Preventing illegal logging
Introduction
Illegal logging is estimated to cost the international community US$30–100 billion each year and amounts for 90% of timber exports in some countries (World Bank, 2019; Goncalves et al., 2012). Some estimate that there is a loss of US$558–639 million in the Amazon alone (Gutierrez-Velez and MacDicken, 2008). The loss to the environment is largely unknown while some have indicated that the problem of illegal logging directly affects survival of certain species (Carvalho Jr et al., 2020).
This paper follows the definition of illegal logging to include
logging activities in protected areas, the logging of protected species, logging outside concession boundaries, extraction of more than the allowable harvest, removal of oversized or undersized trees, and harvesting in areas where extraction is prohibited such as catchment areas, steep slopes, and riverbanks” (Casson and Obidzinski, 2002, p 2134).
This inclusive definition accurately focuses on the immediate problem of illegal logging to successfully target vulnerable forestry areas. Many regions worldwide share this problem (Banks et al., 2008). Specific examples include Ghana (Hansen and Treue, 2008), Cameroon (Alemagi and Kozak, 2010), Democratic Republic of Congo (Lawson, 2014), and Madasgacar (Innes, 2010) in Africa to the Bolivian, Peruvian (Finer et al., 2014) and Brazilian Amazon (Innes, 2010; Gutierrez-Velez and MacDicken, 2008) in South America to Bangladesh (Mukul et al., 2013), the Philippines (van der Ploeg et al., 2011), and Indonesia (Obidzinski and Chaudhury, 2009) in Asia.
This paper seeks to examine the problem of illegal logging in the forests. As such, the focus of this paper examines the problem on the ground and in the field before the timber leaves the country. While studies identify illegal logging as a problem, most of the literature explores the issue through broad and vague approaches that do not specifically address the immediate problem (Ravenel and Granoff, 2004; Smith et al., 2003) or high levels of technological sophistication and knowledge that will take years and significant investment to develop (Dormontt et al., 2015). Also, the probability of proper identification and accountability drops significantly as illegally and legally harvested timber is indistinguishable in international commerce (Rhodes et al., 2006). Because timber supply chains can be global, involving multiple transactions, processing steps and transport over long distances, much attention has also focused on “consumer market solutions” —boycotts, wood procurement standards, supply chain tracking to finished products. These also require considerable time to influence the many actors involved in the global timber market, do nothing to affect timber already en route to such markets, and could impose significant costs on nations and enterprises already providing legitimate supplies (Dlamini and Montouroy, 2017; Prestemon, 2015; White, 2018). Moreover, some scholars propose general legislative and international standard changes which have been shown to play an indirect role towards the necessary changes to combating illegal logging that may or may not be effective (Chatham House, 2015; Gulbrandsen and Humphreys, 2006; Innes, 2010; Resosudarmo and Yusuf, 2006). All of these dynamics are important to consider when addressing illegal logging, however, focusing on such components of the timber industry neglect opportunities to address some of the more proximate features of the settings in which illegal logging can flourish.
Unlike most other commodities entering legitimate international commerce, ownership claim weaknesses lead to a near total lack of even the most rudimentary of industrial security practices (Larson et al., 2013). In combination with the widely recognized need for general strengthening of the technical, environmental and social practices of industrial forestry around the world, incorporation of defensive measures such as any prudent owner of a valuable asset would employ should be a priority (Nayer, 2011). Therefore, this paper seeks to address immediate measures and certain recommendations which allow for direct solutions to prevent illegal logging and hopefully, lead to further improvements regarding the problem of illegal logging. While most of these techniques have already been introduced throughout scholarly literature and practice, this paper seeks to reorient such approaches through the lens of crime prevention (van Solinge et al., 2016). This reorientation of perspective should then allow for the prioritization of certain intervention techniques that will significantly decrease the illegal trading of timber.
Section snippets
Introduction of criminological techniques to prevent illegal logging
Situational crime prevention is a criminological technique to address crime with the intention of preventing such activity. Situational crime prevention (SCP) stems from rational choice theory in which an offender is rationally deciding that a criminal act will be advantageous rather than disadvantageous as risks to commit the crime remain low while the rewards are high, from the offender's perspective. Therefore, increasing the risks and effort to commit crime will impact the offender's
The physical and institutional setting for illegal logging
Forests around the world present a near infinite variety of environments and social circumstances. Even the developing country forests most susceptible to criminal exploitation are incredibly varied, ranging from the well-stocked moist tropical forests of the Amazon, southeast Asia, and Equatorial Africa, to the sparsely stocked drier forests of other parts of Africa, the South Asian sub-continent, and the temperate and Boreal forests of eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union. Nevertheless,
Conclusion
This paper suggests that researchers, policy makers, resource managers, and other relevant stakeholders should place greater reliance on situational crime prevention. While recognizing the significance of the many and varied causes of illegal logging, many of which are deeply rooted in challenging political economies and are highly resistant to change, the many elements of the local context that contribute to and enable illegal logging are more amenable to direct influence. From the extraction
Funding source
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
Declaration of Competing Interest
We have no conflicts of interest to disclose.
References (74)
- et al.
Illegal logging in Cameroon: causes and the path forward
Forest Policy Econ.
(2010) - et al.
Nodes, paths, and edges: considerations on the complexity of crime and the physical environment
J. Environ. Psychol.
(1993) - et al.
Effects of illegal logging on Amazonian medium and large-sized terrestrial vertebrates
For. Ecol. Manag.
(2020) - et al.
From new order to regional autonomy: shifting dynamics of “illegal” logging in Kalimatan, Indonesia
World Dev.
(2002) - et al.
Forensic timber identification: It’s time to integrate disciplines to combat illegal logging
Biol. Conserv.
(2015) - et al.
One step ahead to predict potential poaching hotspots: modeling occupancy and detectability of poachers in a neotropical rainforest
Biol. Conserv.
(2018) - et al.
Quantifying the direct social and governmental costs of illegal logging in the Bolivian, Brazilian, and Peruvian Amazon
Forest Policy Econ.
(2008) - et al.
The spatial pattern of redwood burl poaching and implications for prevention
Forest Policy Econ.
(2018) - et al.
Land tenure and REDD+: the good, the bad and the ugly
Glob. Environ. Chang.
(2013) The impacts of the Lacey Act Amendment of 2008 on U.S. hardwood lumber and hardwood plywood imports
For. Pol. Econ.
(2015)
Examining the shifting patterns of poaching from a long-term law enforcement intervention in Sumatra
Biol. Conserv.
Tiger poaching and trafficking in India: estimating rates of occurrence and detection over four decades
Biol. Conserv.
Spatial patterns of wire-snare poaching: implications for community conservation in buffer zones around National Parks
Biol. Conserv.
Conservation, wildlife crime, and tough-on-crime policies: lessons from the criminological literature
Biol. Conserv.
Environmental crime: a threat to our future
Environ. Investig. Agency
Socioeconomic factors and tropical deforestation
Nature
The United States’ race to certify sustainable forestry: non-state environmental governance and the competition for policy-making authority
Bus. Polit.
Updating international law enforcement ethics: international codes of conduct
Crim. Just. Ethics
Tackling Illegal Logging and Related Trade: What Progress and Where Next
Situational crime prevention
Modeling offenders decisions: a framework for research and policy
Governing sustainable forest management issues in polycentric governance: the EU FLEGT action plan as a regulatory catalyser
Environ. Law Rev.
Technologies for Wood Tracking: Verifying and Monitoring the Chain of Custody and Legal Compliance in the Timber Industry
A Security Survey Diagnostic Leading to Peer Review of the Perum Perhutani Forest Protection Plan. Consultant Report to the World Bank: Draft of November 2009
Mapping Crime: Understanding Hotspots
The tragedy of the commons: twenty-two years later
Hum. Ecol.
Crime in Everyday Life
Logging concessions enable illegal logging crisis in the Peruvian Amazon
Sci. Rep.
Tropical forest monitoring and remote sensing: a new era of transparency in forest governance?
Singap. J. Trop. Geogr.
Justice for Forests: Improving Criminal Justice Efforts to Combat Illegal Logging
Situational prevention of organised timber theft and related corruption
Deforestation history of the eastern rain forests of Madagascar from satellite images
Science
International initiatives to address tropical timber logging and trade
A comparative analysis of five forest certification programs
Forests
Spatially Explicit Analysis of Poaching Activity as a Conservation Management Tool
Wildlife Society Bulletin
Assessing illegal logging in Ghana
Int. For. Rev.
The tragedy of the commons
Science
Cited by (7)
Predicting timber theft based on environmental features – Insights from Humboldt Redwoods State Park, US
2023, Forest Policy and EconomicsEco-pesantren: Islamic Education in Forest Conservation Landscapes
2023, Fudan Journal of the Humanities and Social SciencesAnalysis of the Relations Between Forestry Financial Supports and Forest Crimes
2023, Environmental ManagementIllicit Redwood Theft in a California State Park: A Crime Script Analysis Approach
2023, Revista Espanola de Investigacion CriminologicaAnalysis of the Relations between Forestry Financial Supports and Forest Crimes
2022, Research Square