G8 imports of illegally logged wood condemned
new scientist | 20.06.2002 17:21
G8 imports of illegally logged wood condemned
13:40 20 June 02
NewScientist.com news service
At least 13 per cent of timber and wood products imported by G8 countries and China is illegally logged - and 18 per cent of this trade is used to fulfill government building projects, according to a new WWF report.
The report comes six days before the start of a G8 summit in Canada, where heads of states will be discussing timber procurement policy.
"The G8 and China are not implementing policies to determine if the timber they buy is illegal. Illegal logging will be on the G8 summit agenda for the last time and we want governments to announce a concrete action plan to address the problem, says Chris Elliot, director of WWF's Forests for Life Programme.
The G8 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, UK) and China import two-thirds of the world's timber, the majority of it from producer countries in Africa, Asia and South America, which have known problems with illegal logging.
For example, the WWF says that 80 per cent of logging in the Brazilian Amazon is illegal. The figure is estimated to be even higher in Indonesia, and about 50 per cent for Russia. Each year, the G8 imports illegally logged wood from a total area equivalent to the size of Belgium and the Netherlands combined.
"At the moment, illegal timber imports are drowned in legal imports. Once they leave the producer country, unless they are registered on CITES list of prohibited trade species, they are no longer classed as illegal, so it's difficult to take action at this end," Elliot says.
New protection
"We are urging governments to adopt and implement national green procurement policies, improve the tracking of timber from forests to importer and provide technical and financial assistance to support producer countries to monitor and protect their forests," Elliot says.
The World Bank estimates that illegal blackmarket trading costs producer countries £6.7 billion each year.
Forest resources contribute to the livelihoods of about 90 per cent the 1.2 billion people in the developing world, WWF claims.
Some countries are taking action to protect their forests, the organisation says. Russia announced today that it will enlarge the protected area of endangered forest in the Amur region - home to the endangered Amur tiger - by 1.4 million hectares to a total of 3.6 million hectares by 2005.
Leonid Korotkov, governor of the Amur Region, says: "There will be six brand new protected areas - more than 10 per cent of the forest in the region will now be protected. But it will not be easy. There are a number of powers that have an invested interest in maintaining illegal logging."
Gaia Vince
13:40 20 June 02
NewScientist.com news service
At least 13 per cent of timber and wood products imported by G8 countries and China is illegally logged - and 18 per cent of this trade is used to fulfill government building projects, according to a new WWF report.
The report comes six days before the start of a G8 summit in Canada, where heads of states will be discussing timber procurement policy.
"The G8 and China are not implementing policies to determine if the timber they buy is illegal. Illegal logging will be on the G8 summit agenda for the last time and we want governments to announce a concrete action plan to address the problem, says Chris Elliot, director of WWF's Forests for Life Programme.
The G8 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia, UK) and China import two-thirds of the world's timber, the majority of it from producer countries in Africa, Asia and South America, which have known problems with illegal logging.
For example, the WWF says that 80 per cent of logging in the Brazilian Amazon is illegal. The figure is estimated to be even higher in Indonesia, and about 50 per cent for Russia. Each year, the G8 imports illegally logged wood from a total area equivalent to the size of Belgium and the Netherlands combined.
"At the moment, illegal timber imports are drowned in legal imports. Once they leave the producer country, unless they are registered on CITES list of prohibited trade species, they are no longer classed as illegal, so it's difficult to take action at this end," Elliot says.
New protection
"We are urging governments to adopt and implement national green procurement policies, improve the tracking of timber from forests to importer and provide technical and financial assistance to support producer countries to monitor and protect their forests," Elliot says.
The World Bank estimates that illegal blackmarket trading costs producer countries £6.7 billion each year.
Forest resources contribute to the livelihoods of about 90 per cent the 1.2 billion people in the developing world, WWF claims.
Some countries are taking action to protect their forests, the organisation says. Russia announced today that it will enlarge the protected area of endangered forest in the Amur region - home to the endangered Amur tiger - by 1.4 million hectares to a total of 3.6 million hectares by 2005.
Leonid Korotkov, governor of the Amur Region, says: "There will be six brand new protected areas - more than 10 per cent of the forest in the region will now be protected. But it will not be easy. There are a number of powers that have an invested interest in maintaining illegal logging."
Gaia Vince
new scientist