Logging in the rain forest, jungles and woods across the world has caused loss of habitat for wildlife, leading to extinction of species as well as contributing to the global warming challenges. Tribes and indigenous people have been left with no land to live on, ending their traditional ways of life. Clearing millions of miles of woods has caused a catastrophe, but over the years people have started to wake up to the problem and even some 3rd world government are cracking down. More and more areas are set aside as national parks and protected areas. (Brazil has been a leader in this area). That however has meant a rise in the illegal logging industry and companies who make a profit off the backs of the poor villagers working for them.
A report released this week shows fantastic news for all who have fought for the animals, the people, and the planet.
Illegal logging is down 25% across the board since 2002.
Worldwide, an international clampdown on unlawfully harvested timber has helped protect up to 42 million acres of forest over the past few years — roughly the same area covered by the state of Illinois, according to a report published Thursday by the London-based Chatham House.
Since 2002, the report said, total global production of illegal timber has fallen by nearly 25 percent.
"We're a quarter of the way there," said Sam Lawson, one of the report's authors. He expressed the hope that newer regulations — such as a European law passed last week that will ban the import of illegal timber by 2012 — would cut the amount of illegal logging even further.
"A lot of the action that's been taken happened recently and can't be expected to have been trickled down to the level of the forest yet," he said.
Link
In some of the most threatened areas, the drop in illegal logging is far higher:
Illegal logging in the Amazon has already been cut by between 50 percent and 75 percent, with similar drops recorded in Indonesia and Cameroon, the report found.
(indonesia is still not doing very well though, you need to read the report in full)
The overall story is at the msnbc link, but the actual report can be read here, there is a pdf link. Chatham House, the authors, have the following bullet points:
* This in-depth study of twelve producer, processing and consumer countries demonstrates that actions taken by governments, civil society and the private sector over the last ten years in response to illegal logging and related trade have been extensive and had a considerable impact.
* Illegal logging is estimated to have fallen by between 50 and 75 per cent during the last decade in Cameroon, the Brazilian Amazon and Indonesia, while imports of illegally sourced wood to the seven consumer and processing countries studied are down 30 per cent from their peak in 2004.
* As a result up to 17 million hectares of forest are estimated to have been protected from degradation and at least 1.2 billion tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions avoided over the last decade. Alternatively, if the trees saved were legally logged this could bring in US$6.5 billion in additional revenues to the countries concerned.
* Reducing illegal logging further will require a comprehensive overhaul of government policy and regulation in producer countries. Japan and China must also follow in the footsteps of the US and EU and prohibit the import and sale of illegally sourced wood. To ensure such prohibitions are effective and encourage broader improvements, importing countries also need to expand cooperation with source countries along the lines of the EU's voluntary partnership agreements.
* It is essential that initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries reinforce the existing response to illegal logging and poor forest governance, rather than distract from it.
Illegal Logging and Related Trade: Indicators of the Global Response
TrTrust and Verify Online sum up the report by saying:
Andreas Persbo, VERTIC’s Executive Director, said ‘Yet again, VERTIC, this time working with Chatham House, has produced groundbreaking work. And while this report shows a remarkable decrease in illegal logging worldwide, much more work remains to be done. While the first task is to ensure that all use of the world’s forests are legal, the real challenge ahead is to devise a fair system that encourages and rewards their sustainable use.
We all hear the bad news, i wanted to show some of the good here, in no way do i think that the worst is over..much more to be done of course.
One group has discovered a way to give villagers who used to log illegally and poach animals for sale an income that keeps them safe from park rangers and arrest while supplying their families needs. The more that this sort of action is taken along with the laws, the faster we can safeguard these areas:
Wanchai said he could earn up to $300 a week from logging and poaching, the equivalent of one month’s salary for an entry-level government official here.
Still, he knew he could not make a living like that forever.
"I was always cautious, always in constant fear of getting caught by park rangers," said Wanchai. "I was worried about my wife and kids if I were to be arrested."
That was until last year when Wanchai heard of a fungi farming project, an initiative launched by Thailand’s Freeland Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to fighting illegal poaching and logging.
"I think nobody wants to risk [their lives] poaching and logging in the forests," said Mukda Thongnaitham of Freeland. "They just don’t know what else to do. The mushroom farming project gives them an alternative livelihood – a solution to earn money without breaking the law."
Save the Rainforest? Grow a mushroom!
The more the villagers in areas are given alternatives to help them survive and prosper the more they, like Wanchai, will leave poaching and illegal logging and enjoy their heritage and woodlands rather than destroying them.
All in all, some excellent work is being done, the new european law is fantastic and hopefully Japan can be convinced to put one in place as well. China would be even better but that might take some more time.