Peruvian Illegal Logging Continues Despite U.S. Attempts

Despite the United States’ efforts—including millions in aid—Peru is “backsliding” on its fight against illegal logging, an Associated Press investigation discovered.

The country, home to the second-largest expanse of the Amazon rain forest, loses 600 square miles of forest each year, the AP report said. The World Bank believes 80 percent of timber exported out of Peru is illegally logged.

The U.S. has given Peru more than $90 million in forest-protection aid and other assistance, and the AP said the U.S. “has little to show for it.”

The only positive occurrence was the impoundment of 1,770 metric tons of Amazon rain forest wood at the port of Houston in 2015. However, the leader of the operation, Peru’s former Forest Inspection Chief Rolando Navarro, was dismissed shortly after the shipment was denied entry. The dismissal came after Navarro’s office was firebombed and a coffin bearing his name was set ablaze by protesters. Navarro fled to Washington D.C., where he remains in exile, separated from his family.

“I don’t know when I’m going to be able to return to Peru,” he said.