The UK stands accused of being the “biggest importer of illegal timber in Europe” in a new report from WWF.
And the environment group has called on the EU to get tough and replace the current FLEGT policy, which favours voluntary agreements between its members and producer countries, with a mandatory ban on the import of illegal logging.
The report, entitled Failing the Forests – the EU’s Illegal Timber Trade says that EU countries are helping destroy major forests in poorer countries through illegal timber imports. It claims that the UK alone is responsible for the loss of 600,000ha of forest each year in Asia, Africa and Latin America.
The report was compiled after a WWF investigation into the trade between EU nations and countries in the Amazon and Congo Basins, East Africa, Indonesia, Russia and the Baltics.
It claims that the EU is probably importing a substantial and increasing quantity of timber from all regions – indirectly via China.
Environment minister Elliot Morley said the UK had led calls for action to stop trade in illegal timber.
He agreed FLEGT had limitations and said that in the longer term a multi-lateral approach would be the best way to tackle illegal logging. He added: “Until this is attainable, a bilateral approach will help develop experience and build the consensus that could lead to a multi-lateral agreement.”
Erik Albrechtsen, head of the forestry and environment department at DLH-Group, said: “The wording of the WWF’s executive summary gives the impression that the trade and industry deliberately imports illegal timber. I do not know of any company involved in such activities.
“But there is a risk that when you buy wood from some countries, some of it may have dubious origin – even when the authorities have given an OK. That’s another story and our challenge is to minimise that risk.
“The timber trade is aware of its important role – one reason that the UK Timber Trade Federation is one of the key players in a new EU funded project to combat illegal wood (the FLEGT process).”
Mr Albrechtsen said the report is wrong when it states that illegal timber and its global trade are key threats to forest survival, citing a recent Food and Agriculture Organisation report which confirmed that farming is the main cause of deforestation. And, he added, deforestation cannot be solved by trade measures and legislation as suggested by WWF.
However, Mr Albrechtsen said, on a positive note, the WWF report underlines the need for co-ordinated action by the EU and the need to involve China, Japan and the US.
