In many countries, illegal logging now accounts for more than 50 per cent of timber. Once cut, illegal logs feed an insatiable demand for exotic hardwoods in developed and developing countries. The result has been an enormous loss of both revenue and biodiversity, and consequently the issue has risen to the top of the global forest policy agenda as one of the major threats to forests, and donors and national governments are starting to develop initiatives to `combat' illegal logging. Yet for such a massive illegal trade, there is surprisingly limited knowledge available as to the major causes of illegal logging and its impacts on biodiversity, people and livelihoods and national economies, and thus plenty of speculation and action without evidence. It is clear that while illegal logging does have negative impacts, it also, controversially, and perhaps paradoxically, benefits many stakeholders, including local communities who have been marginalized by unjust forest policies. While there are clearly no easy answers, Illegal Logging sorts fact from fiction and explores the many dimensions of the causes, impacts and implications for forests, people, livelihoods and forest policy.
- The Problem of Illegal Logging
- Sociology of Illegal Logging in North America
- From New Order to Regional Autonomy
- Turning in Circles
- Illegal Logging, Collusive Corruption and Fragmented Governments in Kalimantan, Indonesia
- Forest Law Enforcement and Rural Livelihoods
- Rural Livelihoods, Forest Law and Illegal Timber Trade in Honduras and Nicaragua
- Livelihoods and the Adaptive Application of the Law in the Forests of Cameroon
- Forest Law Enforcement and Livelihoods in Bolivia
- Can Law Save the Forest?
- Certification and Illegal Logging
- The Future of Forests and Illegal Logging
- Index
Luca Tacconi is an Associate Professor at the Crawford School of Economics and Government, the Australian National University.
"Invaluable reading for forest professionals contemplating work in the Third World as it provides a primer on one set of obstacles they'll meet."
- Roy Strang, BC Forest Professional Nov-December 2007.
"[...] the book sorts fact from fiction and explores the many dimensions of the causes, impacts and implications for forests, people, livelihoods and forest policy."
- Bois et Forets Des Tropiques, 2007
"An excellent resource for those working to conserve and sustainably manage forests worldwide."
- Gonzalo Oviedo, Senior Social Policy Advisor, IUCN – the World Conservation Union