Stopping illegal logging

Illegal logging is one of the main threats to forests today. There are high rates of illegal logging in most timber-producing countries in the tropics as well as in Russia and parts of Eastern Europe. According to the most recent statistics available from Interpol, as of 2019:

• illegal logging was tied to 15%–30% of global timber production
• illegal logging accounted for 50%–90% of logging in many tropical countries
• the estimated annual economic value of the trade in illegal wood was $50 billion to $150 billion, making it the world’s third-largest transnational crime, only after counterfeiting and drugs

Illegal logging has a particularly devastating effect on biodiversity because perpetrators often deliberately target remaining high conservation value forests—forests with outstanding biological, ecological, social, or cultural values—including protected areas, which contain trees overexploited elsewhere. Illegal logging also affects Indigenous peoples and local communities through the loss of natural forest resources and sometimes through intimidation and violence.

Illegal logging and trade take many different forms. At the forest level, it can include logging inside protected areas, logging protected timber species, extracting volumes beyond permitted amounts, and corruption associated with the issuance of forest licenses. Once the timber leaves the forests, illegalities can occur at various stages of transport, processing, and trade, such as laundering illegal wood with legal material during manufacturing, falsifying documents to disguise the true origin or identity of the wood, and bribing officials to avoid taxes and duties. 

Countries where illegal logging occurs use most of the illegal wood, but a significant percentage contaminates the international wood trade. While illegal logging is not widespread in the United States, the US is among the world’s largest importers and consumers of wood, including from some countries with high rates of illegal logging. As a result, we have a critical role to play in tackling illegal logging and the associated trade in illegal wood.