In May 2003 the European Commission presented an Action Plan on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT). This marked the beginning of a long process by which the EU aims to develop and implement measures to address illegal logging and related trade.

Measures proposed in the FLEGT Action Plan include support for improved governance in wood-producing countries and voluntary partnerships between the EU and wood-producing countries to ensure that only legally sourced timber enters the EU. The FLEGT Action Plan also puts emphasis on demand-side measures to reduce consumption of illegally harvested timber.
Read more about FLEGT


In October 2003 the European Council endorsed the FLEGT Action Plan. This was an important first step in the implementation of the Action Plan. An EU Regulation permitting the establishment of a voluntary licensing scheme on timber was adopted in December 2005, and is now being implemented through Voluntary Partnership Agreements with a limited number of tropical countries.
Read more about the steps in the FLEGT process


WWF welcomes the FLEGT Action Plan and calls for its urgent implementation. To underpin and support the Voluntary Partnership Agreements, WWF calls for EU-wide legislation making it a criminal offence to import and sell illegally sourced timber and wood products to the EU.
Read more about the WWF positions on FLEGT


WWF calls on European governments to ensure the effective implementation of the FLEGT Action Plan. The Government Barometer presented on this website is an attempt to put focus on the EU governments' actions against illegal logging and forest crime.