Bridges Trade BioRes • Volume 5 • Number 19 • 28th October 2005

Civil Society Groups Shine Light on Chinese Role in Illegal Logging

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Environmental NGOs Global Witness and Greenpeace International attacked China’s involvement in the trade of illegally logged timber in two reports released on 18 and 19 October respectively. The Global Witness report, entitled “A Choice for China: Ending the destruction of Burma’s northern frontier forests”, says that an environmental disaster is developing in Burma (now known officially as Myanmar), and in particular the northern Kachin state as a result of the illegal exportation of more than one million cubic meters of timber to China. The state, which is rich in biodiversity, has seen an increase in illegal logging by largely Chinese companies, they note. Driven by a 1999 law in China to ban domestic logging because of the disastrous increase in soil erosion and flooding in heavily logged regions, and despite the fact that the government in 2001 signed the Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (FLEG) agreement, the report says that Chinese companies are openly logging and exporting timber from Kachin with the acquiescence of Chinese customs officials. The government, the report alleges, allows the logging to continue in order to facilitate the flow of foreign exchange.

The Greenpeace report, entitled “Partners in Crime: The UK timber trade, Chinese sweatshops and Malaysian robber barons in Papua New Guinea’s rainforests”, documents how China imports illegal timber from threatened rain forests in Indonesia, Papua New Guinea, Malaysia, Gabon and other countries and subsequently exports finished products to countries including the UK.

The Global Witness report is available at http://www.globalwitness.org/reports/show.php/en.00080.htmlThe Greenpeace report is available at http://www.greenpeace.org.uk/MultimediaFiles/Live/FullReport/7251.pdf?CFID=3149269&CFTOKEN=26408062

“China emerges as main threat to Asian forests,” GLOBE AND MAIL, 21 October 2005; “China ‘fails to curb illegal logging in Burma’,” FINANCIAL TIMES, 19 October 2005; “Burmese Junta Pays China in Timber for Protection,” IPS, 20 October 2005