WWF - For a living planet

Working with government to stop illegal logging

Illegal logging and the related trade occur when timber is harvested, transported, processed, bought or sold in violation of national or sub-national laws.

Illegal logging poses a serious threat to forests and wildlife. It also affects communities that lose their natural forest resources, while the loss of tax revenues has a wider social impact. All the places WWF works to safeguard forests are under pressure from illegal logging.

Influencing policy

Unfortunately, the trade in illegal forest products is still active in the UK and across the EU. A recent report by WWF-Germany on the EU trade in illegal forest products highlighted that the UK is the second-largest importer in the EU of illegal timber.

WWF-UK is working to ensure mechanisms are in place to eliminate the UK and EU trade in illegal forest products, and is currently lobbying to secure EU legislation that outlaws imports of illegal timber and wood products into the EU.

The European Community wants to support global efforts to address the problem of illegal logging, and developed the EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan, endorsed in 2003, to set out how to do this. The EU FLEGT Action Plan includes steps that the European Commission should undertake to analyse the feasibility of measures to control wood imports into the EU.

At present, the EU is negotiating Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) to be signed between EU member states and timber producing countries. These would form an agreement that partner countries will only export timber to the EU member states that has been verified as legal in origin. The VPAs are designed to combat illegal logging, support forest policy reform, help protect forest resources and generate benefits for local communities.

WWF supports these initiatives and wants them to be rigorous and successfully implemented; but underpinned by legislation to halt the trade in illegal goods, as well as support those committed to trading legally.

Supporting timber-producing countries

WWF-UK works with partners in timber-producing countries to reduce illegal logging by supporting the development of regional law enforcement mechanisms. These efforts are designed to strengthen the effectiveness of EU action to combat illegal logging.