernmental Actions on Illegal Logging. Royal Institute of International Affairs; Duncan Brack, Gavin Hayman and Kevin Gray (2002) Controlling the International Trade in Illegally Logged Timber and Wood Products. Royal Institute of International Affairs.
Available figures and estimates must be treated with caution. Governments tend to underestimate the situation, given that high estimates of illegal logging may cause embarrassment as these to suggest ineffective enforcement of legislation or, even worse, bribery and corruption. On the other hand, environmental NGOs publish alarming figures to raise awareness and emphasize the need for stricter conservation measures. For companies in the forestry sector, publications making high estimates can be regarded as potentially threatening to their reputation and their market perspective, including the competitiveness of wood in comparison to other materials. However, for many countries, NGOs are the only source of information apart from state institutions, which probably clearly underestimates the true figures. For example, the Republic of Estonia calculated a rate of 1% illegally harvested timber in 2003, whereas it was estimated to reach as much as 50% by the NGO "Estonian Green Movement".Estonian Green Movement (2004) Illegal forestry and Estonian timber exports In Latvia, the situation is comparable; anecdotal evidence points towards 25%<ref>WWF Latvia (2003)</rev> The features of illegal logging and related trade in Baltic Sea region; WWF International (2002) The Timber Footprint of the G8 and China</ref> of logging being illegal.
Consequences
Illegal logging has detrimental impacts, including deforestation and, consequently, global warming. It leads to biodiversity loss, weakens the rule of law, and hampers responsible forest management. Moreover, it fosters corruption, tax evasion, and diminishes revenue for producer countries, limiting their capacity to invest in sustainable development. The economic and social consequences disproportionately affect the poor and disadvantaged, resulting in the loss of millions of dollars in timber revenue annually.
Furthermore, the illegal trade of forest resources undermines international security, and is frequently associated with corruption, money laundering, organized crime, human rights abuses, climate change and, in some cases, violent conflict. In the forestry sector, cheap imports of illegal timber and forest products, together with the non-compliance of some economic players with basic social and environmental standards, destabilize international markets. This unfair competition affects those European companies, especially the small and medium-sized companies that are behaving responsibly and ready to play by fair rules.
Signs of illegal logging
Large Scale Large scale logging is usually done by private companies or organizations, rather than individual people. The possibility of large-scale exploitation often depends upon exploiting land that doesn't have clear ownership, breaking laws that have a lack of enforcement due to a weak or corrupt government, or land that is owned by people with limited ability to defend their property rights (such as indigenous groups in South America).
Illegal logging is often a deep rooted and widespread issue in the places afflicted with it. An example is Colombia, where even though illegal logging has been reduced over the years, the Colombian government officially reports that 80% to 90% of all logging in the nation is still illegal. A 1998 study from a commission of the Brazilian Chamber of Deputies showed that around 80% of the logging operations in Brazil were illegal, and of the 13 logging companies in Brazil that were investigated, 12 were found to have broken the law (92.3%).
In nations where illegal logging is endemic, there is a close relationship between large scale illegal logging and road construction, and between people migrating or establishing settlements. When a road needs to be built through forests, it's common for a logging company to be contacted, and make large profits from the cleared trees, while skipping many steps for approval to cut down the trees, due to the operation being framed as a construction service rather than logging operation. In return, the creation of a new road deeper into a forest enables greater access to new areas for illegal logging operations. In the Amazon Rainforest, it's common for the establishment of villages and towns to induce deforestation, and in return, it's also common for places that have been deforested to invite the establishment of human settlements.
Illegal logging is often justified by framing it as providing space for businesses and homes in impoverished rural communities. It can also be framed as gathering firewood, lumber, minerals, petroleum, and space for cattle, to provide resources to a struggling economy. In this way, illegal logging becomes normalized and systematic, because these logging operations are portrayed as a service to society, rather than crimes or environmental exploitation. One of the largest risk factors for illegal logging is a nation being a developing country, because of both the prioritization of economic development and a lack of enough government resources to adequately protect the environment.
Common signs of widespread illegal logging by a logging group include:
Use of forged permits, or not having a permit. Bribing, intimidating, or otherwise acting corruptly towards the authorities, such as politicians, permission granting offices, or law enforcement. Cutting any valuable tree regardless of what's protected by law, or targeting species that are known to have high market value (such as Ipê, Rosewood, or Teak). Cutting more than what's authorized, or more than what a quota allows. Making no attempt to avoid damaging trees and vegetation not intended for harvest. Clearcutting, rather than a management plan that considers the future timber stock. Harvests in legitimate forestry usually leave younger and smaller trees to inherit the space and grow into the next crop. Cutting outside of the area authorities have approved for logging. Logging inside of areas that are known to be protected, or reserved for indigenous people. Lack of replanting, and general disregard for the regeneration of the next cohort of trees. This is because the logging company has no incentive to replant due to the extra expense, and they are only concerned with short term value extraction. General lack of concern for the wellbeing of the environment, such as a lack of protection from erosion, pollution with garbage or machine fuel, or a lack of habitat preservation for animals. Investment of foreign entities or other third parties in the operation, such as Asian firms investing in operations in Brazil, who are concerned with profit and not the future wellbeing of the environment. Illegal logging operations often operate in very remote areas where detection and enforcement is difficult. However, it's important to note that being remote does not automatically indicate an illegal operation. Harassing indigenous people (or other locals), violence against indigenous people, intimidation, or carrying an unusual amount of firearms.
Smaller Scale (Timber theft) Timber theft usually refers to private individuals exploiting land on a small scale, rather than large operations. Timber thieves often exhibit behavior unlike that of legitimate loggers, and most likely are unauthorized to be on the site. Signs of a trespassing timber thief can include:
A person being present in a forest without permission, or without clear reason. Someone logging at nighttime. Logs that have been legally harvested and left on site for future transport, going missing without explanation. A person using homemade gear or low duty gear that's unusual for a professional logger. Such as a vehicle not meant to haul logs, or clearly unprofessional gear such as a DIY rope harness. Entering a property in a way that suggests trespassing (like crossing a barb wire fence when there is a entry path nearby, destroying or putting ladders over physical barriers, or making strange routes through a forest when there is a more practical one). Trees/timber missing from the property without explanation. Unusual vehicle traffic (such as unauthorized ATV activity, or a truck parked on a rural road suspiciously). A logger acting strange when encountered, or offering to pay when confronted. Logs that are hidden or visually obscured under something, such as brush piles, leaf piles, or a tarp. Logs that have been smeared with dirt or other substances on the butt of the log (where the cut is) so the ring pattern of the log cannot be easily matched to a stump. A logger giving vague or unclear answers when the sawmill asks where the logs were cut from.