A report compiled by Mongabay shows a heightening of illegal logging activity across Asia and South America during the COVID-19 crisis.
Countries reporting surges in illicit deforestation during the pandemic include Brazil, Colombia, Cambodia, Indonesia, Nepal and Madagascar.
Causes for the increases include a reduction of logging regulation enforcement by countries, as well as a “social upheaval” due to the catastrophic impacts of COVID-19, according to the report.
“First, it opens areas up for more illegal practices, with local communities out of desperation moving to more short-term use of natural resources,” Øyvind Eggen of the Rainforest Foundation Norway told Mongabay. “But you are also seeing attempts to deregulate business justified by COVID-19. So more importantly, perhaps, if the recovery becomes less green, that will have an impact for decades. The environment and rainforest protection have moved up the political agenda in recent years, but if they are not one of the top three or five issues in the recovery, we will have lost a lot for decades.”
The full report can be found here.
