Deforestation, the timber trade and illegal logging

Abstract

A conservative estimate of deforestation, compiled by the FAO, suggests global forests are disappearing at a rate of 0.2% per annum – a rate of change that throughout the 1990s resulted in the loss of 9.4m hectares of forest (including plantations), and 12.5m hectares of natural forest every year. Four key regions – Tropical South America, Russia, Central Africa and Southeast Asia – account for 60% of the world's remaining forests. Four countries within these regions – Russia, Brazil, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo – hold over 40% of the world's remaining forests. These same countries account for roughly the same proportion of forest lost throughout the 1990s.

Full text

http://www.illegal-
logging.info/item_single.php?item=document&item_id=21&approach_id=26
Deforestation, the timber trade
and illegal logging
EC Workshop on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade.
Brussels, April 22nd-24th, 2002.
Neil Scotland and Sabine Ludwig

Summary
A conservative estimate of deforestation, compiled by the FAO, suggests global
forests are disappearing at a rate of 0.2% per annum – a rate of change that throughout
the 1990s resulted in the loss of 9.4m hectares of forest (including plantations), and
12.5m hectares of natural forest every year.
Four key regions – Tropical South America, Russia, Central Africa and Southeast
Asia – account for 60% of the world’s remaining forests. Four countries within these
regions – Russia, Brazil, Indonesia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo – hold
over 40% of the world’s remaining forests. These same countries account for roughly
the same proportion of forest lost throughout the 1990s.
The trade in timber and timber products, as a driving force behind commercial forest
exploitation, is a major cause of deforestation. The pattern of trade is generally
(although not exclusively) characterised by a flow of wood and wood products from
less-developed and transitional producer countries, to industrialised (and
industrialising) consumer countries. The European Union accounted for 25-50% of
global imports for several important timber products in 2000.
A large, though unquantified proportion of timber entering the global trade comes
from illegal harvesting operations. There is thus a strong probability that large
volumes of timber entering the European market comes from illegal sources. It is
important to curb the trade in illegal timber, since it damages the reputation of the
legitimate trade, is an important cause of the rapid forest loss witnessed in the 1990s,
and is undermining governance and the rule of law in producer countries. Curbing this
illegal trade will require use of instruments including customs and trade policy,
supported by systems to certify and verify the legality of timber, and complemented
by support, where needed, to producer countries.
Overview of deforestation
The World Conservation Monitoring Centre (WCMC), a division of the United
Nations Environment Programme, estimates that half of the forest which existed from
the end of the last ice age to the expansion of humankind around 8,000 years ago has
now disappeared, largely as the result of human activities (see cover picture).
In the year 2000 the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO)
estimate that forests covered 3.8bn hectares – a figure just short of 30% of the earth’s
total land area. In 1990 the corresponding FAO estimate for forest area was 3.9bn
hectares, meaning that in the intervening decade nearly 100m hectares of forest was
lost, a rate equivalent to over –0.2% per annum (see Appendix 1 for a full summary).
Forest loss, 1990-2000
000 ha unless otherwise stated
Total forest 1990 Total forest 2000 Annual change,
1990-2000 Annual change (%)
Global total 3,963,429 3,869,455 -9,391 -0.22
Source: FAO 2001

This aggregate figure is a net estimate of both forest loss and forest gain. Aggregating
the data in this way can hide large losses in one region or type of forest, which are
offset by gains in other regions or types of forest, particularly plantations.
Plantations expanded annually by 3.1m hectares during the period 1990-2000, a
substantial increase which in the aggregate figures offsets a greater loss in natural
forest. Removing plantations from the aggregate figures reveals a loss of natural
forest running to approximately 12.5m hectares every year.
The aggregate figures also mask changes across regions. In the tropics there was an
overall annual loss of –15.2m hectares of natural forest, offset by 1m hectares in
annual regeneration. Net loss of natural tropical forest was thus in the region of –
14.2m hectares every year throughout the 1990s. In contrast, in the non-tropical zone,
regeneration of natural forest exceeded losses, leading to a net gain of 1.7m hectares
of natural forest every year throughout the 1990s. Taking tropical and non-tropical
forest together, there was an annual loss of –12.5m hectares of natural forest over the
period in question.
Natural forest loss, 1990-2000
million hectares per year
Region Natural forest Forest plantations Total forest loss
Loss Gains Net change Net change Net change
Tropical -15.2 1.0 -14.2 1.9 -12.3
Non-tropical -0.9 2.6 1.7 1.2 2.9
Global -16.1 3.6 -12.5 3.1 -9.4
Source: FAO 2001
Key regions
There are four key regions which together contain nearly 60% of the world’s forest –
Tropical South America, Southeast Asia, Russia and Central Africa. Within these
regions there are only four countries – three tropical and one temperate – which
account for around 42% of the world’s remaining forests: Russia, Brazil, the
Democratic Republic of the Congo and Indonesia.
Tropical South America
Tropical South America holds over 21% of the world’s forests, and nearly 45% of the
world’s tropical forests. Within this region a single country, Brazil, contains nearly
30% of the world’s remaining tropical forest. Throughout the 1990s Brazil lost forest
at the rate of 2.3m hectares (-0.4%) per annum, a rate which was broadly in line with
the rate of deforestation elsewhere in the region. The FAO report that Brazil produced
103m cubic metres of industrial roundwood in 2000.
Forest loss, tropical South America 1990-2000
000 ha unless otherwise stated
Region Land area Total forest
1990 Total forest
2000 Annual change,
1990-2000 Annual change
(%) Forest as % of
land area, 2000
South America 1,754,741 922,731 885,618 -3,711 -0.4 50
of which
Tropical 1,387,493 868,702 834,142 -3,456 -0.4 60
of which
Brazil 845,651 566,998 543,905 -2,309 -0.4 64
Source: FAO 2001

Russia
In 2000 the FAO estimate that Russia had over 850m hectares of forest, equivalent to
22% of the global total, and 43% of all remaining temperate forests. Throughout the
1990s forest area in Russia remained stable, according to FAO figures. The FAO
report that Russia produced 105.8m cubic metres of industrial roundwood in 2000.
Forest loss, Russia 1990-2000
000 ha unless otherwise stated
Region Land area Total forest
1990 Total forest
2000 Annual change,
1990-2000 Annual change
(%) Forest as % of
land area, 2000
Russia 1,688,851 850,039 851,392 135 0.0 50
Source: FAO 2001
Central Africa
Central Africa accounts for 8% of the world’s forests, and 16% of the world’s
remaining tropical forests. Within this region the most significant forest resources are
found within the Democratic Republic of the Congo, which has forests covering 135m
hectares – over 7% of the world’s tropical forests. The FAO report that the
Democratic Republic of the Congo produced 3.7m cubic metres of industrial
roundwood in 2000.
Forest loss, Central Africa 1990-2000
000 ha unless otherwise stated
Region Land area Total forest
1990 Total forest
2000 Annual change,
1990-2000 Annual change
(%) Forest as % of
land area, 2000
Central Africa 722,331 329,980 310,968 -1,901 -0.6 43
of which
D.R. Congo 226,705 140,531 135,207 -532 -0.6 60
Source: FAO 2001
Southeast Asia
Southeast Asia contains over 10% of the world’s tropical forests. Indonesia contains
around half of the forests in this region. The region is densely populated, and as a
result the annual rates of deforestation in both Southeast Asia and Indonesia, at –1%
and –1.2% respectively, are relatively high. The FAO report that Indonesia produced
31.4m cubic metres of industrial roundwood in 2000.
Forest loss, Southeast Asia 1990-2000
000 ha unless otherwise stated
Region Land area Total forest
1990 Total forest
2000 Annual forest
cover change
1990-2000
Annual change
rate (%) Forest as % of
land area, 2000
Southeast Asia 436,022 235,203 211,914 -2,328 -1.0 49
of which
Indonesia 181,157 118,110 104,986 -1,312 -1.2 58
Source: FAO 2001

A critique
The FAO provide the most comprehensive assessment of global forest resources
available today. However, there are some acknowledged problems which suggest that
in fact the rate of forest loss could be considerably higher.
First there is an issue with the quality of data available for the assessment. The FAO
relies on data from national forest inventories to compile its global estimates. The
World Resources Institute (WRI) points out that the quality of data available through
these national forest inventories is highly variable, and often very out of date
(Matthews, 2001). Rapid and recent loss of forest is often not picked up as a result.
There is also an issue regarding the definition of what forest is. The FAO now uses a
combination of land classification and land use criteria, with a standard measure of
10% canopy cover used to define forest. This is important, as it allows comparison
across different regions and different types of forest. However, in dry subtropical and
boreal zones forests with 10-20% canopy cover lie across substantial areas. Much of
these areas would be more commonly referred to as tundra and savannah.
Accounting for the net change in forest – losses offset by regeneration, and the
replacement of natural forest with plantations – also presents difficulties. Matthews
(2001) points out that the FAO does not provide data to perform this task down to
country level, which prevents the identification of countries facing the most rapid
losses of natural forest.
This is of little consequence in the tropics (with the possible exception of Southeast
Asia), where in 1990 plantation development was in a nascent state. However, it is of
consequence in temperate climates, where plantations are widespread. There is thus a
great degree of uncertainty in the FAO’s estimates, which are very conservative.
Deforestation, particularly loss of natural forest, could thus be very much higher than
suggested.
Not only a domestic problem
Deforestation is driven by a range of factors including growth in local human
populations, local environmental factors, and domestic government policies for
agriculture and land use. Also prominent among the causes of deforestation are the
commercial exploitation of forests for timber, and the international demand for wood
products. It is through trade, and the demand for wood products in consuming
countries, that the issue of forest loss becomes a question of inter-regional and
international policy.
Trade is a powerful driving force behind both the legal and illegal exploitation of
forests around the globe. Trade is by no means driven solely by western consumption.
Many emerging market economies are the among the largest consumers of wood
products. China is the largest importer of tropical timber and non-coniferous
sawnwood, and is also a major importer of plywood. India and Korea are also large
importers of certain wood products (Appendix 2).

But developed countries do play a dominant role in the trade. Japan is the world’s
largest importer of plywood, and a major importer of both tropical timber and non-
coniferous sawnwood. The United States, France, Belgium, Spain, Italy, Germany,
and the United Kingdom are also important consumers of wood products (Appendix
2). Taken as a whole, the European Union accounts for anywhere between 25-50% of
global imports for the indicative products set out below.
Selected wood product imports, 20001
Industrial
roundwood Tropical
roundwood Non-
coniferous
sawnwood
Plywood Pulp Paper
000 cum 000 cum 000 cum 000 cum 000 mt 000 mt
European Union
Austria 8,464 190 356 148 603 1,403
Belgium 4,248 380 828 507 1,082 3,327
Denmark 467 6 123 243 52 1,163
Finland 9,875 78 33 143 356
France 2,152 780 842 365 2,387 6,162
Germany 3,256 161 771 1,105 3,996 9,630
Greece 286 75 307 15 137 572
Holland 424 87 1,052 558 975 3,067
Ireland 113 20 157 124 33 439
Italy 5,805 314 2,076 422 3,193 4,425
Luxembourg 890 4 20 8 81
Portugal 1,310 158 556 29 93 556
Spain 7,515 1,307 1,323 305 621 3,259
Sweden 11,720 2 149 184 306 730
United Kingdom 289 65 655 1,041 1,907 6,421
Total EU 56,814 3,549 9,293 5,087 15,528 41,591
Other
United States 1,511 2 1,682 2,435 6,612 16,282
Japan 15,948 3,141 1,145 5,033 3,088 1,647
China 15,532 7,962 4,533 2,786 4,031 10,448
World total 116,822 20,443 25,332 19,775 37,737 98,453
EU as % of world total 48.6 17.4 36.7 25.7 41.1 42.2
1 Figures include intra-EU trade
Source: FAO (2002)
Trade, governance and the illegal economy
There is growing evidence to suggest that a large amount of timber traded on the
world market is harvested illegally. While there are no comprehensive estimates of
the full extent of illegal logging, a range of recent country studies suggest the problem
is substantial.
Industrial roundwood production and illegal logging in select producer countries
Ind. roundwood production, 2000 Estimated illegal harvest1
m cum as % of total prod.
Russia 105.8 20%
Brazil 103 80%
Indonesia 31.4 73%
D.R. Congo 3.7 n.a
1 Estimates are for a variety of years and do not refer to 2000 roundwood prod., which is the reported legal harvest.
Source: FAO (2002); Greenpeace (2000); Brazilian Secretariat for Strategic Affairs (1997); ITFMP (1999).

Although quantifying the illegal trade is by its nature very hard, the problem of illegal
logging has reached proportions where in producer countries it has now in places
started to undermine the rule of law. It encourages corruption, social conflict and the
inefficient use of resources, and is resulting in the loss of enormous potential
government revenues. It is thus a direct threat to the broader international
development goals shared by developed and developing countries alike.
The volumes of illegal timber entering the global trade, and the current difficulties of
distinguishing legal timber from illegal, make it impossible for consuming countries
to verify that imported wood products are not made from illegally harvested timber, or
that the trade in wood and wood products – tropical and temperate alike – is not
contributing directly to deforestation and undermining good governance and the rule
of law in producer countries. Furthermore, the illegal trade both damages the
reputation and threatens the sustainability of the legitimate timber trade.
It is thus important to stem the flow of illegal timber onto the world market. Many
inititives to this end have been developed in producer countries, and it is vital to
support and complement this work with efforts to curb the demand-side drivers of
illegal forest exploitation. This will require a concerted and co-ordinated effort, using
instruments including customs and trade policy, supported by systems to certify and
verify the legality of timber, and complemented by support, where needed, to
producer countries. This workshop provides an ideal opportunity to start building the
co-operation necessary to tackle this challenge.
References
Brazilian Secretariat for Strategic Affairs (1997). Quoted in Friends of the Earth
(2001).
FAO (2001). Global Forest Resource Assessment. FAO, Rome.
FAO (2002). Forest Products, 1996-2000. FAO, Rome.
Friends of the Earth (2001). Imports of Tropical Timber to the UK. Friends of the
Earth, London.
Global Forest Watch (2000). Overview of Logging in Cameroon. World Resources
Institute (WRI), Washington DC, USA.
Greenpeace (2000). Illegal Logging in Russia. Greenpeace, Russia.
Indonesia UK Tropical Forest Management Programme (ITFMP) (1999). Roundwood
Supply and Demand in the Forest Sector in Indonesia. Jakarta, Indonesia.
Matthews, E (2001). Understanding the FRA 2000. World Resources Institute Forest
Briefing No. 1. Washington, DC.

Appendix 1
FAO Global Forest Assessment 2000, summary table
Region Land area Total forest 1990 Total forest 2000 Annual forest cover change 1990-2000 Annual change rate Forest as % of land area, 2000
000 ha 000 ha 000 ha 000 ha % %
Africa 2,978,394 702,502 649,866 -5,262 -0.8 22
of which
Central Africa 722,331 329,980 310,968 -1,901 -0.6 43
of which
Dem. Rep. of the Congo 226,705 140,531 135,207 -532 -0.4 59.6
Asia 3,084,746 551,448 547,793 -364 -0.1 18
of which
Southeast Asia 436,022 235,203 211,914 -2,328 -1.0 49
of which
Indonesia 181,157 118,110 104,986 -1,312 -1.2 58
Oceania 849,096 201,271 197,623 -365 -0.2 23
Europe 2,259,957 1,030,475 1,039,251 881 0.1 46
of which
Russia 1,688,851 850,039 851,392 135 0.0 50
North America & Caribbean 1,837,992 466,684 470,564 388 0.1 26
of which
Canada 922,097 244,571 244,571 0 0.0 27
Central America 298,974 88,318 78,740 -958 -1.1 43
South America 1,754,741 922,731 885,618 -3,711 -0.4 50
of which
Tropical 1,387,493 868,702 834,142 -3,456 -0.4 60
of which
Brazil 845,651 566,998 543,905 -2,309 -0.4 64
Total 13,063,900 3,963,429 3,869,455 -9,391 -0.2 30
Memorandum items
Tropical 4,868,495 1,993,472 1,870,902 -12,257 -0.6 38
Non-tropical 8,195,405 1,969,957 1,998,553 2,860 0.1 24
Total 13,063,900 3,963,429 3,869,455 -9,397 -0.2 30
Source: FAO Global Forest Resource Assessment 2000

Appendix 2
Bilateral trade matrices for selected, indicative wood products
These bilateral matrices show the extent of trade in selected, indicative wood products
from major exporters to major importers. With one or two exceptions, trade generally
flows from less-developed and transitional producer countries to richer consuming
countries, consisting of the industrialised nations and the major emerging economies
of the world. The USA, Canada and Finland, as forest-rich countries are exceptions to
this pattern.
Industrial roundwood in the rough, tropical non-coniferous
000 cum
Major
exporters → Malaysia Gabon Papua New
Guinea Myanmar Cameroon Congo Rep Eq. Guinea Indonesia
Major
importers ↓
China 3029 1319 454 64 60 31 299 60
Japan 2236 25 943 3 18 1 12 56
India 840 . . 650 . . . .
France 0 521 0 9 168 107 51 .
Korea 350 14 583 0 1 0 . 0
Belgium 0 4 . 1 13 2 . 0
Spain . 24 . 0 108 90 42 0
Portugal . 110 . . 142 111 11 .
Source: FAO (2002)
Sawnwood, non-coniferous
000 cum
Major
exporters → USA Malaysia Canada Brazil France Indonesia
Major
importers ↓
China 381 619 19 38 55 27
Italy 135 29 31 19 24 8
USA . 43 716 99 2 31
Germany 71 47 105 3 77 1
Canada 716 . . 13 0 0
Japan 139 316 15 15 1 55
Source: FAO (2002)
Plywood
000 cum
Major
exporters → Indonesia Malaysia Brazil Canada Finland Russian Fed
Major
importers ↓
Japan 2789 1662 15 230 3 8
USA 821 461 262 625 30 235
China 973 479 0 3 4 1
Germany 115 12 155 13 208 58
UK 225 109 233 22 73 171
Korea 403 174 1 1 7 .
Source: FAO (2002)