Illegal timber imports have risen by 20 percent since the Great Recession to an estimated 60 million cubic meters in 2013, according to the Chatham House’s second assessment of international progress in tackling illegal logging.
While illegal timber imports to the European Union and the United States have reduced, the majority of illegal trade is going to other countries and emerging economies such as China, India and Vietnam.
The report identified three key changes in the forest sector that have persisted despite efforts to rein in illegal logging.
- 1. New markets for timber have reduced the impact of policies introduced by developed countries. More than 50 percent of all illegal trade in wood products goes to China. Meanwhile, producers are meeting an increasing domestic demand with both legal and illegal wood.
- 2. Half of all tropical lumber traded globally is sourced from forest conversion projects. The Chatham House report estimated that more than 66 percent of those products are illegal.
- 3. Small-scale logging operations have multiplied in many countries, many of which are illegal and beyond the scope of policy and regulatory efforts.
The whole report is available for download online.
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