New approaches to root out the drivers of illegal logging and deforestation

Nearly one third of tropical timber on the global market comes from trees sourced illegally, which causes deforestation. Yet illegal logging, deforestation and the informal value chains and economies that often contribute to them are complex phenomena, with varying causes, dynamics, impacts and trade-offs. Legal instruments and public policies are one approach to solving the issue; another is through private sector commitments to protect forests.

CIFOR is exploring both avenues through research and engagement, identifying the true drivers of illegal logging and deforestation and working with the people who stand to lose their trees – and their livelihoods.

Legal timber a missed opportunity for Central African governments

In the Congo Basin, demand for timber for the domestic market is growing as governments build infrastructure in the education, public works and healthcare sectors under proper funding or development programs. But research by CIFOR and partners has shown that local trade is highly informal, with little attention paid to the legality and sustainability of the wood used in those sectors.

This means that actors along the public procurement supply chain go against the countries’ commitments to sustainable forest management and to processes such as the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan, and the 2008 Sub-Regional Agreement on Forest Control in Central Africa.

CIFOR and partners highlight that many countries are missing out on an opportunity to promote a sustainable, legal supply chain of timber. Some, such as Cameroon, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Gabon, have taken steps to raise awareness of the issue, but more needs to be done to slow the rapid pace of deforestation.

In a policy brief by the Central African Forest Observatory (OFAC), scientists highlight the need for member states of the Central African Forest Commission (COMIFAC, Commission des Forêts d’Afrique Centrale) and their technical and financial partners, to establish green public procurement policies mandating the purchase of wood products exclusively from legal sources.

And, as part of the ESSOR project, CIFOR also produced a video as part of a public awareness campaign on the benefits of buying products made of legally sourced wood.

Scientists race to save the last stands of mukula

Rosewood from Africa, highly prized as a source of Chinese luxury redwood furniture, is one of the world’s most trafficked wild resource. CIFOR has been documenting the devastating effects of the trade between Zambia and China, negatively impacting rosewood stocks in Zambian forests, where the tree is known as ‘mukula’. Scientists were so alarmed at their initial findings they published a Forests News story ahead of the publication of their results to raise awareness of the problem, and another detailing the complex politics behind the problem. 

In 2018, scientists issued a brief urging the Zambian government to protect its forests and people’s long-term livelihoods, in part by testing and implementing approaches outlined in its Forest Act of 2015 for community, joint and private forest management.  

Since international trade is the root of the problem, especially with China’s seemingly insatiable demand for rosewood, one short-term solution could be to list the concerned species in the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Thanks to the persistence of CIFOR and partners, that option will be on the table at the 2019 CITES conference.

In pictures

Borneo Atlas reveals reasons for declining orangutan populations

Since its launch in 2016, CIFOR’s Atlas of Deforestation and Industrial Plantations in Borneo has been used by a range of actors, from non-governmental organizations investigating the source of haze caused by peatland fires to researchers across the globe. Users can visualize the annual progression of oil palm and pulpwood plantations in the landscape, including how the logging industry penetrates through intact forests by building roads, and link these changes with land ownership information to identify corporate responsibility, and detect irregularities.

In 2018, scientists at CIFOR and the German Centre for Integrative Biodiversity Research used the interactive map to understand how habitat loss is affecting Borneo’s orangutans. Their study found that half of the island’s orangutan population was affected by logging, deforestation or plantations between 1999 and 2015. They were surprised to find that many orangutans disappeared from forested areas, which suggests they are being hunted or killed by local people when they wander into villages searching for food after their habitat has been cleared.

A similar mapping tool is being developed for the Indonesia province of Papua, on the island of New Guinea, the last large equatorial islands that is still pristine. The Papua Atlas will launch in mid-2019.  

In pictures

Serious gaps undermine the potential impact of zero deforestation commitments

Private sector companies can make a huge difference for forests and biodiversity if they go deforestation-free, especially those in the ‘big four’ commodities: oil palm, cattle, timber and soy. But are their commitments having an impact, or is ‘zero deforestation’ just a bold marketing strategy?

CIFOR and partners assessed the commitments of 50 ‘powerbrokers’ – companies that are powerful enough to transform global value chains. They found that few companies have thought out in detail how their pledges will actually affect forests, producers and communities on the ground. Transparency is weak, not necessarily because companies are dishonest but due because it’s challenge to’ to read ‘but because it’s challenging to trace sourcing practices throughout the value chain. Nearly three quarters of powerbrokers did not require their suppliers to make zero deforestation commitments.

New project investigates a burning issue

Over 60% of households in sub-Saharan Africa rely on wood fuel in the form of firewood or charcoal to boil water and cook food. But since producing charcoal and wood fuel is part of the informal sector, little is known about the socioeconomic dynamics along the value chain, from trees to embers.

Since demand for wood fuel is expected to grow in the coming decades, CIFOR has launched an initiative to fill key knowledge, technical and policy gaps in wood fuel value chains in Cameroon and the wider Congo Basin, Kenya and Zambia, with extensions into neighboring countries for cross-border trade. The “Governing Multifunctional Landscapes in Sub-Saharan Africa: Managing Trade-Offs Between Social and Ecological Impacts” (GML) project is funded by the European Union and will be implemented by CIFOR and its partners until 2021.

Deforestation, value chains and illegal logging … over the years

Getting to the real source of deforestation in tropical countries has been CIFOR’s focus since the beginning, leading to decades of research and engagement around illegal logging, value chains, certification and recent zero deforestation commitments.