tag:theconversation.com,2011:/fr/topics/illegal-logging-2637/articlesIllegal logging – The Conversation2024-03-19T13:10:57Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2239222024-03-19T13:10:57Z2024-03-19T13:10:57ZNigeria’s forests are fast disappearing – urgent steps are needed to protect their benefits to the economy and environment<p><em>Nigeria’s forest cover has been dwindling fast for decades. With one of the <a href="https://earth.org/challenges-facing-policies-against-deforestation-in-nigeria/">highest rates of deforestation</a> in the world, there are concerns about the survival of its forest resources. We asked forest management and biodiversity conservation expert Amusa Tajudeen to explain why the country’s forests are disappearing and what to do about it.</em></p>
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<h2>Which parts of Nigeria are covered by forest?</h2>
<p>Nigeria has a rain forest zone in the south. Forest cover decreases in density towards the north, where the savannah belt is characterised by grasses and sparse tree cover. The rain forest ecosystem <a href="https://collections.unu.edu/eserv/UNU:1726/unuinrapolicybriefvol2_4.pdf">lies</a> between latitudes 4⁰N and 9⁰N and extends from the coast to about 250km inland.</p>
<h2>What is the current status of Nigeria’s forest cover?</h2>
<p>Nigeria’s forest cover is diminishing in extent and quality. But reliable data is scarce. For instance, one record indicates that <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Thomas-Omali/publication/344238412_Prospects_of_satellite-Enhanced_Forest_Monitoring_for_Nigeria/links/5f5f7158299bf1d43c0223ce/Prospects-of-satellite-Enhanced-Forest-Monitoring-for-Nigeria.pdf#page=4">Nigeria’s land mass is 910,770km²</a> and forest occupies 110,890km², or 12.8% of the total land mass. Another shows that Nigeria’s land mass is 997,936km² and only <a href="https://www.ajol.info/index.php/jasr/article/view/112511">10% is under forest reserve</a>.</p>
<p>At independence in 1960, it was <a href="https://collections.unu.edu/eserv/UNU:1726/unuinrapolicybriefvol2_4.pdf">reported</a> that the colonial government had set aside 97,000km² (9.72%) of the country as forest reserves. </p>
<p>Historical accounts also indicate that the country’s rain forest, which was over 600,000km² in 1897 (60% of land mass), had <a href="https://bioone.org/journals/international-forestry-review/volume-8/issue-3/ifor.8.3.372/Status-of-Tropical-Forest-Management-2005-Summary-Report/10.1505/ifor.8.3.372.full?casa_token=ZTKPa_OhRG8AAAAA:iVodlrGMgTr3eYlu4CZ-IWR1KCxrg_0q6lnmCpc6zTfHRaBj2_kFYQETnMpHndwm6KRzxdefZXQ">reduced</a> by about half in 1960 to 30% of land mass. </p>
<p>Nigeria’s forests <a href="https://www.netjournals.org/pdf/NJAS/2015/1/15-011.pdf#page=1">covered</a> an estimated 175,000km² in 1990 and 135,000km² in 2000. Between 2000 and 2004, the country was said to have lost 55.7% of its primary forests – that is, 75,195km² of native and original forests that have never been logged and have developed under natural processes. </p>
<p>A report by the United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries (UN-REDD) <a href="https://www.un-redd.org/partner-countries/africa/nigeria">shows</a> that the decline rate of forest cover in Nigeria ranged from 3.5% to 3.7% per annum over the period 2000 to 2010. This translates to a loss of 350,000–400,000 hectares of forest land yearly.</p>
<p>Unless something decisive is done, and urgently, the country will lose all its forest areas by the year 2052, if the prevailing rate of deforestation at 3.5% annually is anything to go by.</p>
<h2>Why is forest cover important?</h2>
<p>Forests are very important for the economic development of every nation. They also have environmental, ecological, socio-cultural, scientific and research service functions. </p>
<p>Forests provide numerous goods and services. Some are needed as raw materials – for example wood for building materials, fuel and paper. </p>
<p>Forests also offer natural foods and non-timber products like oilseeds, latexes, gums, resins, rattan, vanilla and game. Forest-based industries such as sawmills, paper mills and furniture industries provide employment and income. </p>
<p>Forest ecosystems offer physical, biological and chemical benefits. These include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>conserving soil, controlling the timing and volume of water flows, protecting water quality and maintaining aquatic habitats </p></li>
<li><p>preventing disasters like floods and landslides, and moderating winds </p></li>
<li><p>conserving biodiversity </p></li>
<li><p>storing carbon, which mitigates climate change. </p></li>
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<p>The socio-cultural service functions of forests cover nature-based tourism and ecotourism activities. Ecotourism provides a means for people to use the forest without extracting its resources or degrading the environment. Wildlife attracts many visitors and foreign exchange earnings.</p>
<p>In addition, forests help to deepen our understanding of the natural world. Through research, we learn new things about species, habitats and ecosystems. Forest resources are particularly important in medicine, including immunology and other studies of diseases. </p>
<h2>Why is Nigeria’s forest cover being depleted?</h2>
<p>Before the 1950s, the forestry and agriculture sectors <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Paul-Owombo-2/publication/311869826_Contributions_of_Forestry_Sub-sector_to_the_Nigerian_Economy_A_Co-integration_Approach/links/5c3ef31692851c22a3789e6a/Contributions-of-Forestry-Sub-sector-to-the-Nigerian-Economy-A-Co-integration-Approach.pdf">contributed</a> over 80% of Nigeria’s gross domestic product. This changed after the discovery of oil in the 1950s and early 1960s.</p>
<p>Today, the laws and policies associated with forest administration are obsolete. In addition, supervision, monitoring and surveillance of forest areas is poor. Staffing and provision of basic infrastructure are grossly inadequate. </p>
<p>The principle of sustained yield forestry, when products removed from the forest are replaced by growth, has been abandoned in most forest reserves. Inventory records of resources are insufficient. Local people don’t participate enough in decision-making related to forests. The forestry sector is also affected by corruption, such as misappropriation of funds and <a href="http://repository.ui.edu.ng/handle/123456789/1405">illegal activities</a>.</p>
<p>In Nigeria, primary forests are <a href="http://repository.ui.edu.ng/handle/123456789/1405">cleared</a> extensively. The various state forestry departments have been unable to adequately protect the forest estate. Most forest reserves that were once managed for timber production have become deforested and fragmented. Many have been converted for other land uses. </p>
<p>Large scale agriculture has consumed a significant portion of forested areas. Similarly, <a href="https://digitalscholarship.tsu.edu/ajcjs/vol9/iss1/10/">unlawful and indiscriminate logging activities</a> take place in naturally occurring forests. </p>
<p>Urbanisation, which comes with roads, buildings and other infrastructure, is often carried out without proper planning. </p>
<h2>How can this depletion be tackled?</h2>
<p>Based on our <a href="http://80.240.30.238/bitstream/123456789/1405/1/%2816%29%20ui_inpro_amusa_forest_2017.pdf">studies</a> of the Nigerian forests over the years and <a href="https://www.rufford.org/projects/tajudeen-okekunle-amusa/strengthening-monitoring-systems-for-adaptive-management-and-protection-of-forest-elephants-in-omo-forest-reserve-southwestern-nigeria/">lessons</a> from numerous projects carried out, I have the following recommendations:</p>
<p>Most countries have a forestry law. Unfortunately Nigeria’s forest policy is not backed by a code or act. A national Forestry Act could reverse the decline in forest cover. It could give adequate protection and ensure sustainable management of the country’s forest estate.</p>
<p>There is an urgent need to plant and replant trees across the country. The various state governments can collaborate with non-governmental organisations to achieve this. </p>
<p>Reforestation involves replanting trees in areas where forests have been destroyed. Afforestation involves creating new forests on previously non-forested land. These campaigns should plant a diverse range of native tree species. </p>
<p>It’s also crucial to promote sustainable forestry practices. The government should enforce strict regulations against illegal logging and unsustainable timber harvesting. Enforcement can be done using technology such as remote sensors, drones and satellite imagery. It is essential to work with local communities, traditional leaders and NGOs to raise awareness about the importance of forest conservation.</p>
<p>Finally, there should be proper staffing. Adequately trained forest professionals and well equipped guards should be hired to safeguard the forests. Education and training programmes should teach local communities, forest workers and farmers about sustainable forestry methods and the importance of preserving biodiversity.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223922/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tajudeen Amusa does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Nigeria’s forest resources have dwindled and are in danger of disappearing in a few decades if nothing is done to save them.Tajudeen Amusa, Associate Professor, Forest Resources Management, University of IlorinLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2210852024-02-22T20:50:27Z2024-02-22T20:50:27ZHow advanced genetic testing can be used to combat the illegal timber trade<p>According to <a href="https://www.interpol.int/Crimes/Environmental-crime/Forestry-crime">Interpol</a>, the organization dedicated to facilitating international police co-operation, between 15 per cent and 30 per cent of the world’s traded timber comes from illegal sources. This is an estimated annual value of US$51-152 billion dollars. </p>
<p>Illegal logging has serious consequences for the environment, the climate and the local livelihoods of the people who depend upon the affected forests. In turn, local governments are faced with losses in revenue, rising corruption and decreasing timber prices. These make it even more difficult for the legal forestry sector to remain competitive. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/illegal-logging-in-africa-is-a-threat-to-security-202291">Illegal logging in Africa is a threat to security</a>
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<p>Even in Canada, customers are unwittingly supporting this theft by buying timber with false declarations. In the face of such issues, Canadian researchers are currently developing a <a href="https://publications.gc.ca/site/eng/9.891853/publication.html">traceability system</a> employing genomic identification technologies to help tackle the trade in illegal timber. </p>
<h2>Stemming the flow</h2>
<p>To help address poaching, the United States expanded the pre-existing <a href="https://www.fws.gov/law/lacey-act">Lacey Act in 2008</a>. Originally designed to control the illegal trade of <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/resources/lacey-acts-effectiveness">wildlife</a>, it was adapted to help tackle the trade in illegally harvested wood. The 2008 amendments to the Lacey Act decreased the importation of illegally harvested wood into the U.S. by approximately 32 to 44 per cent. </p>
<p>In Canada, similar regulations have been put in place to avoid the exploitation of species at risk including the <a href="https://www.laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/acts/W-8.5/index.html">Wild Animal and Plant Protection and Regulation of International and Interprovincial Trade Act</a>. But how do we know if the declarations of a wood product are accurate or correctly reported? </p>
<p>In general, identification methods can be categorized into three groups: anatomical, analytical or molecular biological techniques — each with its <a href="https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.21518.79689">own set of advantages and limitations</a>. </p>
<p>Identification methods which use the aid of <a href="https://doi.org/10.46830/wrirpt.21.00067">microscope technology</a> look for distinct characteristics of the wood anatomy including tissues and cells. It is also the group of methods most commonly used.</p>
<p>However, this method requires trained specialists, the appropriate equipment and can typically only provide meaningful conclusions at the <a href="https://www.biologyonline.com/dictionary/genus">genus level</a>. In addition, wood anatomy cannot tell us where a piece of wood comes from. </p>
<h2>Looking to genetics</h2>
<p>This is where genomics come into play. To determine the species identity and the geographic origin of a logged tree, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/35016000">researchers take advantage of evolution</a>. </p>
<p>A few key factors make genetic identification possible. </p>
<p>Firstly, there are clear genetic differences between distinct <em><a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2771874/#:%7E:text=We%20define%20a%20genetic%20species,from%20the%20Biological%20Species%20Concept.">species</a></em>. Secondly, the closer the relationship between individuals — in this case trees — the more genetically similar they are, while the more removed the individuals are the less genetic information is shared.</p>
<p>Therefore, it is possible to assign an individual to a “local population” based on its genetic fingerprint, sharing parts of its genetic makeup with that population and, consequently, <a href="https://pubs.cif-ifc.org/doi/abs/10.5558/tfc2018-010">also the specific region where it originates from</a>. This method is called population genetics. </p>
<p>The power of population genetics lies in its ability to identify groups of individuals that share a certain amount of genetic information that can be used to assign individuals to a species or a geographic region. The same methods can be used for humans to find unknown relatives or trace back the ethnic origin of your ancestors. </p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/weakening-australias-illegal-logging-laws-would-undermine-the-global-push-to-halt-forest-loss-172770">Weakening Australia's illegal logging laws would undermine the global push to halt forest loss</a>
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<p>To reliably assign individuals, a variety of genetic markers is needed, varying between species and local populations. </p>
<p>In Canada, the first successful use of genetic material to conduct forensic testing on trees was pioneered by geneticist Eleanor White who succeeded in <a href="https://cfs.nrcan.gc.ca/pubwarehouse/pdfs/5177.pdf">tracing a wood log directly to the specific stump of an 800-year-old cedar tree in Western Canada</a> left behind after its illegal felling.</p>
<p>White’s success demonstrates the power of genomic identification in regulating the timber trade.</p>
<h2>Developing new systems</h2>
<p>Genomic sequencing in combination with genetic data analyses gained public traction during the COVID-19 pandemic, as these were used to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-020-18314-x">identify an outbreak of a new virus variant and trace its origin</a>.</p>
<p>Current research in wood forensics is using similar tools to assign an individual to a source population with high accuracy. Since genetic analyses can be costly, genetic databases of <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.10297">previously studied species</a> are compiled and used as test data to determine the best and most reliable analytical method.</p>
<p>The aim is to create a simple traceability system for timber products that border officials can implement quickly and easily. This should help stop the sale of illegally harvested timber and hold those responsible to account. </p>
<p>The long-term goal is to make it more difficult to sell illegally harvested timber in Canada and thus contribute to the protection of valuable forests. In addition, traceability can certify areas in Canada which are sustainably managed, making it easier for consumers to support sustainable forest management practices.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/221085/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Melanie Zacharias receives funding from Génome Québec. </span></em></p>Effective use of genomic identification could revolutionize the control of the illegal timber trade.Melanie Zacharias, Postdoctoral researcher in forest genetics, Université LavalLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2022912023-04-19T14:17:33Z2023-04-19T14:17:33ZIllegal logging in Africa is a threat to security<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518152/original/file-20230329-28-vtpova.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">View of an endangered indigenous tree felled by illegal loggers in the Nakuru forest area of Kenya. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">James Wakibia/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>African countries are estimated to lose <a href="https://www.morganstanley.com/content/dam/msdotcom/articles/changing-climate-for-food/Oxford-ag-report.pdf?v=2#page=47">US$17 billion</a> each year to illegal logging. High-value timber species are in global demand. </p>
<p>Illegal logging is most prevalent in the continent’s tropical rainforests. Foreign demand for rare hardwoods from these forests has <a href="https://cites.org/sites/default/files/eng/prog/enforcement/E-CoP18-034-Threat-Assessment.pdf">dramatically increased</a>. A significant driver is Chinese demand for teak, redwood and mahogany. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Africa’s share of rosewood exports to China <a href="https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/wildlife/2020/WWLC20_Chapter_2_Rosewood.pdf">rose</a> from 40% in 2008 to 90% in 2018. </p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520478/original/file-20230412-20-9ewiq4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/520478/original/file-20230412-20-9ewiq4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520478/original/file-20230412-20-9ewiq4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520478/original/file-20230412-20-9ewiq4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=539&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520478/original/file-20230412-20-9ewiq4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=678&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520478/original/file-20230412-20-9ewiq4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=678&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/520478/original/file-20230412-20-9ewiq4.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=678&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="attribution"><span class="source">UNODC World Wildlife Crime Report 2020</span></span>
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<p>Illegal logging has negative <a href="https://themisservices.co.uk/themis-blog/illegal-logging#:%7E:text=Through%20illegal%20logging%2C%20criminals%20exacerbate,needed%20carbon%20sinks%20and%20sequesters.">environmental effects</a> that weaken human security. Deforestation in the world’s second largest carbon sink, the <a href="https://forestdeclaration.org/press-release-new-report-deforestation-in-the-congo-basin-increased-by-5-in-2021-destruction-of-worlds-second-largest-tropical-forest-and-largest-carbon-sink-puts-climate-goals-at-risk/">Congo Basin</a>, is an urgent example.</p>
<p>Beyond environmental degradation, timber trafficking also affects national security. Drawing from our <a href="https://africacenter.org/spotlight/illegal-logging-in-africa-and-its-security-implications/">recent report</a>, which is based on our recent research and programmatic work at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, we have analysed three ways that illegal logging affects national security and what that means for current measures to counter it. </p>
<p>Firstly, illegal logging amplifies threats posed by organised criminal groups and violent extremist organisations. Secondly, illegal logging amplifies governance problems. This is because it facilitates collusion between senior corrupt officials and criminal networks. Thirdly, such collusion weakens accountable governance of natural resources in African countries. That’s a key ingredient of peace and security and a source of resilience to national security challenges.</p>
<p>Countering illegal logging requires two things. One is dismantling the high-level criminal networks driving it. The other is stopping the government-embedded actors who facilitate it. Oversight and accountability are therefore vital. Here, civil society can play a role. </p>
<h2>The knock-on effects</h2>
<p>Illegal logging happens through <a href="https://enact-africa.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/2018-09-20-research-paper-06-logging.pdf">small-scale and commercial operations</a>. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://enact-africa.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/2019-09-24-oc-index-2019.pdf">ENACT Organised Crime Index</a> is a well-known measurement tool for assessing criminality and resilience. It identifies and tracks criminal networks, state-embedded actors, foreign actors and “mafia-style” armed groups that are locally well known and that control territory. </p>
<p>The work of these groups has several knock-on effects.</p>
<p><strong>Violent extremism and insurgency:</strong> The illicit timber trade fuels conflict and instability by providing resources for violent actors. For instance, trafficking networks in Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo linked to <a href="https://cisac.fsi.stanford.edu/mappingmilitants/profiles/ahlu-sunna-wal-jama">Ahlu-Sunnah Wa-Jama</a> and related militant groups in Mozambique made an estimated <a href="https://www.iese.ac.mz/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/cadernos_17eng.pdf">US$2 million</a> per month from illegal logging in 2019. </p>
<p>In Senegal, the <a href="https://us.eia.org/report/20200603-cashing-in-on-chaos/">Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance</a> recently funded its insurgency through the illicit logging of rosewood. <a href="https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/forests/bloodtimber/">Warlords and militias</a> in Liberia, Central African Republic and the DRC have also used the trade for financing.</p>
<p><strong>Collusion and corruption:</strong> Illegal logging often relies on government corruption and elite collusion with criminal networks. This <a href="https://africacenter.org/spotlight/justice-and-rule-of-law-key-to-african-security/">subverts</a> the rule of law and accountable governance.</p>
<p>Criminal networks are often aided by high-level state actors. For private gain, they help criminals <a href="https://www.independent.co.ug/race-on-to-restore-ugandas-forests/">purchase commercial concessions</a>, <a href="https://enact-africa.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/2018-09-20-research-paper-06-logging.pdf">acquire fake permits, or falsely declare the species of timber exports</a> to launder them. </p>
<p>Elites colluding in this trade then use the international financial system to move the profits into private bank accounts. This contributes to the estimated <a href="https://unctad.org/system/files/official-document/aldcafrica2020_en.pdf">$88 billion</a> in illicit financial flows leaving Africa yearly.</p>
<p>In Equatorial Guinea, Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangue, son of President Obiang, <a href="https://enact-africa.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/2018-09-20-research-paper-06-logging.pdf">profited immensely</a> from the transport and export of rare hardwoods. As minister of agriculture and forestry, he sold some national forests to private companies and used a shell company linked to the ministry to charge fees for processing, loading, and transporting timber. </p>
<p>In 2021, the Zambian Anti-Corruption Commission <a href="https://www.lusakatimes.com/2021/11/03/anti-corruption-commission/">seized</a> 47 trucks illegally laden with rosewood bound for Namibia and Zimbabwe. The operation was allegedly <a href="https://eia-global.org/reports/20191205-mukula-cartel-zambia-report">facilitated</a> by certain ministers and family members of former Zambian president Edgar Lungu.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/africas-mukula-trees-score-a-victory-as-trade-is-put-under-closer-scrutiny-122560">Africa's Mukula trees score a victory as trade is put under closer scrutiny</a>
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<p>In 2019, Gabon’s vice-president and minister of forestry were part of a <a href="https://enactafrica.org/enact-observer/can-gabons-biggest-wood-scandal-save-its-logging-sector">rosewood trafficking scandal</a>. Since then, the government has sought to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/environment/logging-help-climate-gabon-turns-its-rainforests-2021-11-02/">increase transparency</a> in natural resource governance.</p>
<h2>Solutions</h2>
<p>Many African states have tried to halt logging – with limited success. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.occrp.org/en/daily/14489-report-by-lifting-the-logging-ban-guinea-bissau-will-renew-illicit-felling">Guinea-Bissau</a>, the <a href="https://www.climatechangenews.com/2021/07/14/dr-congo-plans-lift-logging-moratorium-amid-forest-protection-talks/">DRC</a> and <a href="https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/business-news/article/2001394959/government-partially-lifts-ban-on-logging">Kenya</a> have controversially ended moratoria on logging. Mozambique lacks the capacity to enforce existing bans.</p>
<p>It’s easy to get around a moratorium when state security and justice systems do not operate transparently. A moratorium can even harden criminal networks without addressing the <a href="https://enact-africa.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/15-10-18-logging-policy-beirf.pdf">corruption</a> and <a href="https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/business/article/2001413096/logging-ban-leaves-timber-traders-high-and-dry">livelihood challenges</a> that facilitate illegal logging. </p>
<p>Several other approaches to forest monitoring are being tried at smaller scale. These include using <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-africa-climate-forests/satellite-alerts-seen-helping-fight-deforestation-in-africa-idUSKBN2992B6">satellites</a> or <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320717317524#f0015">genetic markers</a> of protected trees. </p>
<p>The Kenya Forestry Service is <a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2021/04/this-app-helps-kenyan-people-to-prevent-illegal-logging/">pioneering an app</a> for officers to use satellite data in community-based initiatives.</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-cameroon-can-teach-others-about-managing-community-forests-114474">What Cameroon can teach others about managing community forests</a>
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<p>Regional responses have potential. In 2008, the Central African Forests Commission established an <a href="https://comifac.org/images/documents/Accord-sous-regional-sur-le-controle-forestier-en-afrique-cetrale.pdf">agreement</a> involving the environment and forestry ministries of eight countries to help coordinate law enforcement. </p>
<p>The agreement emphasises <a href="https://africacenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/06/CTOC-SJ-Executive-Summary-EN.pdf">cross-border and interagency</a> coordination between security, justice, and forestry officials. These <a href="https://www.afdb.org/fileadmin/uploads/afdb/Documents/Publications/Assessing_progress_in_forest_law_enforcement_and_governance_in_Africa.pdf">harmonised</a> forest management practices are also promising in southern Africa.</p>
<p>Agreements like these are valuable but politically difficult to implement. </p>
<p>An example is the <a href="https://cites.org/eng/disc/text.php">Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora </a>. It is a binding agreement about the international trade of certain timber products. But it depends on states adopting relevant domestic legislation and policies.</p>
<p>Nonbinding instruments like the <a href="http://www.trafficj.org/publication/15_Zanzibar-Declaration.pdf">Zanzibar Declaration</a> on the Illegal Trade in Timber and Forest Products and the <a href="https://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PA00WJKH.pdf">Accra Declaration</a> on Combating Illegal Trade in Rosewoods, Timber, and Forest Products also signal countries’ intent to honour commitments. </p>
<p>But doing so requires credible enforcement mechanisms.</p>
<h2>Bridging gaps</h2>
<p>Stronger oversight of actors involved in natural resource governance can help. Civil society has a role here. </p>
<p>For example, in Gabon, civil society has pressured the government for <a href="https://brainforest-gabon.org/actualites/?id=203">greater transparency</a> in logging contracts. In Cameroon, it has facilitated independent monitoring of <a href="https://www.chathamhouse.org/sites/default/files/2021-07/2021-07-22-forest-sector-accountability-hoare-et-al.pdf">forest regulations</a>. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.modernghana.com/news/1091496/govt-dragged-to-court-over-issuance-of-special.html">Ghana</a>, legal cases have been filed that aim to preserve forests. And independent journalism has pressured officials to curtail illegal transport of rosewood. </p>
<p>Civil society also builds economic resilience to illegal logging. In Tanzania and the DRC, civil society has enhanced <a href="https://www.climatechangenews.com/2019/10/15/tanzania-ownership-forest-offers-new-prospects-old-loggers/">community control</a> over land management and made legal livelihoods in the logging sector <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210107-congo-basin-a-bold-plan-to-save-africas-largest-rainforest">more feasible</a>. </p>
<p>Uganda’s <a href="https://enactafrica.org/enact-observer/ugandas-reforestation-plan-cuts-illegal-logging">afforestation projects</a> have also helped.</p>
<h2>Key takeaways</h2>
<p>External oversight is a key part of countering illegal logging. It works best where civil society is strong. </p>
<p>Internal oversight is also important. Inspectors general, specialised prosecutors and independent anti-corruption bodies can help expose the kingpins organising illegal operations. </p>
<p><a href="https://issafrica.org/iss-today/global-war-against-drugs-reaches-kenya">International cooperation</a> between security, justice, and forestry officials should accompany oversight, so that these actors can share intelligence and facilitate the arrest, investigation, and prosecution of those engaged in illegal logging. </p>
<p>Regional and international agreements are working in the right direction. What they need is better implementation.</p>
<p><em>Caden Browne, a Political Science PhD student at Boston University, contributed to this report while on internship at the Africa Center for Strategic Studies, National Defense University.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/202291/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Illegal logging entrenches systemic corruption, undermines accountability in governance, and finances insecurity.Catherine Lena Kelly, Associate Dean and Associate Professor, National Defense UniversityCarl Pilgram, Senior Academic Associate, Africa Center for Strategic StudiesLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1727702021-12-15T02:52:08Z2021-12-15T02:52:08ZWeakening Australia’s illegal logging laws would undermine the global push to halt forest loss<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437120/original/file-20211213-27-btyhm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C2%2C1997%2C1422&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Suzanne Plunkett/AP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>One success from this year’s United Nations climate conference in Glasgow was an <a href="https://ukcop26.org/glasgow-leaders-declaration-on-forests-and-land-use/">agreement</a> to halt forest loss by 2030. The Morrison government signed the agreement, and this commitment is now being put to the test as it reviews Australia’s rules on illegal logging imports.</p>
<p>Australia’s <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2018C00027">Illegal Logging Prohibition Act</a> and associated regulations are up for periodic review. The rules were designed to ensure timber produced overseas and imported to Australia was not logged illegally. Some changes under discussion would water down the rules by reducing the regulatory burden on businesses. </p>
<p>According to <a href="https://www.interpol.int/en/News-and-Events/News/2020/Forestry-crime-targeting-the-most-lucrative-of-environmental-crimes">Interpol</a>, the illegal timber industry is worth almost US$152 billion a year. In some countries, it also accounts for up to 90% of tropical deforestation, which is a major driver of <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-51464694">climate change</a>. Illegal logging and associated tax fraud has other <a href="https://digital.library.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metadc226766/">devastating</a> environmental, social and economic harms. </p>
<p>Australia would be acting inconsistently with the Glasgow agreement if it weakened illegal logging laws. Any loosening of the rules could also threaten the confidence of Australian consumers that the timber they’re buying is legally harvested.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="logged hill in front of green landscape" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437122/original/file-20211213-5488-lddduk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437122/original/file-20211213-5488-lddduk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437122/original/file-20211213-5488-lddduk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437122/original/file-20211213-5488-lddduk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=358&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437122/original/file-20211213-5488-lddduk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437122/original/file-20211213-5488-lddduk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437122/original/file-20211213-5488-lddduk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australia would be acting inconsistently with the Glasgow agreement if it weakened illegal logging laws.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Barbara Walton</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Due diligence matters</h2>
<p>Under the <a href="https://ukcop26.org/glasgow-leaders-declaration-on-forests-and-land-use/">deal</a> inked at COP26, 141 countries agreed to a range of measures to end deforestation this decade, including to:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>facilitate trade and development policies, internationally and domestically, that promote sustainable development, and sustainable commodity production and consumption, that work to countries’ mutual benefit, and that do not drive deforestation and land degradation.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>As it currently stands, Australian law regulating timber imports supports this goal. It prohibits a person from importing or processing timber harvested in a way that contravenes the laws of the jurisdiction from which it was harvested.</p>
<p>People in Australia importing and processing timber are required to conduct due diligence to ensure imported timber was legally logged. Failure to do so can result in criminal or civil penalties.</p>
<p>Due diligence requires a business to gather information about the timber product being imported and assess and mitigate the risk it was logged illegally. </p>
<p>Similar laws exist in other jurisdictions, including the <a href="https://www.fws.gov/international/laws-treaties-agreements/us-conservation-laws/lacey-act.html#:%7E:text=Under%20the%20Lacey%20Act%2C%20it,sold%20in%20violation%20of%20State">United States</a>, the <a href="https://www.euflegt.efi.int/home/">European Union</a>, <a href="https://elaw.klri.re.kr/eng_service/lawView.do?hseq=43379&lang=ENG">South Korea</a>, <a href="http://www.commonlii.org/my/legis/consol_act/nfa1984217/">Malaysia</a> and <a href="http://extwprlegs1.fao.org/docs/pdf/vie50759.pdf">Vietnam</a>. </p>
<p>The restrictions are <a href="https://academic.oup.com/jel/article-abstract/33/2/395/6275021">consistent with</a> established principles of international trade law, which recognise as necessary some trade restrictions to conserve exhaustible natural resources or protect human, animal or plant life. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australian-forests-will-store-less-carbon-as-climate-change-worsens-and-severe-fires-become-more-common-173233">Australian forests will store less carbon as climate change worsens and severe fires become more common</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="timber frame of home" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437126/original/file-20211213-13-oe54tj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437126/original/file-20211213-13-oe54tj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437126/original/file-20211213-13-oe54tj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437126/original/file-20211213-13-oe54tj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=385&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437126/original/file-20211213-13-oe54tj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437126/original/file-20211213-13-oe54tj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437126/original/file-20211213-13-oe54tj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=483&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australian timber importers must ensure the product was legally logged.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">MARIA ZSOLDOS/AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A push for ‘efficiency’</h2>
<p>The Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment is currently conducting a scheduled <a href="https://haveyoursay.awe.gov.au/illegal-logging-sunsetting-review">ten-year review</a> of the Illegal Logging Prohibition Regulation 2012. </p>
<p>The department’s <a href="https://www.awe.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/illegal-logging-sunsetting-review-consultation-paper.pdf">consultation paper</a> asks, among other things, how the regulation’s efficiency could be enhanced. The proposed changes <a href="https://haveyoursay.awe.gov.au/illegal-logging-sunsetting-review">could include</a>, among other things:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>removing the requirement to establish a due diligence system, for those who import and process foreign timber infrequently. The department says establishing the system may be “unnecessarily burdensome”, however these importers would still be required to undertake a risk assessment.</p></li>
<li><p>reducing requirements and allowing exemptions for low-volume and low-value importers and processors.</p></li>
<li><p>reducing due diligence requirements for repeated imports. So, for example, if timber products were from the same supplier, made from the same timber species and harvested from the same area, only one due diligence assessment would be required in a year. However, importers may be required to check no pertinent elements of the supply chain have changed ahead of each repeat import.</p></li>
<li><p>removing the requirement for companies to undertake due diligence on timber imports if they instead use third-party frameworks, such as that established by the Forest Stewardship Council, to assess risks associated with a regulated timber product. This would be known as a “deemed to comply” arrangement.</p></li>
</ul>
<p>The department has proposed measures to compensate for the loosening of some rules, including stronger requirements for frequent importers and processors of foreign timber, and third-party auditing of due diligence systems. </p>
<p>It also says risks would need careful management, including ensuring claims relating to timber species and harvest origins were underpinned by authentic documentation.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/organized-crime-is-a-top-driver-of-global-deforestation-along-with-beef-soy-palm-oil-and-wood-products-170906">Organized crime is a top driver of global deforestation – along with beef, soy, palm oil and wood products</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="people carry timber at port" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437129/original/file-20211213-27-tl9e3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/437129/original/file-20211213-27-tl9e3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437129/original/file-20211213-27-tl9e3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437129/original/file-20211213-27-tl9e3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437129/original/file-20211213-27-tl9e3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437129/original/file-20211213-27-tl9e3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/437129/original/file-20211213-27-tl9e3b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Claims relating to timber species and harvest origins should come with authentic documentation, the department says.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bagus Indahono/AP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>We must stay vigilant</h2>
<p>As the department prepares its final recommendations to the federal government, it must factor in the need for increased vigilance of global logging practices. This need was clearly recognised by nations signatory to the COP26 deforestation deal.</p>
<p>What’s more, overseas experience has shown some mooted changes have the potential to be problematic.</p>
<p>Indeed, in foreign timber markets, “deemed to comply” arrangements have been exposed as vulnerable to fraud. The European Union, for example, has <a href="https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:52021SC0328#footnoteref98">pointed to</a> misuse of certification and questions around transparency.</p>
<p>Australia has a way to go if it wants to satisfy the COP26 agreement to halt and reverse forest loss and land degradation – not least by <a href="https://theconversation.com/cop26-global-deforestation-deal-will-fail-if-countries-like-australia-dont-lift-their-game-on-land-clearing-171108">tightening</a> domestic policy on deforestation within our borders. </p>
<p>It could also embrace efforts to address the other major driver of deforestation - agricultural expansion - through the <a href="https://ukcop26.org/forests-agriculture-and-commodity-trade-a-roadmap-for-action/">joint statement</a> on forests, agriculture and commodity trade which other countries progressed at Glasgow. </p>
<p>But it must also ensure foreign timber entering Australia is not the product of illegal logging. While due diligence requirements may present a regulatory burden for some operators, this must be weighed against the pressing global imperative to halt forest loss.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/tropical-forests-can-recover-surprisingly-quickly-on-deforested-lands-and-letting-them-regrow-naturally-is-an-effective-and-low-cost-way-to-slow-climate-change-173302">Tropical forests can recover surprisingly quickly on deforested lands – and letting them regrow naturally is an effective and low-cost way to slow climate change</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172770/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Professor Margaret Young was a co-investigator on the Australian Research Council-funded Discovery Project, 'Climate Change Law and Mitigation: Forest Carbon Sequestration and Indigenous and Local Community Rights' (DP110100259) (2011-2017).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Catherine E. Gascoigne does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A review of Australia’s illegal logging laws tests the Morrison government’s commitment to halting global forest loss.Margaret Young, Professor, The University of MelbourneCatherine E. Gascoigne, Research Affiliate, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1592112021-05-27T20:03:33Z2021-05-27T20:03:33ZFriday essay: the guitar industry’s hidden environmental problem — and the people trying to fix it<p>Musicians are often concerned about environmental problems, but entangled in them through the materials used in their instruments. The guitar industry, which uses rare woods from old-growth trees, has been a canary in the coal mine — struggling with <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/James-Greenberg/publication/310606369_Greenberg_James_B_2016_Good_Vibrations_Strings_Attached_The_Political_Ecology_of_the_Guitar_Sociology_and_Anthropology_Vol_45_pp_431-438/links/5833463f08aef19cb81cae91/Greenberg-James-B-2016-Good-Vibrations-Strings-Attached-The-Political-Ecology-of-the-Guitar-Sociology-and-Anthropology-Vol-45-pp-431-438.pdf">scandals over illegal logging</a>, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00130095.2016.1178569">resource scarcity</a> and new <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/43267305">environmental regulations related to trade in endangered species</a> of trees.</p>
<p>We spent <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/G/bo81816665.html">six years on the road</a> tracing guitar-making across five continents, looking at the timber used — known in the industry as tonewoods for their acoustic qualities — and the industry’s environmental dilemmas. Our goal was to start with the finished guitar and trace it to its origin places, people and plants. </p>
<p>We first visited guitar factories in Australia, the United States, Japan and China. There we observed materials and manufacturing techniques. From factories, we visited the sawmills that supply them. And then we journeyed further, to forests, witnessing the trees from which guitars are made. </p>
<p>Our task proved more complicated than imagined. At Martin Guitars alone, based in the US, wood comes from countries on six continents and 30 different vendors. </p>
<p>And the timber supply chains on which the guitar industry relies have been secretive. Many sources of wood are from places with historical legacies of environmental conflict, colonial violence and dispossession: <a href="https://www.penguin.com.au/books/the-golden-spruce-9780099515791">spruces from the Pacific Northwest</a>; <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0962629816301755">rosewoods from Brazil, Madagascar and India</a>; <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/1359183515594644">mahogany from Fiji and Central America</a>. </p>
<p>We learnt about the guitar’s environmental footprint, while appreciating the skills and experiences of behind-the-scenes people, and the capacities of the forests and trees to adapt. And we saw how Australian guitar-makers, such as Maton and Cole Clark, are leading the way in embracing sustainable options, salvaging recycled wood, and sourcing native species from timber suppliers in Victoria, Tasmania and Queensland.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398002/original/file-20210430-14-yxtef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398002/original/file-20210430-14-yxtef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398002/original/file-20210430-14-yxtef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398002/original/file-20210430-14-yxtef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398002/original/file-20210430-14-yxtef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398002/original/file-20210430-14-yxtef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398002/original/file-20210430-14-yxtef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398002/original/file-20210430-14-yxtef.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">At Cole Clark’s Melbourne factory, CEO Miles Jackson explains the unlikely story behind salvaging California Redwood from Victoria for use in guitar-making.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paul Jones / UOW Media</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/redefining-the-rock-god-the-new-breed-of-electric-guitar-heroes-80192">Redefining the rock god – the new breed of electric guitar heroes</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>How are guitars made?</h2>
<p>Around <a href="https://www.musictrades.com/census.html">2.6 million guitars are produced annually</a>, constituting a US$1 billion industry.</p>
<p>Unlike the timber used in construction or mass produced furniture — <a href="https://www.routledge.com/Knock-on-Wood-Nature-as-Commodity-in-Douglas-Fir-Country/Prudham/p/book/9780415944021">plantation species selected for fast growth and quick returns on investment</a> — guitars use rare woods from old-growth trees. This is because the slices of wood used on guitars are quartersawn: cut perpendicular to the tree’s growth rings to ensure stability and sound wave projection. The slices have to be wide enough to become the front face, backs or sides of the instrument, hence large diameter logs are needed.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398251/original/file-20210503-17-1vzol9t.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398251/original/file-20210503-17-1vzol9t.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398251/original/file-20210503-17-1vzol9t.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398251/original/file-20210503-17-1vzol9t.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398251/original/file-20210503-17-1vzol9t.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398251/original/file-20210503-17-1vzol9t.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398251/original/file-20210503-17-1vzol9t.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398251/original/file-20210503-17-1vzol9t.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Industrial sawmilling in Washington state, USA. Guitar timbers do not come from such sawmills.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Authors</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>From carefully cut timber, guitar parts are then carved (whether by hand or machine), sanded and assembled. The soundboard (the top) is most critical. The guitar is musical because the strings are pulled extremely tight. </p>
<p>With their solid bodies, electric guitars can withstand tension better than acoustics. On acoustic guitars, the soundboard must be strong, but also light, and reverberate responsively, its stiffness harnessed for tonal qualities. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397994/original/file-20210430-16-1ef8n9o.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397994/original/file-20210430-16-1ef8n9o.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397994/original/file-20210430-16-1ef8n9o.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397994/original/file-20210430-16-1ef8n9o.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397994/original/file-20210430-16-1ef8n9o.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397994/original/file-20210430-16-1ef8n9o.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397994/original/file-20210430-16-1ef8n9o.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">At Pacific Rim Tonewoods north of Seattle, a Sitka spruce log is prepared for splitting and quartersawing (cut radially) into thin, soundboard pieces.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Authors</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Until recently, a narrow range of timber species were considered suitable for guitars. Through centuries of European craft tradition, luthiers established spruces (<em>Picea</em>) worked best as acoustic and classical guitar soundboards. </p>
<p>They had the strength to be cut thinly and yet not collapse under extreme string tension, with straight and parallel grains that, in the words of guitar makers William Cumpiano and Jonathan Natelson, “<a href="https://www.cumpiano.com/our-guitarmaking-textbook">impart a natural symmetry to the instrument, both visually and acoustically</a>”.</p>
<p>For necks, guitar-makers use mahogany (<em>Swietenia macrophylla</em>) or maple (<em>Acer</em> species); for fretboards and bridges, ebony (<em>Diospyros</em> species) or rosewoods (<em>Dalbergia</em> species); and for acoustic guitar backs and sides, rosewoods and mahogany. </p>
<p>Since the inter-war Hawaiian music craze, koa (<em>Acacia koa</em>) has featured on acoustics, electrics and ukuleles.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397996/original/file-20210430-22-3fx4kr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397996/original/file-20210430-22-3fx4kr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/397996/original/file-20210430-22-3fx4kr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397996/original/file-20210430-22-3fx4kr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397996/original/file-20210430-22-3fx4kr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397996/original/file-20210430-22-3fx4kr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397996/original/file-20210430-22-3fx4kr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/397996/original/file-20210430-22-3fx4kr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">At the C.F Martin & Co. factory in Nazareth, Pennsylvania, internal braces are shaved underneath the soundboard. Such braces provide the instrument with structural reinforcement, but also influence tone.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Authors</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Some of the woods used are plentiful and well managed. Leo Fender’s Telecaster captures the electric guitar’s rock ‘n’ roll sensibility: an unpretentious “slab” of swamp ash (<em>Fraxinus</em> species) and a one-piece, maple neck, bolted together in utilitarian simplicity. When we visited the Fender factory in California in 2018, Mike Born, head of wood technology explained:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>We were fortunate that the old Fender designs used very easy-to-get American woods. Leo Fender was a very economical kind of guy looking to make inexpensive instruments, and developed them around woods that weren’t used for other things. Swamp ash is a good example: it was a throwaway product from furniture wood. </p>
</blockquote>
<p>Other woods used in guitar making have more fraught histories and sustainability problems. Sitka spruce (<em>Picea sitchensis</em>), used on guitar soundboards, comes from trees at least 400 years old, but these are increasingly scarce. Ebony is threatened in its African habitat, with tightening restrictions on its use. </p>
<p>Habitat destruction for agriculture and urbanisation led to Brazilian rosewood — once considered the “gold standard” for guitars — being effectively banned from use since 1992. Guitar companies replaced it with similar species from other places, <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00130095.2016.1178569">but they too were over-harvested</a>. </p>
<p>Scandals have engulfed the industry since the Gibson Guitar factories in Nashville and Memphis were raided by US Fish and Wildlife marshals (in 2009 and again in 2011) over allegations of illegally sourcing and improperly verifying Madagascan ebony and rosewood.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/photos-from-the-field-capturing-the-grandeur-and-heartbreak-of-tasmanias-giant-trees-144743">Photos from the field: capturing the grandeur and heartbreak of Tasmania's giant trees</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Alternative sounds?</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398021/original/file-20210430-24-q4q1ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398021/original/file-20210430-24-q4q1ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398021/original/file-20210430-24-q4q1ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398021/original/file-20210430-24-q4q1ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398021/original/file-20210430-24-q4q1ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398021/original/file-20210430-24-q4q1ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398021/original/file-20210430-24-q4q1ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398021/original/file-20210430-24-q4q1ae.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Many acoustic guitar players insist on ‘traditional’ timbers such as rosewood.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Authors</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Attachments to “traditional” instrument woods have prevented heritage brands from switching to more sustainable options. As guitar historian Dick Boak <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424053111904787404576530520471223268">explained</a>, convincing guitarists to switch to instruments made from sustainable materials is difficult: “musicians, who represent some of the most savvy, ecologically minded people around, are resistant to anything about changing the tone of their guitars”.</p>
<p>But attitudes are shifting. Musicians are increasingly concerned about the provenance and environmental impact of their instruments, encouraging guitar brands to improve transparency and rethink their ecological entanglements. </p>
<p>One necessity will be to embrace a more diverse range of alternative timbers. These will include more plentiful plantation species, salvaged trees and urban forestry. </p>
<p>On this, Australian brands <a href="https://maton.com.au/">Maton</a> and <a href="https://coleclarkguitars.com/">Cole Clark</a> are among those leading the way. Decades ago, Maton <a href="https://ro.uow.edu.au/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4324&context=sspapers">pioneered the use of Australian native species</a>. In recent times, it and Cole Clark have worked with specialist guitar timber suppliers <a href="https://kirbyfinetimber.com.au/about/">Kirby Fine Timbers</a> in Queensland, <a href="http://otwaytonewoods.com.au/home">Otways Tonewoods</a> in Victoria and <a href="https://tasmaniantonewoods.com/">Tasmanian Tonewoods</a> to established bunya pine (<em>Araucaria Bidwillii</em>) as a credible, quality alternative for soundboards, Blackwood (<em>Acacia melanoxylon</em>) for backs and sides, and Queensland maple (<em>Flindersia brayleyana</em>) for necks. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398022/original/file-20210430-19-3txqzq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398022/original/file-20210430-19-3txqzq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398022/original/file-20210430-19-3txqzq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398022/original/file-20210430-19-3txqzq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398022/original/file-20210430-19-3txqzq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=320&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398022/original/file-20210430-19-3txqzq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398022/original/file-20210430-19-3txqzq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398022/original/file-20210430-19-3txqzq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=403&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tonewood specialist David Kirby, based on the Sunshine Coast, has been pivotal in supplying bunya pine to the guitar industry, harvested in limited quantities from legacy plantings dating to the 1920s.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paul Jones / UOW Media</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Meanwhile, guitar-makers have <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2020-taylor-guitars-sustainability/">salvaged timbers from urban trees</a>. In 2018, Cole Clark’s head of wood technology, Karl Krauss, heard of a municipal council near Melbourne removing sycamore-maple trees (<em>Acer pseudoplatanus</em>) seen as a fire hazard. He recalled their historical use in Renaissance instruments and <a href="https://rangestrader.mailcommunity.com.au/mail/2018-01-08/reclaimed-wood-strikes-a-chord/">salvaged them</a> for a limited run of guitars.</p>
<p>Other salvaged urban timbers have included California redwood (<em>Sequoia
sempervirens</em>) planted in Victorian parks in the 1850’s by then colonial government botanist, Baron Ferdinand von Mueller, and southern silky oak (<em>Grevillea robusta</em>). Such urban recovery sources now constitute 30% of timbers on Cole Clark guitars. </p>
<p>Around the world, relationships between sawmills and forest resource managers are also shifting. Indigenous communities are asserting custodianship of trees. Commercial relationships are being forged between these communities, specialist companies supplying guitar tonewoods and guitar firms. There is considerable potential for working with Indigenous and ecological values rather than in spite of them. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/comic-explainer-forest-giants-house-thousands-of-animals-so-why-do-we-keep-cutting-them-down-106708">Comic explainer: forest giants house thousands of animals (so why do we keep cutting them down?)</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<h2>Growing future guitar forests</h2>
<p>Taking matters into their own hands, guitar timber people are also <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0016718519300570">planting trees for future sustainable instrument-making</a> on their properties, and in partnership on cattle ranches and Indigenous-owned and managed lands. These efforts are guided by an ethic of care for trees, forests, communities and guitars.</p>
<p>The goal is to ensure wood for future guitar-making well beyond individual lifetimes. As Born emphasised at Fender’s factory: “We don’t have a lot of choice in what was planted generations ago but we certainly do for the future”.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398004/original/file-20210430-19-47dwec.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398004/original/file-20210430-19-47dwec.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398004/original/file-20210430-19-47dwec.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398004/original/file-20210430-19-47dwec.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398004/original/file-20210430-19-47dwec.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398004/original/file-20210430-19-47dwec.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398004/original/file-20210430-19-47dwec.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398004/original/file-20210430-19-47dwec.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">On the slopes of Maui’s Haleakalā volcano, land managers are replanting koa trees.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Authors</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On Maui’s volcanic slopes land managers are working with the US-firm Taylor Guitars and Pacific Rim Tonewoods (a US specialist wood supplier) to regrow koa forests. </p>
<p>In Washington state, Pacific Rim Tonewoods claims it is growing “the world’s first tonewood forest”, cultivating fiddleback maple in a 100-acre plot near its sawmill. Taylor also supports ebony replanting in Cameroon, in partnership with Spanish tonewood supplier, Madinter. </p>
<p>In the Sunshine Coast hinterland, specialist tonewood supplier David Kirby cultivates Queensland maple and bunya pine, as well as blue quandong (<em>Elaeocarpus angustifolius</em>) used by Maton in Melbourne for electric guitar models. He also manages century-old “legacy stands” on private land in the region. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398006/original/file-20210430-13-8loa91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398006/original/file-20210430-13-8loa91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398006/original/file-20210430-13-8loa91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398006/original/file-20210430-13-8loa91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398006/original/file-20210430-13-8loa91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=370&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398006/original/file-20210430-13-8loa91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398006/original/file-20210430-13-8loa91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398006/original/file-20210430-13-8loa91.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=465&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Blue Quandong trees growing on old cattle ranches are being used by Maton.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Paul Jones / UOW Media</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Although these plantings are not large by forestry’s standards, once a certain density and diversity is achieved, they “take care of themselves”, in Kirby’s words, providing enough wood for small harvests annually without degrading ecological values. Still, access to suitable land for growing trees and skilled labour to care for them will determine future success.</p>
<p>Earlier in their careers, the guitar timber people we interviewed did not intend to become forest stewards — although all profess a life-long love for plants. They have assumed stewardship roles after personal experiences of industrial forestry’s inability to sustainably manage forests to supply high quality timbers from centuries old trees. </p>
<p>The guitar industry has breached the factory gates, extending its activities and influence upstream, into forests. As Steve McMinn from Pacific Rim Tonewoods put it, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>the world’s primary forests are nearly mined out. If you want wood for a specific purpose, you need to grow it.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Sustainable guitars in a changing climate</h2>
<p>The most significant uncertainty facing the sustainability of guitar timbers is climate change. Global warming has already <a href="https://academic.oup.com/forestry/article/89/3/245/1749621">altered the geographic distribution of trees, insects and pathogens</a>, posing severe threats to forests. </p>
<p>As we were on the road, insect pathogens surviving unprecedented warmer winters in the Rockies attacked and killed millions of <a href="https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29808947/">Engelmann spruce trees</a> (<em>Picea engelmannii</em>). The emerald ash borer (<em>Agrilus planipennis</em>) has killed millions of American ash — of Fender Telecaster fame. Environmental scientist Jared Beeton is now working with guitar companies to experiment with using the affected spruce for guitar-making.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398020/original/file-20210430-22-cprfg4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398020/original/file-20210430-22-cprfg4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/398020/original/file-20210430-22-cprfg4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398020/original/file-20210430-22-cprfg4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398020/original/file-20210430-22-cprfg4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398020/original/file-20210430-22-cprfg4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398020/original/file-20210430-22-cprfg4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/398020/original/file-20210430-22-cprfg4.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Insect pathogens have attacked and killed millions of Engelmann spruce trees.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Authors</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Queensland, David Kirby admits his planted trees may not survive:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>It could be a massive screw up of everything I’ve done in my life. But at the end of the day, what if I don’t do it? If everybody planted trees for future generations, of course, that would help stop climate change. I can’t be the one to say I’m not going to plant trees because they might not survive.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Cities may prove vital future habitats for guitar trees too. Fender’s Mike Born outlined a new initiative between Fender, the US Forest Service and the Baseball Hall of Fame, to encourage tree replanting schemes in inner cities. Like Telecasters, baseball bats are made from American ash.</p>
<p>As the emerald ash borer annihilates trees across the continent, the two niche industries share the same problem of securing future resource supply. The idea is to replant a variety of urban street trees to disperse the genetic and geographic base of vulnerable species.</p>
<p>“We have a chance now”, Born explained, “to replant old street trees”. Instead of gearing management of forest resources towards short-term profit, “we could think a century down the road”. </p>
<blockquote>
<p>Are there trees that at the end of their life cycles can have a future life? What should we be planting for the future? It’s a worldwide discussion we need to have.</p>
</blockquote>
<p><em><a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/G/bo81816665.html">The Guitar: Tracing the Grain Back to the Tree</a>, is published by The University of Chicago Press.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/159211/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Gibson receives funding from the Australian Research Council. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Warren does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Following scandals over illegal logging, and with an appetite for rare, old-growth wood, the guitar industry is rethinking its environmental footprint. Australian companies are leading the way.Chris Gibson, Professor of Human Geography, University of WollongongAndrew Warren, Economic Geography, University of WollongongLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1275092019-11-26T05:52:41Z2019-11-26T05:52:41ZResearchers allege native logging breaches that threaten the water we drink<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303304/original/file-20191124-74599-1goescn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=3%2C0%2C2113%2C1416&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Researchers have uncovered what appears to be widespread logging of steep slopes in Victoria, which has the potential to damage critical water supplies.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Chris Taylor</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Victorian government’s logging business is cutting native forests on steep slopes, in an apparent rule breach that threatens water supplies to Melbourne and rural communities.</p>
<p>Our research indicates that across <a href="http://vro.agriculture.vic.gov.au/dpi/vro/vrosite.nsf/pages/landuse-water-supply-catchments">vital water catchments</a> in the Central Highlands of Victoria, state-owned VicForests is logging native forest on slopes steeper than is allowed under the <a href="https://www.forestsandreserves.vic.gov.au/forest-management/environmental-regulation-of-timber-harvesting">code of practice</a>. Logging also appears to be occurring in other areas <a href="https://discover.data.vic.gov.au/dataset/forest-management-zones-simplified-view">supposedly excluded from harvesting</a>.</p>
<p>Logging operations are prohibited from taking trees from slopes steeper than a certain gradient, because it can lead to soil damage which compromises water supplies. There are far better commercial alternatives to this apparent contravention of the rules, which must immediately cease. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303419/original/file-20191125-74567-1339p9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303419/original/file-20191125-74567-1339p9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303419/original/file-20191125-74567-1339p9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303419/original/file-20191125-74567-1339p9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303419/original/file-20191125-74567-1339p9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303419/original/file-20191125-74567-1339p9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303419/original/file-20191125-74567-1339p9h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A steep slope recently logged measuring 33 degrees on site near Mount Matlock in the Upper Goulburn Catchment.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Chris Taylor</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Logging on steep slopes matters</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.abc.net.au/science/catchmentdetox/factsheet/">Water catchments</a> are areas where the landscape collects water. They are defined by natural features such as mountain ridgelines and valleys. Rain drains into rivers and streams, which supply water to reservoirs. </p>
<p>Forest cover <a href="http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTBIODIVERSITY/Resources/RunningPure2003+.pdf">protects</a> the soil in water catchments by preventing erosion and other damage which can pollute water. </p>
<p>Areas that provide water for drinking, agriculture and irrigation are known in Victoria as special water supply catchments. Under the state’s <a href="https://www.forestsandreserves.vic.gov.au/forest-management/environmental-regulation-of-timber-harvesting">Code of Forest Practice</a>, logging in these catchments is prohibited on slopes steeper than 30 degrees (or 25 degrees in some catchments). VicForests <a href="http://www.vicforests.com.au/static/uploads/files/vicforests-2019-high-conservation-values-assessment-wfdbmspnfvwo.pdf">claims</a> it does not log trees on such slopes.</p>
<h2>Sobering evidence</h2>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303639/original/file-20191126-84231-o1xp7r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303639/original/file-20191126-84231-o1xp7r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303639/original/file-20191126-84231-o1xp7r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303639/original/file-20191126-84231-o1xp7r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=906&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303639/original/file-20191126-84231-o1xp7r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1138&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303639/original/file-20191126-84231-o1xp7r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1138&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303639/original/file-20191126-84231-o1xp7r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1138&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Water in some affected catchments ends up in Melbourne’s drinking water supply.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>We analysed slopes across multiple special water supply catchments. We first examined the relationships between slope and logging disturbance using data from the <a href="https://data.vic.gov.au/">Victorian government</a>, <a href="http://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/national-location-information/digital-elevation-data">Geoscience Australia</a>, and the <a href="https://sentinel.esa.int/web/sentinel/missions/sentinel-2">European Space Agency</a>. To confirm the results, we visited multiple sites in the Upper Goulburn catchment, which supplies water to Eildon Reservoir, to measure the slopes ourselves. </p>
<p>We found logging in many areas steeper than 30 degrees. In larger catchments such as the Upper Goulburn, around 44% of logged areas contained slopes exceeding this gradient. In many instances, logged slopes were far steeper than 30 degrees and some breaches covered many hectares. </p>
<p>In the <a href="https://theconversation.com/logging-must-stop-in-melbournes-biggest-water-supply-catchment-106922">Thomson</a>, Melbourne’s largest water supply catchment, 35% of logged areas contained slopes steeper than 30 degrees. </p>
<p>We also found areas that should have been formally excluded from logging but where the forest had been cut. Many of these exclusion zones were around steep slopes. In the Upper Goulburn catchment, nearly 80% of logged areas contained exclusion zones that should not have been cut. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303411/original/file-20191125-74542-1pobaqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303411/original/file-20191125-74542-1pobaqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303411/original/file-20191125-74542-1pobaqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303411/original/file-20191125-74542-1pobaqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=852&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303411/original/file-20191125-74542-1pobaqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303411/original/file-20191125-74542-1pobaqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/303411/original/file-20191125-74542-1pobaqg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1070&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Recently logged areas near Mount Matlock in the Upper Goulburn Water Catchment. The top map shows where we detected slopes exceeding 30 degrees in logged areas (red). The bottom map shows areas designated by the Victorian government as exclusion zones (magenta).</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">DELWP 2019, ESA 2019, Gallant et al. 2011</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Why is this happening?</h2>
<p>Last week, VicForests <a href="http://www.vicforests.com.au/static/uploads/files/191120-vicforests-strongly-rejects-allegations-about-harvesting-on-slopes-final-wftppyfrofcx.pdf">rejected</a> our allegations of slope breaches. VicForests claimed it was complying with a <a href="https://www.forestsandreserves.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0023/29309/Management-Standards-and-Procedures-for-timber-harvesting-operations-in-Vics-State-forests-2014.pdf">rule</a> under which 10% of an area logged can exceed 30 degrees. This rule applies to general logging areas; our interpretation is this exemption does not apply to the <a href="https://www.forestsandreserves.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0023/29309/Management-Standards-and-Procedures-for-timber-harvesting-operations-in-Vics-State-forests-2014.pdf">special water supply catchments</a>. </p>
<p>Forest on steep and rugged terrain is economically marginal for wood production because the trees are relatively short and widely spaced. Almost all timber from these areas is pulpwood for making paper.</p>
<p>So why are such areas being logged at the risk of compromising the water catchments that supplies Melbourne and regional Victoria?</p>
<p>We suspect pressure to log steep terrain is tied to the Victorian government’s <a href="http://www.legislation.vic.gov.au/Domino/Web_Notes/LDMS/PubStatbook.nsf/f932b66241ecf1b7ca256e92000e23be/8a17d67408a70821ca256e5b00213b6f/$FILE/96-016a.pdf">legal obligation</a> to provide large quantities of pulp logs for making paper until the year 2030 (coincidentally the year the government plans to <a href="https://www.premier.vic.gov.au/securing-the-future-for-forestry-industry-workers/">phase out</a> native forest logging). </p>
<p>This pressure is reflected in recent <a href="http://www.veac.vic.gov.au/documents/Fibre-and-Wood-Supply-Assessment-Report.pdf">reductions in log yields</a>. Some commentators have <a href="https://www.weeklytimesnow.com.au/news/opinion/heyfield-timber-mill-this-is-possum-folly/news-story/8da7e7a864789335948456ba505c7ed5">blamed</a> efforts to protect the critically endangered Leadbeater’s possum for this trend. However, only <a href="https://www.wildlife.vic.gov.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0033/73869/eadbeaters-Possum-Review-Report-July-2017.pdf">0.17%</a> of the 1.82 million hectares of forest allocated to VicForests for logging has been taken out of production to protect this species.</p>
<p>In our view, other possibilities for declining yields are past over-cutting and bushfires. VicForests failed to take into account the effects of fire on its estimates of sustained timber yield - despite some of Victoria’s forests being some of the world’s most fire-prone environments. </p>
<h2>There are alternatives</h2>
<p>Pulp logs sourced from native forests is not a commercial necessity; there are viable alternatives. Victorian hardwood plantations produced <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.au/abares/research-topics/forests/forest-economics/forest-wood-products-statistics">3.9 million cubic metres of pulp logs</a> last year. Most of this was exported. </p>
<p>If just some of these logs were processed in Victoria, it would be enough to replace the pulpwood logged from native forests several times over. Plantation wood is <a href="http://www.vicforests.com.au/static/uploads/files/review-of-issues-affecting-the-transition-of-victoria-s-hardwood-processing-inud.pdf">better</a> for making paper than native forest logs, and processing the logs in Victoria would boost regional employment. </p>
<p>Degrading soil and water by logging steep terrain is not worth the short-term, marginal gain of meeting log supply commitments, especially when there are viable alternatives. The Victorian government must halt the widespread breaches of its own rules.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>In a statement, VicForests said it “strongly rejects” the allegations raised by the authors.</em></p>
<p><em>In addition to the refutations included in this article, the company said:</em></p>
<ul>
<li><p><em>Any concerns about its practices should be referred to the Office of the Conservation Regulator</em></p></li>
<li><p><em>VicForests does very little harvesting in catchments, where restrictions are in place</em></p></li>
<li><p><em>In the Thompson catchment, VicForests only harvests on average 150ha a year out of about 44,000ha in the catchment – which is 0.3%, or around 3 trees in 1000</em></p></li>
<li><p><em>VicForests only asks contractors to harvest on slopes if it complies with regulation.</em></p></li>
</ul><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127509/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Lindenmayer receives funding from the Australian Government, the Australian Research Council and the Victorian Government. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Chris Taylor is a social chamber member of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Australia</span></em></p>Researchers have uncovered what appears to be widespread logging of steep slopes in Victoria, which has the potential to damage critical water supplies.David Lindenmayer, Professor, The Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National UniversityChris Taylor, Research Fellow, Fenner School of Environment and Society, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/868322017-11-08T06:11:34Z2017-11-08T06:11:34ZAustralia might water down illegal logging laws – here’s why it’s a bad idea<p>Illegal logging is an immensely profitable global activity, linked to corruption, human rights abuses, criminal networks, and environmental destruction. A 2017 study by the <a href="http://www.gfintegrity.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Transnational_Crime-final.pdf">Global Financial Integrity</a> ranked illegal logging as the third largest global crime in value, after counterfeiting and drug trafficking. </p>
<p>Australia imports roughly A$8.1 billion worth of timber products a year, and according to estimates from the <a href="http://www.agriculture.gov.au/SiteCollectionDocuments/forestry/illegal-logging-consult-ris.pdf">Department of Agriculture and Water Resources</a>, up to A$800 million comes from sources with some risk of being illegally logged.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/organised-crime-illegal-timber-and-australias-role-in-deforestation-10048">Organised crime, illegal timber and Australia's role in deforestation</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Yet the federal government is currently considering significantly weakening <a href="http://www.agriculture.gov.au/forestry/policies/illegal-logging/reform-aust-illegal-logging-regs">regulation that prevent the import of illegal timber</a>. Companies will be less likely to know where their wood comes from, and consumers will have less assurance that they are buying products from a legitimate source. </p>
<p>The proposed reform will require amendments to the <a href="http://www.agriculture.gov.au/forestry/policies/illegal-logging/consultation-engagement">2012 Illegal Logging Prohibition Regulation</a>. Once the changes are introduced, the parliament has 15 sitting days to disallow the changes.</p>
<h2>Major change</h2>
<p>The Department of Agriculture and Water Resources has proposed significant changes to our <a href="http://www.agriculture.gov.au/forestry/policies/illegal-logging/consultation-engagement">timber import rules</a>, with the aim of reducing the costs for businesses to comply with regulations. The proposal is to introduce a “deemed to comply” arrangement for certain private certification schemes. </p>
<p>Under <a href="https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/F2017C00115">current laws</a>, businesses need to assess and manage the risk that imported timber or wood products may have been illegally logged. This is known as “due diligence”, and applies to timber imports worth A$1,000 or more. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/lessons-from-the-us-stopping-illegal-logging-benefits-both-sides-of-politics-9529">Lessons from the US: stopping illegal logging benefits both sides of politics</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>The “deemed to comply” provisions assume that an importer has complied with the regulations, in some cases without actual checks and proofs of legality. This will exempt companies from undertaking their own due diligence.</p>
<p>But the Australian government recognizes that certification schemes still face challenges in dealing with deliberate fraudulent activity. Given the prevalence of bribery in illegal logging, it is <a href="http://www.agriculture.gov.au/forestry/policies/illegal-logging/consultation-engagement">not uncommon</a> for illegally logged timber to have the “correct” government documents and achieve certification.</p>
<p>This problem is recognised in the European Union, which <a href="https://www.agriculture.gov.ie/media/migration/forestry/eutr/EUTRCommissionGuidanceFeb2016160216.pd">advises</a> that regulations take into account the risk of corruption, saying that “even official documents issued by authorities cannot be considered reliable”. </p>
<p>Neither the EU or US regulations recognise third-party certification systems as a means of assuring timber legality (only as part of a system of due diligence or due care).</p>
<h2>When it comes to illegal logging, due diligence works</h2>
<p>Illegal logging degrades forests, harms wildlife, and emits greenhouse gases. The land sector, including logging, deforestation and other activities, accounts for <a href="https://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/assessment-report/ar5/syr/SYR_AR5_FINAL_full_wcover.pdf">24% of total global emissions</a>. </p>
<p>As well as causing environmental harm, illegal logging involves human rights abuses like violence against local communities, forced labour, and pollution of vital water supplies.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/csi-trees-how-forensic-science-is-helping-combat-illegal-logging-68166">CSI trees: how forensic science is helping combat illegal logging</a>
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</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>This is why developed countries <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eutr2013/index_en.htm">around</a> <a href="http://www.forestlegality.org/policy/us-lacey-act">the world</a> have created timber import standards, which play a key role in curbing illegal logging.</p>
<p>Experience in <a href="http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/en/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A52016SC0034">Europe</a> shows that enforcing illegal logging laws and due diligence requirements has a significant positive impact. The more European authorities enforce these measures, the more aware and compliant the industry becomes. Companies change their supply chains as a result of due diligence processes, which in turn has an immediate impact in the countries that supply the timber. </p>
<p>In contrast, countries with inactive or inefficient enforcement see uncertainty within the industry and lower levels of awareness.</p>
<p>Watering down Australia’s due diligence requirements fly in the face of this evidence. While the proposed change is designed to make it cheaper and easier for companies to comply with the law, there’s a real chance it will increase the trade of illegal timber. Businesses will have fewer incentives to make sound decisions and consumers will not be able to tell if the timber they consume is indeed legally sourced.</p>
<p>Any changes to our laws should strengthen them, not water down their requirements and limit their value and effectiveness. Our current legislation is the best defence for consumers and businesses. It should be enforced to ensure that the wood imported and sold in Australia does not cause harm both to people and nature.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/86832/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Beatriz Garcia does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The federal government is considering watering-down laws against importing illegal timber, but this flies in the face of international evidence.Beatriz Garcia, Lecturer, Western Sydney UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/704892016-12-18T19:01:38Z2016-12-18T19:01:38ZThe global road-building explosion is shattering nature<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150479/original/image-20161216-26123-1u15ld8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Timber stockpiled along a logging road.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Day Edryshov/Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>If you asked a friend to name the worst human threat to nature, what would they say? Global warming? Overhunting? Habitat fragmentation?</p>
<p>A <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/354/6318/1423">new study</a> suggests it is in fact road-building. </p>
<p>“Road-building” might sound innocuous, like “house maintenance” – or even positive, conjuring images of promoting economic growth. Many of us have been trained to think so.</p>
<p>But an unprecedented spate of road building is happening now, with around <a href="https://www.iea.org/publications/freepublications/publication/global-land-transport-infrastructure-requirements.html">25 million kilometres of new paved roads</a> expected by 2050. And that’s causing many environmental researchers to perceive roads about as positively as a butterfly might see a spider web that’s just fatally trapped it.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150483/original/image-20161216-26111-1m2wfj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150483/original/image-20161216-26111-1m2wfj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150483/original/image-20161216-26111-1m2wfj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150483/original/image-20161216-26111-1m2wfj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150483/original/image-20161216-26111-1m2wfj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150483/original/image-20161216-26111-1m2wfj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150483/original/image-20161216-26111-1m2wfj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150483/original/image-20161216-26111-1m2wfj0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=621&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A Malayan tapir killed along a road in Peninsular Malaysia.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">WWF-Malaysia/Lau Ching Fong</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Shattered</h2>
<p>The new study, led by Pierre Ibisch at Eberswalde University for Sustainable Development, Germany, ambitiously attempted to map all of the roads and remaining ecosystems across Earth’s entire land surface.</p>
<p>Its headline conclusion is that roads have already sliced and diced Earth’s ecosystems into some 600,000 pieces. More than half of these are less than 1 square kilometre in size. Only 7% of the fragments are more than 100 square km. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150482/original/image-20161216-26082-sim94s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150482/original/image-20161216-26082-sim94s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150482/original/image-20161216-26082-sim94s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150482/original/image-20161216-26082-sim94s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150482/original/image-20161216-26082-sim94s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=263&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150482/original/image-20161216-26082-sim94s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150482/original/image-20161216-26082-sim94s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150482/original/image-20161216-26082-sim94s.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=331&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Remaining roadless areas across the Earth.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">P. Ibisch et al. Science (2016)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>That’s not good news. Roads often open a <a href="http://e360.yale.edu/feature/as_roads_spread_in_tropical_rain_forests_environmental_toll_grows/2485/">Pandora’s box</a> of ills for wilderness areas, promoting illegal deforestation, fires, mining and hunting. </p>
<p>In the Brazilian Amazon, for instance, our existing research shows that 95% of all forest destruction occurs <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000632071400264X">within 5.5km of roads</a>. The razing of the Amazon and other tropical forests produces <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/deforestation-and-global-warming/">more greenhouse gases</a> than all motorised vehicles on Earth. </p>
<p>Animals are being imperilled too, by vehicle roadkill, habitat loss and hunting. In just the past decade, poachers invading the Congo Basin along the expanding network of logging roads have snared or gunned down <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0059469">two-thirds of all forest elephants</a> for their valuable ivory tusks.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150485/original/image-20161216-26123-17e24pq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150485/original/image-20161216-26123-17e24pq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150485/original/image-20161216-26123-17e24pq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150485/original/image-20161216-26123-17e24pq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150485/original/image-20161216-26123-17e24pq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150485/original/image-20161216-26123-17e24pq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150485/original/image-20161216-26123-17e24pq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150485/original/image-20161216-26123-17e24pq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Deforestation along roads in the Brazilian Amazon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Google Earth</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Worse than it looks</h2>
<p>As alarming as the study by Ibisch and colleagues sounds, it still probably underestimates the problem, because it is likely that the researchers missed half or more of all the roads on the planet.</p>
<p>That might sound incompetent on their part, but in fact keeping track of roads is a <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/fee.1316/full">nightmarishly difficult task</a>. Particularly in developing nations, illegal roads can appear overnight, and many countries lack the capacity to govern, much less map, their unruly frontier regions.</p>
<p>One might think that satellites and computers can keep track of roads, and that’s partly right. Most roads can be detected from space, if it’s not too cloudy, but it turns out that the maddening variety of road types, habitats, topographies, sun angles and linear features such as canals can fool even the smartest computers, none of which can map roads consistently.</p>
<p>The only solution is to use human eyes to map roads. That’s what Ibisch and his colleagues relied upon – a global crowdsourcing platform known as <a href="https://www.openstreetmap.org/#map=5/51.500/-0.100">OpenStreetMap</a>, which uses thousands of volunteers to map Earth’s roads.</p>
<p>Therein lies the problem. As the authors acknowledge, human mappers have worked far more prolifically in some areas than others. For instance, wealthier nations like Switzerland and Australia have quite accurate road maps. But in Indonesia, Peru or Cameroon, great swathes of land have been poorly studied. </p>
<p>A quick look at OpenStreetmap also shows that cities are far better mapped than hinterlands. For instance, in the Brazilian Amazon, my colleagues and I <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S000632071400264X">recently found</a> 3km of illegal, unmapped roads for every 1km of legal, mapped road.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150488/original/image-20161216-26111-1glmffe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150488/original/image-20161216-26111-1glmffe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150488/original/image-20161216-26111-1glmffe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150488/original/image-20161216-26111-1glmffe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150488/original/image-20161216-26111-1glmffe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=439&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150488/original/image-20161216-26111-1glmffe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150488/original/image-20161216-26111-1glmffe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150488/original/image-20161216-26111-1glmffe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=551&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A logging truck blazes along a road in Malaysian Borneo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rhett Butler/Mongabay</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>What this implies is that the environmental toll of roads in developing nations – which sustain most of the planet’s critical tropical and subtropical forests – is considerably worse than estimated by the new study.</p>
<p>This is reflected in statistics like this: Earth’s wilderness areas have shrunk by a tenth in just the past two decades, as my colleagues and I <a href="http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/files/2016/09/watson_wilderness_2016.pdf">reported earlier this year</a>. Lush forests such as the Amazon, Congo Basin and Borneo are shrinking the fastest.</p>
<h2>Road rage</h2>
<p>The modern road tsunami is both necessary and scary. On one hand, nobody disputes that developing nations in particular need more and better roads. That’s the chief reason that around 90% of all new roads are being built in developing countries.</p>
<p>On the other hand, much of this ongoing road development is poorly planned or chaotic, leading to severe environmental damage. </p>
<p>For instance, the more than 53,000km of “development corridors” being planned or constructed in Africa to access minerals and open up remote lands for farming will have enormous environmental costs, <a href="http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822(15)01309-3">our research suggests</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150491/original/image-20161216-26093-frslwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150491/original/image-20161216-26093-frslwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150491/original/image-20161216-26093-frslwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150491/original/image-20161216-26093-frslwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150491/original/image-20161216-26093-frslwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=411&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150491/original/image-20161216-26093-frslwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150491/original/image-20161216-26093-frslwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150491/original/image-20161216-26093-frslwc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=517&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Orangutans in the wilds of northern Sumatra.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Suprayudi</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>This year, both the Ibisch study and <a href="http://voices.nationalgeographic.com/files/2016/09/watson_wilderness_2016.pdf">our research</a> have underscored how muddled the UN Sustainable Development Goals are with respect to vanishing wilderness areas across the planet.</p>
<p>For instance, the loss of roadless wilderness conflicts deeply with goals to combat harmful climate change and biodiversity loss, but could improve our capacity to feed people. These are tough trade-offs.</p>
<p>One way we’ve tried to promote a win-win approach is via a <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v513/n7517/full/nature13717.html">global road-mapping strategy</a> that attempts to tell us where we should and shouldn’t build roads. The idea is to promote roads where we can most improve food production, while restricting them in places that cause environmental calamities.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150480/original/image-20161216-26089-10g5ufe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150480/original/image-20161216-26089-10g5ufe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/150480/original/image-20161216-26089-10g5ufe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150480/original/image-20161216-26089-10g5ufe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150480/original/image-20161216-26089-10g5ufe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=525&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150480/original/image-20161216-26089-10g5ufe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=660&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150480/original/image-20161216-26089-10g5ufe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=660&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/150480/original/image-20161216-26089-10g5ufe.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=660&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Part of a global road-mapping strategy. Green areas have high environmental values where roads should be avoided. Red areas are where roads could improve agricultural production. And black areas are ‘conflict zones’ where both environmental values and potential road benefits are high.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">W. F. Laurance et al. Nature (2014)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The bottom line is that if we’re smart and plan carefully, we can still increase food production and human equity across much of the world. </p>
<p>But if we don’t quickly change our careless road-building ways, we could end up opening up the world’s last wild places like a flayed fish – and that would be a catastrophe for nature and people too.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/70489/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bill Laurance receives funding from the Australian Research Council and other scientific and philanthropic organisations. He is the director of the Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science at James Cook University, and founder and director of ALERT--the Alliance of Leading Environmental Researchers & Thinkers.
</span></em></p>A new mapping study shows that roads have sliced and diced almost the entire land surface of Earth, leaving huge areas prone to illegal logging, mining and hunting.Bill Laurance, Distinguished Research Professor and Australian Laureate, James Cook UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/681662016-11-21T19:24:03Z2016-11-21T19:24:03ZCSI trees: how forensic science is helping combat illegal logging<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146705/original/image-20161121-30392-8p19jo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Telling an illegal log from another is no easy feat. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/cifor/5228740178/">CIFOR/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Forensic science has achieved infamy, thanks to television dramas like CSI. But it isn’t just about solving human crimes. Scientists are also using evidence from wood to help solve murders, but in this case the victims are the trees themselves, and the crime is illegal logging. </p>
<p>Illegal logging is a serious environmental and economic threat to forests. The value of the illegal timber trade is hard to calculate, but estimates range from <a href="http://www.unep.org/pdf/RRAlogging_english_scr.pdf">US$30 billion to $100 billion</a>, potentially involving <a href="http://www.illegal-logging.info/topics/scale-illegal-logging">100 million cubic metres</a> of wood. </p>
<p>But new scientific methods, highlighted in a <a href="http://bioscience.oxfordjournals.org/content/66/11/990.full">recent study in Bioscience</a>, are helping law enforcers identify tree victims and fight illegal logging. </p>
<h2>Timber outlaws</h2>
<p>Tropical regions such as Southeast Asia, Central Africa and Central and South America suffer disproportionately. Some <a href="http://www.unep.org/pdf/RRAlogging_english_scr.pdf">50-90% of timber produced from these regions is thought to be illegal, compared with 15-30% globally</a>. Aside from the environmental destruction, countries that experience illegal logging lose out on tax revenue and have the value of their legitimate timber diminished. </p>
<p>Such large markets attract big players, with <a href="https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/tocta/TOCTA_Report_2010_low_res.pdf">organised crime networks</a> at the centre of much of the illegal trade.</p>
<p>Combating illegal logging is the moral responsibility of all countries, be they timber producers or consumers. Along with laws on how local timber can be harvested, an increasing number of laws are targeting the international illegal timber trade. These include Australia’s own <a href="http://www.agriculture.gov.au/forestry/policies/illegal-logging">Illegal Logging Prohibition Act</a>, which prohibits the importation of timber that has been illegally harvested overseas. </p>
<p>At the international level, the <a href="https://www.cites.org/">CITES</a> Convention provides a mechanism through which trade in certain species can be regulated in order to avoid driving them to extinction.</p>
<h2>Smarter forensics</h2>
<p>These laws are necessary and are already starting to have a <a href="http://indicators.chathamhouse.org/sites/files/reports/0904CHAillegalloggingbriefingpaper09.0731.pdf">positive effect</a> through improved governance and procurement policies. But they rely on us knowing when a law has been broken. </p>
<p>Timber is notoriously <a href="http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/10.1163/22941932-90000049">hard to identify</a>, even for experts. By looking at the structure of the wood alone, it is usually only possible to identify it to the genus level, rather than the species itself. </p>
<p>This is a problem because most timber laws protect individual species, and often only part of the range of that species. This means that law enforcement must rely on the paper trail that accompanies timber shipments, which is <a href="http://www.aic.gov.au/media_library/publications/rpp/89/rpp089.pdf">open to fraud</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146328/original/image-20161117-13371-sn6400.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146328/original/image-20161117-13371-sn6400.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/146328/original/image-20161117-13371-sn6400.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146328/original/image-20161117-13371-sn6400.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146328/original/image-20161117-13371-sn6400.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146328/original/image-20161117-13371-sn6400.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146328/original/image-20161117-13371-sn6400.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/146328/original/image-20161117-13371-sn6400.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Tracing illegal timber is a difficult process.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.instagram.com/little_bones/">Andy McIntyre @little_bones</a>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Science can help by focusing on new ways to identify timber. Looking at the anatomy of wood (despite its inability to reveal species or place of origin) still provides the fastest and cheapest way to get an initial identification. </p>
<p>However, new identification techniques including genetic and chemical fingerprinting can provide more detail and could deliver the detection capacity we sorely need. By <a href="http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006320715300033">combining several techniques</a>, the type and source of timber can be determined with great accuracy.</p>
<p>Developing techniques in a lab is a far cry from applying them to the real world, however. A major problem is that although forensic methods have been proven to work in case studies, developing tools that distinguish between hundreds of species and geographic regions requires investment in research and development. </p>
<p>One of the major challenges is to <a href="http://www.bioone.org/doi/pdf/10.3732/apps.1300076">collect reference material</a> (wood and herbarium specimens of commercially important species, and their lookalikes, from across the globe).</p>
<p>A recent CITES meeting approved a raft of measures to help increase the collection and sharing of reference materials for timber. This will help to improve identification tests.</p>
<h2>Enforcing the law</h2>
<p>While we find new scientific ways to protect the world’s forests, it is equally important to make sure these tools are available at the front line. Law enforcers have a huge task. </p>
<p>Customs officers are already responsible for preventing trade in illegal drugs, firearms and wildlife products, as well as human trafficking. Identifying shipments of illegally harvested wood within a massive legitimate trade is a big ask, so we must find ways to make this possible.</p>
<p>The international community has recognised these problems. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has released a guide to <a href="https://www.unodc.org/documents/Wildlife/Guide_Timber.pdf">timber identification</a> and a <a href="https://www.unodc.org/documents/Wildlife/Timber_Flow_Diagram.pdf">decision-making tool</a> to help law enforcers and the scientific and legal communities through the complex processes of dealing with illegal timber. </p>
<h2>Ethical consumers</h2>
<p>As a timber researcher and part of the international team driving most of these initiatives, it’s satisfying to see progress not only in the science of protecting our forests, but also in international cooperation to make sure we see concrete results.</p>
<p>Yet I can’t help feeling that it’s not enough. Real progress must come not just through enforcement (because of course, once a crime has been detected, it is too late) but through consumers making smarter choices.</p>
<p>We are all consumers of timber, from the furniture we sit on to the paper we write on. And as consumers, we can demand more accountability from suppliers, to support <a href="http://www.doublehelixtracking.com/">verified</a> and <a href="http://www.forestrystandard.org.au/">certified</a> products harvested from sustainable sources. </p>
<p>By doing so we can increase the incentives for legal logging and support those businesses that do the right thing. So next time you buy something made from a tree, give a thought to where it has come from and try to make an ethical choice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/68166/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Eleanor Dormontt works for The University of Adelaide and has consulted for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Her group has received funding from the International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO), The Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), The Australian Research Council (ARC), The World Resources Institute (WRI) and Double Helix Tracking Technologies Pte Ltd (DX). </span></em></p>Illegal logging is a serious threat but new ways of detecting illegal timber could help save global forests.Eleanor Dormontt, Postdoctoral Researcher in Timber Forensics, University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/555782016-03-17T04:02:13Z2016-03-17T04:02:13ZDeforestation: an alert from the islands of São Tomé and Príncipe<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115083/original/image-20160315-9235-lh5ouf.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The forests of Sao Tome and Principe are being lost at an alarming rate.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ricardo Lima</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>When visiting the volcanic islands of São Tomé and Príncipe off the coast of West Africa, one is immediately struck by how unusual these tropical islands are. The steep, volcanic mountains seem to be swathed in impenetrable, story-book jungle. But, as ecologists know, first impressions can be deceiving. </p>
<p>When São Tomé and Príncipe were discovered by Portuguese navigators in 1470 the land was entirely covered by forest. In more than five centuries of human occupation, most of this native forest has disappeared. Indeed, most of the green one sees from the air today comes from shade plantations and degraded forests. </p>
<h2>A biodiversity hotspot</h2>
<p>The islands have been called the “African Galápagos”, in reference to the Pacific island archipelago famous for its high level of endemism. But, though they are nowhere near as famous as their South American counterpart, they win hands-down when it comes to unique biodiversity: São Tomé and Príncipe are home to more endemic species in an area that is eight times <a href="http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/ebafactsheet.php?id=84">smaller</a> than the Galápagos.</p>
<p>This is perhaps no surprise, as tropical forests are biodiversity hotspots that hold far more species than any other terrestrial biome. They also provide key ecosystem services like food, timber and climate regulation. </p>
<p>But forests are being lost at an alarming rate. Between <a href="http://www.fao.org/forest-resources-assessment/en/">1990 and 2015</a>, 129 million hectares of forests were lost in the world – an area similar to that of South Africa. Sub-Saharan Africa itself registered some of the highest deforestation rates: up to 14% in the south and east, and 10% in central and west Africa.</p>
<h2>The situation in São Tomé and Príncipe</h2>
<p>The last national forest survey for São Tomé and Príncipe was conducted in 1999. According to those estimates, 10% of the country comprised non-forest land-use, and 61% was covered by forests and 29% by shade plantations. The shade plantations constitute agro-forestry systems that produce coffee and cocoa, the country’s key export crops. </p>
<p>The numbers might suggest that there is little cause for concern, but they do not account for more recent trends of forest loss. They also don’t account for whether forests are native or not. In addition to the <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/btp.12092/abstract">shade plantations</a>, much of the islands are covered by “degraded” forested ecosystems like secondary forests. These are dominated by introduced and invasive species like the breadfruit, the African nutmeg and the oil palm. Native forests are largely restricted to some remote valleys and inaccessible mountain areas. </p>
<p>The islands’ fast-growing economy and human population have had a significant effect on the native forests. The islands’ populations have increased by more than <a href="http://countrymeters.info/en/Sao_Tome_and_Principe">one-third</a> since the turn of the century. As land has become scarce, people have turned to the forest to sustain their livelihoods. At the same time, the government has licensed large areas of forest to commercial interests. In the past seven years, it has handed 5% of the country to oil palm production and 5% to commercial cocoa producers.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115085/original/image-20160315-9250-115otvq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115085/original/image-20160315-9250-115otvq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115085/original/image-20160315-9250-115otvq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115085/original/image-20160315-9250-115otvq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115085/original/image-20160315-9250-115otvq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115085/original/image-20160315-9250-115otvq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115085/original/image-20160315-9250-115otvq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115085/original/image-20160315-9250-115otvq.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Scarce land has forced many people to live in the forest for their livelihoods.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ricardo Lima</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Differences in conservation practices</h2>
<p>On paper, São Tomé and Príncipe are well provided for in terms of conservation. Both islands have protected areas: the Obô Natural Park in São Tomé and Natural Park in Príncipe. Each covers nearly one-third of the islands’ areas. </p>
<p>Despite there being similar legal protection for their natural forests, the reality of conservation is very different on the islands. </p>
<p>Príncipe has a period of three months during which it is forbidden to cut trees. Most available timber is imported from certified producers and it is unlikely to find illegally felled trees. In contrast, illegal logging is rife on the larger and more populous São Tomé.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115084/original/image-20160315-9257-1d19xun.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115084/original/image-20160315-9257-1d19xun.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/115084/original/image-20160315-9257-1d19xun.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115084/original/image-20160315-9257-1d19xun.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115084/original/image-20160315-9257-1d19xun.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=800&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115084/original/image-20160315-9257-1d19xun.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115084/original/image-20160315-9257-1d19xun.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/115084/original/image-20160315-9257-1d19xun.JPG?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1005&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Illegal logging
is a problem in São Tomé.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Ricardo Lima</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>One explanation for the difference between the islands is that the United Nations Educations Scientific and Cultural Organisation <a href="http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/ecological-sciences/biosphere-reserves/africa/sao-tome-and-principe/the-island-of-principe/">classified</a> Príncipe as a biosphere reserve in July 2012. The regional government now promotes the island as an example of sustainable development in action. </p>
<h2>The implications</h2>
<p>Forest loss and degradation are leading to a scarcity of forest <a href="http://ifad-un.blogspot.pt/2014/01/spotting-deforestation-from-space.html">resources</a>. In addition to loss of habitat through deforestation, native species are faced with degraded forest systems that offer poor habitats. This poses a measurable threat to <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-1795.2009.00240.x/abstract">biodiversity</a>.</p>
<p>The well-being of future generations is also at stake.</p>
<p>The people of São Tomé and Príncipe rely heavily on forest resources. Nearly all houses are made out of wood. Giant land snails caught in the forest are an important source of protein, as are fish from inshore fisheries that are caught in dugout canoes. Both are usually cooked over charcoal or firewood obtained from the forest. </p>
<p>These resources have become difficult to access, and there is insufficient timber supply to meet the islands’ growing needs. The timber that is available is of a low quality, lasting for only about five years, and is unsuitable for construction.</p>
<p>Authorities are not indifferent to the situation. The timber shortage has become so bad that government is planning to import timber from Equatorial Guinea. The hope is that a cheaper supply will provide a temporary market solution for the current crisis, and allow Santomean timber stocks to recover. </p>
<p>But much of the timber sector operates outside the law. The Forestry Directorate is short of money, vehicles and manpower. It cannot begin to address the complaints of illegal activities it receives. Moreover, when the authorities do try to act, they are frequently met with hostility on the ground, with people routinely <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10204155496920916&set=pb.1630945209.-2207520000.1458037061.&type=3&theate">blocking roads</a> to hinder law enforcement.</p>
<p>The situation in Sao Tome and Principe mirrors worrying global trends in forest degradation and loss. Finding solutions is imperative, and hopefully some of the experiences from this small island nation will provide useful lessons for other parts of the world.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/55578/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ricardo Faustino de Lima is currently a post-doc researcher funded by the Portuguese government through "Fundação para a Ciência e a tecnologia". He is also a member of Associação Monte Pico, a STP pro-environment NGO, and SPEA, BirdLife International in Portugal </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Martin Dallimer is affiliated with The University of Leeds. He has received funding from British Ecological Society, National Geographic Society and British Ornithologists' Union for work carried out in Sao Tome and Principe. </span></em></p>The islands of São Tomé and Príncipe must work hard to protect their native forests from deforestation.Ricardo Faustino de Lima, Postdoctoral researcher, Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes, Universidade de Lisboa Martin Dallimer, Lecturer in environmental change, University of LeedsLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/341452014-11-12T19:33:32Z2014-11-12T19:33:32ZAustralia talks the talk, but will it walk the walk to save rainforests?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64357/original/5rd7v6dd-1415779384.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Rainforests in trouble in Indonesian Borneo. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bill Laurance</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>At the <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/rain-forest-summit">Asia-Pacific Rainforest Summit</a>, which concluded yesterday in Sydney, environment minister Greg Hunt announced A$6 million to combat illegal logging. </p>
<p>While the funding builds on legislation to ensure Australian goods are sourced legally, is this the deal Hunt was after to save rainforests?
The summit was a Coalition <a href="https://docs.google.com/a/theconversation.edu.au/document/d/1lYQN8KDUDxvNMZruIg1GPlEDCO7dInX4qOuNipRL_jc/edit?pli=1">election promise</a>, highlighting the importance of slowing deforestation to <a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/minister/hunt/2014/mr20140924.html">combat climate change</a>.</p>
<p>It preceded the <a href="worldparkscongress.org">World Parks Congress</a>, a once-in-a-decade phenomenon that is drawing some 6,000 park aficionados, environmental managers and government delegates from around the globe to Sydney this week. </p>
<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greg_Hunt">Greg Hunt</a> has a tough gig. As environment minister for the right-leaning Abbott government, Hunt’s job is to advance environmental priorities in a cabinet that generally seems less interested in conservation and science, and more interested in economic growth, than any Australian government in recent memory. </p>
<p>As a result, Hunt seems more politically marginalised than his predecessors. Indeed, I suspect that, were Hunt to push too hard on environmental priorities — or fail to support the pro-coal, pro-mining, no-new-parks, anti-renewable-energy agenda of the Abbott government — he’d soon be gone.</p>
<p>In such a setting, where domestic policy is so clearly being driven by a growth-first agenda, what is an energetic environment minister to do? One “safe” strategy is to focus not on matters at home, but on those abroad. </p>
<p>That is precisely what Hunt and the Department of Environment did this week in Sydney with their Asia-Pacific Rainforest Summit. </p>
<h2>Rainforest talk-fest</h2>
<p>The forests of the Asia-Pacific region include some of the <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/rn/legacy/features/balancingnature/hotspot.htm">most biologically important and imperilled ecosystems on Earth</a>. </p>
<p>The talks on day one focused on illegal logging, the growing use of satellite remote-sensing to monitor forests in real time, priorities for protecting biodiversity, and efforts to integrate indigenous and local-community priorities into nature-conservation efforts (notably including Amazon expert <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Lovejoy">Thomas Lovejoy</a>, and chimpanzee conservationist <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jane_Goodall">Jane Goodall</a>, who sent a personalised video). </p>
<p>For experienced observers, there were few surprises. </p>
<p>Day two was dominated by government ministers, ambassadors and other luminaries from a range of international organisations, such as the <a href="http://www.iucn.org/">IUCN</a>, the <a href="http://www.itto.int/">International Tropical Timber Organisation</a>, <a href="http://www.conservation.org/Pages/default.aspx">Conservation International</a> and <a href="http://www.worldwildlife.org/">WWF</a>. </p>
<h2>A plan to recover rainforests</h2>
<p>Perhaps most notable was Hunt’s announcement that a key goal of the forum would be to draft an “<a href="http://www.environment.gov.au/minister/hunt/2014/mr20141110a.html">Asia-Pacific Rainforest Recovery Plan</a>”. </p>
<p>This was initially described in very broad-brush terms, and so I asked Hunt what he saw as its specific goals, and whether the government was planning to devote significant resources to it.</p>
<p>“This conference is all about building momentum,” he said. “But already Papua New Guinea, Indonesia and Vietnam have come on board with various commitments.” These included, Hunt explained, plans by each nation to reduce their annual deforestation rates by at least 50%, plus efforts to promote the recovery of degraded forests and landscapes. He also said the United States and IUCN had come on board the initiative as partners.</p>
<p>This sounds pretty impressive, but I felt a bit crestfallen when Hunt told me the government’s current commitment to the program: A$6 million, which will be used solely to combat illegal logging in the region. </p>
<p>That’s a drop in the bucket compared to the Coalition’s 2008 contribution of <a href="http://www.crikey.com.au/2007/04/03/200-million-for-indonesias-forests-but-is-it-enough/?wpmp_switcher=mobile">A$200 million for forest conservation in Indonesia and Papua New Guinea</a>. </p>
<p>It’s also swamped by <a href="http://www.climatefundsupdate.org/listing/norway-s-international-climate-and-forest-initiative">nearly $2 billion that Norway has invested</a> since 2008 in tropical forest conservation, and Germany’s annual expenditures of half a billion euros for forest and biodiversity protection, over half of which is earmarked for the Asia-Pacific region. </p>
<p>One must hope the A$6 million announced today is merely intended to jump-start Hunt’s rainforest program. Indeed, Hunt hopes he’ll be able to drum up more funds now that the US and IUCN have come on board. </p>
<p>Let’s hope he succeeds. A well-placed attendee (who requested anonymity) cracked, “This proposal needs some Viagra.” </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64358/original/mxz9mtst-1415779458.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64358/original/mxz9mtst-1415779458.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/64358/original/mxz9mtst-1415779458.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64358/original/mxz9mtst-1415779458.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64358/original/mxz9mtst-1415779458.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=900&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64358/original/mxz9mtst-1415779458.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64358/original/mxz9mtst-1415779458.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/64358/original/mxz9mtst-1415779458.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1131&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Illegal logging plagues both forests and developing economies in the Asia-Pacific.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Rhett Butler</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Fighting illegal logging</h2>
<p>I also asked Hunt about Australia’s <a href="http://www.comlaw.gov.au/Details/C2012A00166">Illegal Logging Prohibition Act</a>, as this will put teeth into efforts to combat illegal logging overseas. The act was passed in 2012 (prior to its passage I briefed a Parliamentary committee on the act) and it will finally come into force on November 30. </p>
<p>The act will require Australian firms that import or retail wood products from overseas to use “reasonable due diligence” to ensure they aren’t buying timber from illegal sources. </p>
<p>Hunt told me that Liberal Senator <a href="http://www.richardcolbeck.com.au/">Richard Colbeck</a> from Tasmania was overseeing the government’s implementation of the illegal logging act. So, I asked Colbeck, who was attending the rainforest event, about this. Colbeck made it clear that he had had to fight battles inside his own party to protect the act. </p>
<p>For instance, shortly after it passed, Julie Bishop, then the deputy leader of the Coalition, <a href="http://parlinfo.aph.gov.au/parlInfo/search/display/display.w3p;query=Id%3A%22chamber%2Fhansardr%2Fa8785071-a01e-4d0b-bf4e-9e6ea9104940%2F0047%22">attacked the act</a> while frequently quoting Alan Oxley, the former Australian trade ambassador who now <a href="http://www.theecologist.org/campaigning/2426409/beware_environmental_wolves_in_sheeps_clothing.html">lobbies against many environmental initiatives</a>. </p>
<p>Given the Coalition’s rocky history of support for the bill, many are happy it has even survived. For instance, Jessica Panegyres, a forest campaigner for <a href="http://www.greenpeace.org/australia/en/">Greenpeace-Australia-Pacific</a>, said, “For now we aren’t going too hard on the government because we welcome their decision to support the act. But we’ll be watching their implementation—because enforcement requires funds.”</p>
<h2>Conservation in the trenches</h2>
<p>Hunt, no doubt, is relieved that the illegal logging bill has made it this far. If it’d been sunk by his Coalition colleagues then that would have undercut his efforts to promote forest conservation in the Asia-Pacific region. </p>
<p>Indeed, the government’s international credibility could have been so diminished that the rainforest summit this week might not even have happened. </p>
<p>As his rainforest fest draws to a close today, few doubt that Greg Hunt is sincerely interested in environmental matters or that his heart is in the right place. </p>
<p>But as environment minister he faces a delicate tightrope walk, given the raft of criticisms that have been levelled at the Abbott government over its environmental policies (for example, see <a href="http://conservationbytes.com/2014/04/09/the-environmental-abbott-oir/">here</a>, <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/federal-politics/political-opinion/tony-abbott-battles-the-future-by-axing-carbon-tax-20140710-zt2d2.html">here</a>, <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-18/great-barrier-reef-not-protected-abbot-point-dumping/5676456">here</a> and <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-06-24/unesco-rejects-bid-to-delist-world-heritage-forest/5538946">here</a>). </p>
<p>It’s harder to ask your neighbours to clean up their back yards when you haven’t really tended to your own.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/34145/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bill Laurance receives funding from the Australian Research Council and other scientific and philanthropic organisations. In addition to his appointment as Distinguished Research Professor and Australian Laureate at James Cook University, he also holds the Prince Bernhard Chair in International Nature Conservation at Utrecht University in the Netherlands. This chair is co-funded by Utrecht University and WWF-Netherlands.</span></em></p>At the Asia-Pacific Rainforest Summit, which concluded yesterday in Sydney, environment minister Greg Hunt announced A$6 million to combat illegal logging. While the funding builds on legislation to ensure…Bill Laurance, Distinguished Research Professor and Australian Laureate, James Cook UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/89802012-11-12T03:28:18Z2012-11-12T03:28:18ZDNA based methods leave illegal loggers with no place to hide<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16764/original/nvdmm6sj-1350878112.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Could DNA-based prevention efforts spell trouble for illegal loggers?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">jimmedia</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Illegal logging is a <a href="https://theconversation.com/organised-crime-illegal-timber-and-australias-role-in-deforestation-10048">major contributor</a> to tropical deforestation and <a href="https://theconversation.com/are-nature-reserves-working-take-a-look-outside-9432">forest degradation</a>. Australia is currently <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-attempts-to-stump-illegal-loggers-9863">considering legislation</a> to prevent the importation of illegally logged wood. But if the legislation passes, we will still face the problem of identifying the origin of imported timber. DNA-based technology could be the solution.</p>
<p>Legislation has been introduced in the <a href="http://www.fws.gov/international/laws-treaties-agreements/us-conservation-laws/lacey-act.html">US</a> and the <a href="http://www.euflegt.efi.int/portal/news?bid=582">EU</a> to limit the importation of timber from non-certified or illegal sources. </p>
<p>Some of this legislation now has real teeth. Guitar manufacturer Gibson fell foul of the US legislation when Madagascan Rosewood was discovered at one of their warehouses. Whilst not prosecuted criminally, the US Government reached a criminal enforcement agreement with Gibson, who admitted the company was in contravention of the Lacey Act in using the <a href="http://www.cites.org/">CITES</a> trade-restricted species. </p>
<p>Gibson were required to pay a penalty of $300,000, as well as $50,000 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation to be used “to promote the conservation, identification and propagation of protected tree species used in the musical instrument industry and the forests where those species are found.” </p>
<p>The case received <a href="http://insights.wri.org/news/2012/08/gibson-guitar-logging-bust-demonstrates-lacey-acts-effectiveness/">broad coverage</a> and is widely referenced. It gave a clear message that the government means business when it comes to illegal logging.</p>
<p>So how can we be sure our timber comes from a legal source? Credible voluntary certification such as the Forest Stewardship Council (<a href="http://www.fscaustralia.org/">FSC)</a> is one such way. “Chain-of-Custody” methods are also commonly used. They seek to assign a paper identification to individual logs so they can be tracked along the timber supply chain. However these “paper passports” are open to falsification, particularly between the logging concession and mill where most illegally logged timber is introduced into the supply chain. </p>
<p>Fortunately there are a number of methods that can be applied to verify source claims. The most promising are from a suite of DNA-based methods: DNA fingerprinting, genographic analysis and DNA barcoding.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16761/original/sjpgcstj-1350877525.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16761/original/sjpgcstj-1350877525.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16761/original/sjpgcstj-1350877525.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16761/original/sjpgcstj-1350877525.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16761/original/sjpgcstj-1350877525.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16761/original/sjpgcstj-1350877525.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16761/original/sjpgcstj-1350877525.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Gibson Guitar settlement struck a chord with wood companies.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Vitor Bellote</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Species identification and DNA barcoding</h2>
<p><a href="http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/270/1512/313.full.pdf">DNA barcoding</a> is a global initiative designed to standardise species identification by analysing short DNA sequences. The standards developed have seen more than a quarter of a million species DNA barcoded.</p>
<p>One of the biggest challenges for this method has been identifying a gene region that can reliably differentiate between species. In 2009, the <a href="http://www.barcoding.si.edu/">CBOL Plant Working Group</a> finally recommended <a href="http://barcoding.si.edu/PDF/Science-Claire%20ThomasPWG.pdf">a combination</a> of two chloroplast genes, maturase K (matK) and ribulose-bisphosphate carboxylase (rbcL). Between them they can distinguish approximately 70% of all plant species, although more in some <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0026841">field applications</a>.</p>
<p>If further species resolution is required, “local” barcodes can be developed. <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1755-0998.2011.02984.x/abstract">For example</a>, a set of local barcodes were developed to differentiate between the three species of Central American mahogany, when the standard barcode genes failed to tell them apart.</p>
<p>A DNA barcoding approach would have been able to identify that the wood sourced by Gibson Guitar came from a trade-restricted species.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16814/original/fkm8hrmh-1350967822.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16814/original/fkm8hrmh-1350967822.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16814/original/fkm8hrmh-1350967822.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16814/original/fkm8hrmh-1350967822.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16814/original/fkm8hrmh-1350967822.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=435&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16814/original/fkm8hrmh-1350967822.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16814/original/fkm8hrmh-1350967822.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16814/original/fkm8hrmh-1350967822.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=547&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Lowe AJ, Cross HB (2011) The Application of DNA to Timber Tracking and Origin Verification. Journal of the International Association of Wood Anatomists 32(2): 251-262.)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Source origin and genographic mapping</h2>
<p>For many species protected under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species <a href="http://www.cites.org/">CITES</a>, identifying country of harvest is critical to determining the legality of timber. Sourcing the timber through its DNA requires us to assess the genetic variation that is structured across natural populations of a species. This variation arises due to differences in geological history, climate and soils, seed and pollen dispersal and local selection pressures. These interactions will produce genetic discontinuities that can be <a href="https://genographic.nationalgeographic.com/">mapped</a>. </p>
<p>In a nice early <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1690726/pdf/11467434.pdf">example</a> of the power of such methods, an angler was disqualified from a fishing competition when tests on the fish he presented identified that it could not have come from the river where the competition took place. When presented with this evidence, the angler confessed he had purchased the winning fish from a local market.</p>
<p>For timber, a blind <a href="http://www.fsigenetics.com/article/S1872-4973(12)00136-6/abstract">test</a> of mahogany organised by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (<a href="http://wwf.org/">WWF</a>) correctly assigned wood samples to a Bolivian or Guatemalan source with a high degree of certainty.</p>
<h2>Individual tracking and DNA fingerprinting</h2>
<p>DNA fingerprinting, similar to that used in human forensics cases, has been applied commercially for several years to track timber logs along supply chains.</p>
<p><a href="http://www.sauerlaender-verlag.com/index.php?id=828">In a study of merbau</a> (<em>Intsia palembanica</em>), a high-value timber species from southeast Asia used primarily for decking, DNA fingerprinting was used to compare samples of timber from a saw mill in Java, Indonesia, with their declared forest source. In this <a href="http://www.unep.org/pdf/RRAlogging_english_scr.pdf">test</a>, all mill samples could be positively identified as coming from their declared forest concession. It was good news for Simmonds Timber, who use this supply chain and market their DNA-verified product as <a href="http://www.independentaustralia.net/2012/business/simmonds-lumber-goes-csi-to-stop-illegal-logging/">“DNA lumber.”</a></p>
<p>One of the key problems with applying genetic tests to wood is actually extracting DNA from test samples in the first place. However, using contamination-exclusion techniques similar to those developed to work on <a href="http://theconversation.com/moa-bones-reveal-dna-half-life-but-jurassic-park-remains-fiction-10067">ancient sources</a>, the potential is growing for routine genetic analysis from timber.</p>
<p>The advancement of genetic technologies means that large-scale DNA screening is now done cheaply and quickly. Most importantly it can be conducted with statistical certainty sufficient for legal cases. </p>
<p>This means there are an increasingly powerful array of methods that provide the consumer with a verifiable confirmation of the declared source of origin of timber products. This allows them to actively choose timber products that aren’t illegally sourced and don’t contribute to the global deforestation crisis.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/8980/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Andrew Lowe is Chief Scientific Officer for DoubleHelix Tracking Technologies, a start up company specialising in the application of DNA technologies to track timber products. He receives funding from the Australian Research Council and other government and industry funding sources.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span><a href="mailto:hughbcross@gmail.com">hughbcross@gmail.com</a> is affiliated with Double Helix Tracking Technology</span></em></p>Illegal logging is a major contributor to tropical deforestation and forest degradation. Australia is currently considering legislation to prevent the importation of illegally logged wood. But if the legislation…Andrew Lowe, Professor of Plant Conservation Biology, University of AdelaideHugh Cross, Molecular Biologist, University of AdelaideLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/100482012-10-16T19:01:12Z2012-10-16T19:01:12ZOrganised crime, illegal timber and Australia’s role in deforestation<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16368/original/jpws3g6f-1349839522.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Through fraudulent permits and similar tactics, organized crime profits significantly from illegal logging.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">jcoterhals</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Illegal logging is booming, as criminal organisations tighten their grip on this profitable global industry. Hence, it comes just in the nick of time that Australia, after years of debate, is on the verge of passing an <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r4740">anti-logging bill</a>. </p>
<p>Illegal logging is an international scourge, and increasingly an organised criminal activity. It robs developing nations of vital revenues while promoting corruption and murder. It takes a terrible toll on the environment, promoting deforestation, loss of biodiversity and harmful carbon emissions at alarming rates.</p>
<p>Moreover, the flood of illegal timber makes it much harder for legitimate timber producers. The vast majority of those in Australia and New Zealand have difficulty competing in domestic and international markets. That’s one reason that many major Aussie retail chains and brands, such as Bunnings, Ikea-Australia, Timber Queensland, and Kimberly-Clark, are supporting the anti-illegal logging bill.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16366/original/qbsjc6fy-1349839092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16366/original/qbsjc6fy-1349839092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16366/original/qbsjc6fy-1349839092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16366/original/qbsjc6fy-1349839092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16366/original/qbsjc6fy-1349839092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16366/original/qbsjc6fy-1349839092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16366/original/qbsjc6fy-1349839092.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Illegal logging denies governments of developing nations revenue worldwide.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bill Laurance </span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Illegal logging thrives because it’s lucrative. A new report by Interpol and the United Nations Environment Programme, <a href="http://www.unep.org/publications/contents/pub_details_search.asp?ID=6276">“Green Carbon, Black Trade”</a>, estimates the economic value of illegal logging and wood processing to range from $30 billion to $100 billion annually. That’s a whopping figure — constituting some 10-30% of the global trade in wood products.</p>
<p>Illegal logging plagues some of the world’s poorest peoples, many of whom live in tropical timber-producing countries. According to a <a href="http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTFINANCIALSECTOR/Resources/Illegal_Logging.pdf">2011 study by the World Bank</a>, two-thirds of the world’s top tropical timber-producing nations are losing at least half of their timber to illegal loggers. In some developing countries the figure approaches 90%.</p>
<p>Many nations export large quantities of timber or wood products into Australia. These include Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and the Solomon Islands, all of which are suffering heavily from illegal logging. Many Chinese-made wood and paper imports also come from illegal timber. Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has been pleading with timber-importing nations like Australia to help it combat illegal logging, which costs the nation billions of dollars annually in lost revenues.</p>
<p>The new Interpol report shows just how devious illegal loggers are becoming. It details more than 30 different ways in which organised criminal gangs stiff governments of revenues and launder their ill-gotten gains.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16365/original/yvrm8h4t-1349839048.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16365/original/yvrm8h4t-1349839048.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16365/original/yvrm8h4t-1349839048.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16365/original/yvrm8h4t-1349839048.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16365/original/yvrm8h4t-1349839048.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16365/original/yvrm8h4t-1349839048.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16365/original/yvrm8h4t-1349839048.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Australia’s much debated anti-illegal logging bill looks set to overcome longstanding hurdles soon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Bill Laurance</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The variety of tactics used is dizzying. These tactics include falsifying logging permits and using bribery to obtain illegal logging permits, logging outside of timber concessions, hacking government websites to forge transportation permits, and laundering illegal timber by mixing it in with legal timber supplies.</p>
<p>The good news however, is that improving enforcement is slowly making things tougher for illegal loggers.</p>
<p>Accustomed to dealing with criminal enterprises that transcend international borders, Interpol is bringing a new level of sophistication to the war on illegal logging. This is timely because most current efforts to fight illegal logging - such as the <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/environment/forests/flegt.htm">European Union’s Forest Law</a> and various timber eco-certification schemes - just aren’t designed to combat organised crime, corruption and money laundering.</p>
<p>The Interpol report urges a multi-pronged approach to fight illegal loggers. A key element of this is anti-logging legislation that makes it harder for timber-consuming nations and their companies to import ill-gotten timber and wood products.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/lessons-from-the-us-stopping-illegal-logging-benefits-both-sides-of-politics-9529">EU and USA both</a> have active anti-illegal logging measures in place. And Australia looks set to join them with its <a href="http://www.daff.gov.au/forestry/international/illegal-logging">Illegal Logging Prohibition Bill</a>.</p>
<p>After years of rancorous debate, the Australian bill finally appears poised to be passed into law, despite a last-ditch effort by the conservative Liberal-National Party Coalition to scuttle it.</p>
<p>This ill-conceived attempt was led by the Coalition’s deputy leader, Julie Bishop. What was striking about Bishop’s efforts was that she merely parroted the well-worn “free-trade-at-any-cost” arguments of former Australian trade ambassador Alan Oxley. Oxley is now a well-heeled lobbyist who defends the interests of the some of the world’s largest forest-destroying corporations. His efforts to sink the illegal logging bill are especially dubious because he steadfastly refuses to reveal who pays him. </p>
<p>Despite the efforts of Oxley and the conservative Coalition, Australia will soon join a growing league of timber-consuming nations that is taking direct action against the illegal logging syndicates.</p>
<p>It’s about time. With the help of Interpol and Australia’s forthcoming anti-logging bill, the world is slowly becoming a smaller place for timber criminals.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/10048/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bill Laurance receives funding from the Australian Research Council, the U.S. National Science Foundation and various other funding bodies. He is a Distinguished Professor and Australian Laureate at James Cook University and also holds the Prince Bernhard Chair in International Nature Conservation at Utrecht University, Netherlands. The Prince Bernhard Chair is co-funded by WWF-Netherlands, and allows Laurance to spend a month conducting research and environmental-education activities in Europe each year.</span></em></p>Illegal logging is booming, as criminal organisations tighten their grip on this profitable global industry. Hence, it comes just in the nick of time that Australia, after years of debate, is on the verge…Bill Laurance, Distinguished Research Professor and Australian Laureate, James Cook UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/98632012-10-10T03:30:40Z2012-10-10T03:30:40ZAustralia attempts to stump illegal loggers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16004/original/qyx3trb6-1349052930.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The proposed logging bill would tighten exportation from Indonesia in particular</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">CIFOR</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The Australian Senate is about to take on the task of stopping illegal logging, with <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r4740">legislation</a> banning the importation and sale of timber products containing illegally logged timber being considered this month.</p>
<p>But how does it stack up against laws introduced by other countries to take on this problem?</p>
<p>The actual extent of illegal logging around the world is almost impossible to quantify, mainly because there is no clear definition of what is legal and illegal. However, it is significant. What is acceptable in one country is <a href="http://trove.nla.gov.au/work/163505548?versionId=178228695">not in another</a>.</p>
<p>Australian legislators are hoping to put a stop to the importation of any illegally sourced wood and wood products. The Europeans and North Americans are doing the same, albeit in different ways.</p>
<p>The proposed Australian illegal logging law recognises the immense problem of determining if a particular wood product such as paper has been made from illegally sourced wood fibre. It is based on “suspicion” or the likelihood of a country having an illegal logging industry, rather than any absolute evidence.</p>
<p>The Australian law tries to identify countries that will likely manufacture products that contain illegal fibres. Corruption indexes such as the <a href="http://www.transparency.org/">Transparency International rating</a> will be an indicator. Normally it is accepted that high institutional corruption will likely mean illegal forestry activities, particularly in the case of developing countries.</p>
<p>Australia’s main focus is Indonesia. The Australian Government is trying to develop a strong trade relationship with our northern neighbour, so dealing with illegal forestry poses an interesting policy.</p>
<p>Indonesia has moved up the Transparency International rating over the past few years. This reflects activities by the Indonesian government to crack down on endemic corruption. There has been a two-year deferment on the powers of the Australian illegal logging bill. Perhaps this reflects the concern the government has with the law will affect the growing regional trade relationship.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16002/original/7g2d93cg-1349052662.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16002/original/7g2d93cg-1349052662.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16002/original/7g2d93cg-1349052662.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16002/original/7g2d93cg-1349052662.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16002/original/7g2d93cg-1349052662.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16002/original/7g2d93cg-1349052662.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16002/original/7g2d93cg-1349052662.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Europe is taking a ‘partnership’ approach to stopping illegal logging.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">basswulf/Flickr</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The European Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (<a href="http://www.euflegt.efi.int/portal/">FLEGT</a>) law approaches the illegal logging issue differently. A core part of the FLEGT law is a series of Voluntary Partnership Agreements (<a href="http://ec.europa.eu/environment/forests/flegt.htm">VPAs</a>). These involve the EU working with supplier nations of wood products to ensure systems are in place to confirm the legality of any wood exported to the EU.</p>
<p>When there are weaknesses in a supplier nation’s systems of legality, the local authorities and the FLEGT work together to bring the system to an agreed standard. The VPA is based on a combination of a local robust system and an agreed level of mutual monitoring in both the supplier nation and the EU.</p>
<p>The EU is currently working on a VPA with the Government of Indonesia. So while the Australian illegal logging law appears to be alienating a major potential trading partner, the Europeans are using the same law to strengthen trade and political relationships. </p>
<p>In addition the EU Trade Regulations, EUTR have been modified to require due diligence by importers of wood products making sure they have done everything possible to ensure the products they are importing into the EU are from legal origins. Heavy penalties can be handed out if an importer has failed to ensure the legality of wood products. </p>
<p>In the US, the <a href="http://www.aphis.usda.gov/plant_health/lacey_act/">Lacey Act</a> places a great deal of the onus on the importer of any wood or wood product. The importer has to take “due care” to make sure the wood used has been harvested, owned and manufactured legally, although the definition of “legal” is vague. It cannot simply mean that the supplier adheres to the supplier nation’s laws because these laws may be inadequate.</p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16006/original/7y8mj7q8-1349053111.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/16006/original/7y8mj7q8-1349053111.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=928&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16006/original/7y8mj7q8-1349053111.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=928&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16006/original/7y8mj7q8-1349053111.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=928&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16006/original/7y8mj7q8-1349053111.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1166&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16006/original/7y8mj7q8-1349053111.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1166&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/16006/original/7y8mj7q8-1349053111.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1166&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Vague definitions won’t help save forests.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CIFOR</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Lacey Act does bring attention to the problem of illegal logging. But its broad scope is likely to result in an endless stream of accusations against products that are imported. Ultimately this approach could be used by some suppliers simply to keep their competitors at bay through continuous accusations.</p>
<p>This lack of global consistency in defining illegal logging, wood and wood products makes this issue complicated. In the end political compromises will likely mean nothing actually changes.</p>
<p>The proactive methods employed by the European FLEGT law seem to be the most workable solution. But the EU is finding that negotiating, agreeing and then managing VPAs with developing countries is a monumental task. Notably however, the approach places the onus on the exporter.</p>
<p>The Indonesian government has introduced its own mandatory timber legality verification system, called <a>SVLK</a>). They’re applying it to all their exporters with assistance from the EU FLEGT program. By 2015 all wood products exported from Indonesia must have an SVLK certification of legality. In addition the EU will only accept SVLK certified wood products from Indonesia under the FLEGT law. This doubles the assurance that all Indonesian wood exported to the EU is legal.</p>
<p>The EU is taking a more consultative approach to the very difficult problem of illegal logging, working on exporter nations and importers equally. It is a contrast to the importation barriers Australia and the US want to put up. Time will tell which is the most effective approach.</p>
<p><em>Read more on <a href="https://theconversation.com/lessons-from-the-us-stopping-illegal-logging-benefits-both-sides-of-politics-9529">illegal logging legislation</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/9863/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Phillip Lawrence consults to a number of Indonesian organizations.</span></em></p>The Australian Senate is about to take on the task of stopping illegal logging, with legislation banning the importation and sale of timber products containing illegally logged timber being considered…Dr Phillip Lawrence, PhD Scholar, University of SydneyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/95292012-09-14T04:37:09Z2012-09-14T04:37:09ZLessons from the US: stopping illegal logging benefits both sides of politics<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/15373/original/9czsq8fh-1347417426.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In the US Congress, it was hard to find an opponent to stopping illegal logging.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">CIFOR</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>As the Australia Parliament currently debates <a href="http://www.aph.gov.au/Parliamentary_Business/Bills_Legislation/Bills_Search_Results/Result?bId=r4740">legislation to fight illegal logging</a>, it’s worth considering the impact of the American and European laws on which the Australian effort is modelled. We may be in a unique position to do so: our long careers in the timber industry led both of us to be strong initiators and advocates of the <a href="http://www.eia-global.org/lacey/P6.EIA.LaceyReport.pdf">US Lacey Act</a>, which prohibits the import and trade of illegal wood and wood products.</p>
<p>Our philosophy, like most of the forest products industry, has been to conduct business and manage forests in a way that ensures the timber resources we rely upon will remain healthy and available for future generations.</p>
<p>However, these efforts are severely <a href="https://theconversation.com/illegal-logging-takes-30-football-fields-a-minute-why-isnt-australia-acting-6002">undermined by illegal loggers</a>, who pillage national parks and protected areas around the world. Some employ slave and child labour, aid drug trafficking, fund terrorism, and spur violent conflict in communities. Illegal logging has devastated forests and wildlife and is a significant driver of the 30 million acres of tropical forest cleared every year.</p>
<p>Many of Australia’s closest neighbours, including Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands and Indonesia, are struggling with some of the highest levels of illegal logging in the world. A recent example <a href="http://www.eia-international.org/unchallenged-crimes-of-rotten-apple-palm-oil-company">reported by the Environmental Investigation Agency</a> reveals that the palm oil company PT Suryamas Cipta Perkasa illegally cleared a peat forest in central Borneo that contained substantial stands of the valuable hardwood species ramin, illegal to cut in Indonesia. This clearing destroyed the habitat for a population of 600 endangered Bornean orangutans, which - adding insult to injury - the company also paid people to hunt and kill. The livelihoods of the local residents were destroyed along with the forest. One-third of the community moved away.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/15372/original/btmd549x-1347417426.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/15372/original/btmd549x-1347417426.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/15372/original/btmd549x-1347417426.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/15372/original/btmd549x-1347417426.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/15372/original/btmd549x-1347417426.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/15372/original/btmd549x-1347417426.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/15372/original/btmd549x-1347417426.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Illegal logging destroys the habitat of threatened species and local people.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">CIFOR</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono has prioritised halting illegal deforestation and has called upon importing countries to help by stating, </p>
<blockquote>
<p>If you want to do good, let’s work together to sort out the timber industry. Other countries should stop fencing illegally felled timber.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>While illegal logging is a lucrative business for organised criminal operations, it robs developing countries of an estimated $10 billion annually. Logging gangs evade paying fees for use of natural resources, smuggle timber out of forest nations, and do the high-value, job creating work of processing thousands of miles from the communities that depend on the forests for their livelihood. Illegal logging also undercuts companies who play by the rules, making it extremely difficult to compete in the global marketplace and resulting in job losses.</p>
<p>That’s why, in 2008, we worked with a broad coalition to advance the world’s first prohibition on the import and trade of illegal wood and wood products. Just as in Australia, environmental groups and the timber industry are often at each other’s throats. But when it comes to illegal logging, we’ve found common ground. Supporters of the Lacey Act include everyone from Greenpeace and the Sierra Club to Fortune 500 companies like International Paper and American’s largest landowner, Plum Creek, as well as smaller lumber businesses.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/15374/original/pjv6x93v-1347417426.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/15374/original/pjv6x93v-1347417426.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/15374/original/pjv6x93v-1347417426.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/15374/original/pjv6x93v-1347417426.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/15374/original/pjv6x93v-1347417426.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/15374/original/pjv6x93v-1347417426.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/15374/original/pjv6x93v-1347417426.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The logging industry and environmentalists are often at each other’s throats: this is something they can work together on.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Still Wild Still Threatened</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Extraordinarily, support for this law has, for the most part, crossed the partisan divide in America at one of the most politically polarised times in our history. The law emerged from a Bush administration initiative, but was supported as enthusiastically by left wing Democrats as conservative Republicans. Indeed, when the Lacey Act recently came under attack from a politically well-connected importer that was accused of violating it, the law’s opponents couldn’t muster the votes to undermine it.</p>
<p>Coming together to achieve this goal has cut global illegal logging by 22% - good news for orangutans, tigers, and communities that depend on forests. And it’s helping to protect the lungs of our planet which are increasingly important as we all face the challenges of climate change.</p>
<p>It’s also been good for the economy. In 2006, the US ran a $20.3 billion deficit with China in forest products; in 2010, the US ran a $600 million surplus. This dramatic reversal is due in large part to the 2008 Lacey Act forest provisions, which spurred many Chinese manufacturers to ask for low risk, legal and sustainable hardwoods. Our domestic resource fit that bill; so would Australia’s.</p>
<p>One country alone cannot fully stop illegal logging, which is driven by a complex global market. With the US Lacey Act, the EU Timber Regulation, and hopefully the Australian Illegal Logging Prohibition Bill joining forces in blocking illegal wood imports, we can continue to make significant progress in curbing global forest crime.</p>
<p><em>This article was co-authored by Jameson S. French, the President and CEO of Northland Forest Products, Inc, based in New Hampshire, USA.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/9529/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mark Rey does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As the Australia Parliament currently debates legislation to fight illegal logging, it’s worth considering the impact of the American and European laws on which the Australian effort is modelled. We may…Mark Rey, Executive in Residence, Centre for Systems Integration and Sustainability, Michigan State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/60022012-03-23T02:09:36Z2012-03-23T02:09:36ZIllegal logging takes 30 football fields a minute: why isn’t Australia acting?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/8928/original/tnng8qvk-1332466927.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Most illegal timber ends up in developed countries, but Australia is reluctant to block its importation.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>A few years ago a friend of mine, <a href="http://www.eoearth.org/profile/Philip.fearnside">Philip Fearnside</a>, feared for his life. Phil had just flown into Manaus, Brazil, where he is a biologist and well-respected critic of illegal loggers and others who threaten the Amazon rainforest. He’d left his car in the airport parking lot, and he noticed a window was ajar. He was certain he’d closed it tightly. </p>
<p>For the next two hours Phil gingerly probed his car, eventually crawling beneath it to check for wires or bombs. He found nothing — a false alarm, he surmised. </p>
<p>But Phil was not simply being paranoid. Criminal gangs increasingly control illegal logging, and will kill those who dare to oppose them. In the Peruvian Amazon, for instance, a community leader alerted police to a truckload of illegal logs. Within an hour he was dead from six gunshots. The American nun <a href="http://www.dorothystang.org/dorothy.html">Dorothy Stang</a>, who fought to protect local communities in the Amazon from illegal loggers and land grabbers, was executed by hired killers. The legendary Brazilian conservationist <a href="http://www.chicomendes.com/">Chico Mendes</a> was also gunned down. </p>
<figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/8929/original/m2h6ps79-1332466927.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/8929/original/m2h6ps79-1332466927.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=854&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/8929/original/m2h6ps79-1332466927.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=854&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/8929/original/m2h6ps79-1332466927.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=854&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/8929/original/m2h6ps79-1332466927.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1073&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/8929/original/m2h6ps79-1332466927.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1073&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/8929/original/m2h6ps79-1332466927.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1073&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Illegal loggers in Myanmar send hundreds of millions of dollars worth of timber to China each year.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">AAP</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>These are but a few of the fallen. As documented in a recent report by the World Bank, “<a href="http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTFINANCIALSECTOR/Resources/Illegal_Logging.pdf">Justice for the Forests</a>,” illegal logging is now a massive criminal enterprise, rivaling the illegal drug trade and robbing developing nations of up to US$15 billion in revenues annually. Of the 15 top timber-producing nations, two-thirds lose over half of their timber to illegal loggers, with some losing up to 90%. </p>
<p>According to the World Bank, it’s time to get tough with illegal loggers. In their new report they urge authorities to follow the trail of money, tracking down illegal timber barons with the same strategies used to catch drug kingpins and human traffickers. </p>
<p>The bank also wants law enforcers to use electronic surveillance, undercover operations and witness protection. It’s the only way, the report concludes, to combat international criminal syndicates and go after the big fish. </p>
<p>And it’s about time. The World Bank estimates that illegal logging causes or promotes the destruction of forest at a rate of 30 football fields a minute. This is an enormous threat to biodiversity and to local and indigenous cultures, and causes billions of tons of greenhouse gases to be spewed into the atmosphere each year. </p>
<p>According to the World Bank, if all the environmental and social costs are tallied along with the economic losses, the actual cost of illegal logging is around US$60 billion per year — a whopping figure. </p>
<p>It’s a problem that affects us all. As awareness of the crisis grows, industrial nations — which ultimately consume much of the world’s illicit timber, typically as wood products such as flooring, furniture and plywood — are taking measures to combat illegal timber imports. These include the European Union’s <a href="http://www.tft-forests.org/ttap/">Timber Action Plan</a> and new provisions to the <a href="http://www.eia-global.org/lacey/P6.EIA.LaceyReport.pdf">Lacey Act</a> in the US, which are putting teeth into measures designed to fight illegal imports. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/8927/original/8sdx8z27-1332466927.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/8927/original/8sdx8z27-1332466927.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/8927/original/8sdx8z27-1332466927.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/8927/original/8sdx8z27-1332466927.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/8927/original/8sdx8z27-1332466927.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/8927/original/8sdx8z27-1332466927.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/8927/original/8sdx8z27-1332466927.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=502&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Criminal gangs control illegal logging in the Amazon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">BBC World Service</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>In Australia, lawmakers have been debating a similar law for several years. Last month I briefed members of the Australian Senate on this legislation, the <a href="http://www.daff.gov.au/forestry/international/illegal-logging">Illegal Logging Prohibition Bill 2011</a>, which could diminish illegal timber and wood products flooding into Australia from places like Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and China. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, the Liberal-National Coalition, which originally supported the bill because it would help level the playing field for domestic timber producers, is now getting cold feet. Instead of passing it, the conservative Coalition has diverted the bill to a Joint Parliamentary Committee, even though there have already been <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/political-news/liberals-stall-on-illegal-timbers-20120321-1vkd1.html#ixzz1pm8ILkNd">two Parliamentary Inquiries in the past year</a> on this exact policy. As a result, the bill is temporarily stalled and might eventually be weakened or even derailed.</p>
<p>This is bad news for anyone who cares about the environment and responsible commerce. In addition to the Coalition and its misguided policies, blame is due to former Australian trade ambassador Alan Oxley, who has lobbied hard against the bill. Oxley is now a well-heeled lobbyist funded by some of the world’s biggest timber and oil palm corporations, based in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. </p>
<p>Last year I debated Oxley at Australian National University, in an event focusing on trade and forest conservation in the Asia-Pacific region. It was <a href="http://news.mongabay.com/2011/0518-oxley_v_laurance_debate.html">not a friendly encounter</a>. Then, as now, Oxley argued that an illegal logging bill would be “anti-free-trade” and “green protectionism.”</p>
<p>But those arguments are bunk. The bill before Parliament won’t harm legitimate traders and timber producers — just those who profit from illegal logging. If the illegal logging bill falters, Oxley and the Coalition will have a lot to answer for, because Australia should be part of the solution to illegal logging, not part of the problem. </p>
<p>Dithering while the forests fall empowers the criminals that are plundering, bribing and even killing to enrich themselves with the proceeds from illegal logging. We have to fight this scourge. Australia is too smart and principled a nation to fail to do so. </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/6002/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Bill Laurance receives funding from the ARC and other scientific organizations. He is affiliated with James Cook University and also holds the Prince Bernhard Chair in International Nature Conservation, which is co-sponsored by Utrecht University in the Netherlands and WWF-Netherlands.</span></em></p>A few years ago a friend of mine, Philip Fearnside, feared for his life. Phil had just flown into Manaus, Brazil, where he is a biologist and well-respected critic of illegal loggers and others who threaten…Bill Laurance, Distinguished Research Professor and Australian Laureate, James Cook UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.