Brussels, Belgium: Almost one-fifth of wood imported into the European Union in 2006 came from illegal or suspected illegal sources, with Russia, Indonesia and China being the main sources, says a new WWF report. The global conservation organisation calls for strong European legislation to prevent illegal wood entering the EU markets.
In 2006, the European Union imported between 26.5 and 31 million cubic metres of wood and related products from illegal origins, equivalent to the total amount of wood harvested in Poland in the same year. In all, 23 per cent of wood-based products imported from eastern Europe, 40 per cent from South East Asia, 30 per cent from Latin America and 36-56 per cent from Africa originated from illegal or suspect sources. Major importers are Finland, UK, Germany and Italy.
Illegal logging destroys the protective function of forests, increasing risk of natural disasters such as floods and landslides, and leads to deforestation, one of the main causes for climate change. Illegal logging also pushes wood prices down resulting in major economic losses for states, industries and local communities, said Anke Schulmeister, WWF Forest Policy Officer. Strong measures are needed at EU level to protect the worlds remaining forests and our own future.
The study highlights the ineffectiveness of the existing EU Forest and Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Licensing Scheme in stopping trade in illegal wood. Even if all Voluntary Partnership Agreements currently negotiated by the EU with partner countries under FLEGT were concluded, about 90 per cent of illegal wood would still enter the EU markets. No such negotiations are planned with countries like Russia and China and many products that are manufactured from illegal wood (eg. furniture and other ready processed wood products or paper) are not covered by FLEGT regulation.
The report traces the ten main routes for illegal wood trade. The main trader is Russia with 10.4 million cubic metres of illegal or suspicious wood transferred to EU countries in 2006. Almost half of this wood arrived in the European market through Finland, where it was processed into pulp and paper and then exported to the other EU countries. While second position is held by Indonesia, China has recently become a major player having tripled its exports of wood and paper products to the EU between 2003 and 2006 - 32% suspected to be from illegal sources. Meanwhile China imports the greater proportion of its wood from so-called high-risk regions like the far east of Russia, South East Asia and Africa, with a high probability of illegal origin.
WWF urges the introduction of EU legislation to guarantee that only legal wood is traded in the European market. Traders should prove the origin and legality of wood and penalties should be introduced for any violation. The European Commission is expected to propose legislation on this issue in the coming months.
Source: WWF
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Too much illegal wood in EU markets - WWF
