Forest certification
Illegal logging: cut it out! The UK’s role in the trade in illegal timber and wood products
Recommendations to stop the illegal timber trade in the EU
Authors:
R. Hembery; A. Jenkins; G. White; B. Richards
Publisher:
WWF-World Wide Fund For Nature , 2007
This report attempts to estimate the volume of illegal wood entering the UK and to identify which sectors of the UK market utilise this wood and fiber. The report shows that the UK is the world’s third-largest importer of illegally harvested or traded timber and wood products after China and Japan. In terms of overall share of imports the UK has the second-highest illegal share – estimated at 7.2%, it is higher than Japan (6%) and second only to China (almost 10%).
The paper discusses:
- the definition of illegal logging and the illegal timber trade
- estimations of illegal trade in the UK
- review of current mechanisms to combat illegal logging
- recommendations to combat trade in illegal logging.
The report concludes with a number of recommendations for the UK government, the European Union (EU), industry and financial institutions which include:
- EU legislation to make it illegal to import illegal timber and wood products into the EU
- targets for the procurement of legal and sustainable timber within UK central government
- monitoring and evaluation of UK central government procurement of legal and sustainable timber and wood products, including on-site, random checks
- monitoring and evaluation of EU Member State timber and wood product procurement policies for their impact on legal and sustainable forest management.
