Russia has threatened to halt timber exports to China unless the Chinese government becomes more proactive in dealing with illegal logging activity, the Moscow Times reports.
The threat to ban timber exports came from Russia’s minister of natural resources and environment, who complained to a Russian publication about China’s lax attitude toward illegal logging.
“They come, buy up the [illegal] timber and leave us to clear up the debris,” the minister said. “China must clearly understand that if they don’t take part in resolving this issue, then we will have no other option but to completely ban timber exports.”
Earlier this month, Russia blamed massive wildfires that have been raging through Siberia on illegal loggers attempting to cover their tracks.
Russia exported 17.4 million tons of timber during the first half of 2019, according to the Moscow Times report.