Paul Eccleston, The Telegraph 22 Jul 08;
Britain imports more illegal timber than almost any other country in Europe, a new report claims.
Almost one-fifth of wood imported into the EU in 2006 came from illegal sources, according to WWF. And the UK imported 3.5m cubic metres of illegal wood making it the second biggest importer behind Finland.
This included the biggest quantities of furniture, finished wood products, sawn wood and plywood of all EU states.
WWF claims that in total the EU imported between 26.5m and 31m cubic metres of illegal wood and related products in 2006, equal to the total amount of wood harvested in Poland in the same year. Most came from Russia, Indonesia and China.
The conservation organisation claims its findings demonstrated the need for stronger European laws to prevent illegal wood entering EU markets.
Julia Young, manager of the Forest and Trade Network at WWF-UK, said: "Illegal logging reduces the protective function of forests which frequently increases the 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 down wood prices leading to major economic losses for the producer states, industries and local communities.
"As the UK clearly plays a major role in fuelling this illegal trade, the Government needs to ensure the EU urgently introduces legislation to prevent illegal timber entering the EU - and thereby help protect the world's last remaining forests."
The study, carried out by WWF in Germany, showed an estimated 23 per cent of wood-based products from illegal or suspect sources were imported from Eastern Europe, 40 per cent from South-East Asia, 30 per cent from Latin America and 36 per cent to 56 per cent from Africa. Finland, UK, Germany and Italy were the main destinations..
WWF says the findings highlights the ineffectiveness of the existing voluntary scheme, the EU Forest and Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Licensing Scheme, set up to tackle illegal logging.
WWF called for the introduction of an EU law to guarantee that only legal wood is sold in the European market. Traders would have to prove the origin and legality of wood and face a penalty for any violation.
The European Commission is expected to make a proposal on this issue within the next few months.
About 20 percent of EU timber illegal or suspect: report
Reuters 21 Jul 08;
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Nearly a fifth of wood imported into the European Union has been harvested illegally or comes from suspect sources, mostly in Russia, Indonesia and China, according to a report by environmental group WWF.
In all, 40 percent of wood-based products from southeast Asia, 30 percent from Latin America and over 36 percent of those from Africa originated from illegal or suspect sources, said the report on 2006 imports.
Major importers were Finland, Britain, Germany and Italy, it added.
"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," said WWF forestry campaigner Anke Schulmeister.
The report said illegal timber hit local economies by pushing down timber prices, and called for tough EU action to clamp down on the trade.
The EU's executive body will adopt proposals in September aimed at curbing the trade by demanding certificates proving timber imported into the EU is legally harvested.
The WWF report said the main trader was Russia with 10.4 million cubic meters of illegal or suspicious wood transferred to EU countries in 2006, almost half of it via processing plants in Finland.
(Reporting by Pete Harrison; Editing by Catherine Evans)
WWF blasts EU's illegal wood imports, led by Finland
Yahoo News 22 Jul 08;
The World Wildlife Fund on Tuesday criticised the European Union's illegal wood imports, singling out Finland as the top offender and calling for EU-wide legislation to tackle the issue.
"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," WWF forest policy officer Anke Schulmeister said in a statement.
Illegal tree cutting also pushes timber prices lower, hurting companies, countries and local economies, she added.
In 2006, the EU imported some 30 million cubic metres of wood or wood products that were of illegal origin, mainly from Russia, China and Indonesia, according to the WWF report "Illegal Wood for the European Market."
"WWF is calling for additional legislation at the European level to stop the trade in illegal timber and wood products within the EU," the group said.
The bloc needs to "put the onus on companies which trade in wood products to demonstrate compliance with the law" and show that their raw material comes from legitimate sources, it added.
Finland, which is home to several of the world's largest paper makers, is the biggest importer of Russian wood to Europe, but legitimate imports into the Nordic country have fallen since Moscow began gradually ratcheting up export duties in 2006.
According to WWF, some 3.7 million cubic metres of Russian roundwood was illegally imported into Finland that year, corresponding to about 14 percent of all EU wood imports "based on products derived from illegal sources."
The conservation group acknowledged that some large Finnish forestry groups have gone to great lengths to exclude illegal wood from their production chain. However, it maintained that other companies with limited ability to exclude such timber "continue their operations, seemingly doing virtually nothing to improve."
WWF meanwhile listed Britain, Germany and Italy as the largest importers of furniture and other wood products from Asia, including China and Indonesia, estimating that about 40 percent of these products originated from illegal logging.
