Birch logs, Eastern Europe. The log ends have not been marked with an official stamping hammer, and the farmer hauling this wood had no valid transport permit. In some countries, local people must choose between hauling their wood illegally or bribing the local forest official for a permit. Photo by Ken Rosenbaum.

Rosalie Parker compiled the following list of links while a student in Peter Eigen's class at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in the autumn of 2001. Jonathan Binder revised the list in the autumn of 2002.Yeqing Zheng revised the list in the spring of 2005.

Of course, this list is not intended to be all-inclusive. If you find a new resource or a faulty link, please let us know.

The first set of links, presented on this page, covers organizations and their working papers and reports. Direct links to the organization are included in the event that a paper or report has been moved or is inaccessible to your computer.

The second set of links is a sampling of news reports regarding corruption in the forestry sector.

• From FIN's own collection: A case study by Ute Siebert and Georg Elwert on combatting corruption and illegal logging in Benin.

Tools for Civil Society Action to Reduce Forest Corruption - Drawing Lessons from Transparency International (TI) is prepared by Ken Rosenbaum of FIN. It examines TI's approach to fighting corruption and whether this approach might be applicable to the forest sector. The report concludes that TI's approach to tackling corruption is a constructive and perhaps necessary addition to the fight against illegal logging.

 

• The Africa Biodiversity Collaborative Group (ABCG) comprises U.S.-based international conservation non-governmental organizations with field-based activities in Africa. ABCG explores emerging conservation issues, shares lessons learned, and seeks opportunities for collaboration.

On 13 January 2005, its Corruption and Conservation Program held a meeting on "Strategies and Tools for Confronting Conservation-Related Corruption in Africa".

• The American Forest & Paper Association (AF&PA) is forest products trade group in the United States.

It white paper on illegal logging surveyed the situation in major countries and its impact on US forest products industry.

 

• The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) was established under the CGIAR system to 'enhance the benefits of forests for people in the tropics.

  An occasional paper written in June 2000 by Arnoldo Contreras-Hermosilla, The Underlying Causes of Forest Decline, has a section on illegal logging and corruption.

  Another occasional paper, Rational Exploitations, written in November 1998 by J. Ruitenbeek and C. Cartier, has a short chapter on corruption.

Another paper Illegal logging, collusive corruption and fragmented governments in Kalimantan, Indonesia distinguishes between collusive and non-collusive corruption in the forestry sector and analyses their interaction with the political/institutional environment.

 

• The Centre for Social and Economic Research on the Global Environment (CSERGE), an environmental policy research group at the University College of London.

  The group published a working paper in 2001 by Charles Palmer, The Extent and Causes of Illegal Logging: An Analysis of a Major Cause of Tropical Deforestation.

• The Department for International Development (DFID) is the part of the UK Government that manages Britain's aid to poor countries and works to get rid of extreme poverty.

DFID published a few case studies on illegal logging.

• The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) investigates and exposes crimes in the forestry sector.

  "The Last Frontier" reveals the illegal logging trade betwee Indonesia and China. It also makes a number of specific recommendations to tackle the damaging trade in stolen timber.

Their report, Timber Trafficking broadly addresses the role of corruption in the timber industry in Southeast Asia.

The EIA "Forests for the World" program maintains a web page on its reports and briefings.

 

• Forest Conservation Portal is a comprehensive website with links to various sources of forest conservation information.

  Its Forest Campaigns page provides countless links to the web sites of forest organizations, networks, and associations.

   

• The Forests Dialogue (TFD) is a group of individuals from diverse interests and regions that are committed to the conservation and sustainable use of forests.

Its publications cover issues ranging from illegal logging to forest certification.

• The Forest Leadership Forum was an attempt to unite environmentalists and the forest product industry around common goals.

   

• Forests Monitor is an investigation and research-based NGO.

  Their 1998 report, High Stakes, the Need to Control Transnational Logging Companies: A Malaysian Case Study has a section entitled 'Politics, Law and the Logging Industry.'

  A report entitled Wild East: The Timber Trade Between Siberia-Russian Far East and China also has a chapter on illegal logging and corruption.

   

• The Global Timber Trade website provides information and statistics on illegal timber exports and imports, especially two articles on G8 countries and China.

• The Global Witness website has a number of reports directly related to corruption and forestry particularly in the countries of Liberia, Cameroon, Cambodia and Zimbabwe.

  A June 2001 report, The Credibility Gap and the Need to Bridge It: Increasing the Pace of Forestry Reform in Cambodia has a chapter on corruption and conflict of interests.

  A March 1998 briefing document, Going Places Cambodia's Future on the Move, has a chapter on corruption.

  On August 26, 2001, Global Witness called on Joseph Kabila to stop a secret timber deal in Zimbabwe.

   

• The Greenpeace Forests Campaign focuses on exposure of illicit activities in the forestry sector.

  From their website one can download Partners in Mahogany Crime regarding corruption in Brazil.

  They also have an on-line report on logging and corruption in the Solomon Islands.

   

• The International Institute For Sustainable Development (IISD) has a news and announcements list for sustainable developments issues.

  IISD published an excellent Summary Report of the Forest Law Enforcement and Governance [FLEG] East Asia Ministerial Conference, in September 2001.

   

• The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) promotes communication and cooperation regarding trade and use of tropical timber and management of tropical forests.

  Issue 1, Volume 12 (2002) of ITTO's newsletter, Tropical Forest Update, contains several items on illegal logging, forest crime, and illegal trade.

  The issues also surfaced at the thirty-second session of the council. See IISD's summary of the meeting.

   

• The National Centre for Development Studies at the Australian National University published a series of working papers in 1999 regarding anti-corruption strategies.

  One of these, An Anti-Corruption Strategy for Provincial Papua New Guinea, by Bui Mana, has direct references to corruption in the logging industry.

   

• Pacific Environment is an organization devoted to environmental protection around the Pacific Rim.

  A report, co-authored by the Friends of the Earth, is available online, entitled Plundering Russia's Far Eastern Taiga: Illegal Logging, Corruption and Trade (July 2000).

  An article by Cynthia Josayma argues that attempts to control illegal logging only work if local communities benefit when the law is followed.

   

• PROFOR is a multi-donor partnership formed to pursue a shared goal of enhancing forests' contribution to poverty reduction, sustainable development and protection of environmental services.

PROFOR compiled a few articles on Forest Governance which covers topics from decision-making process on the forest to the enforcement of forest laws and policies.

 

• The Royal Institute on International Affairs maintains a information site on illegal logging.

   

• Transparency International is an international non-governmental organisation devoted to combating corruption. It published a few papers on forest corrupion.

Hafner, O. Working Paper: The Role of Corruption in the Misappropriation of Tropical Forest Resources and in Tropical Forest Destruction 1998.

Lippe. Michael. Working Paper: Corruption and Environment at the Local Level 1999.

• The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) Forestry Department web site serves as a resource on policy and technical matters.

  The State of the World's Forests 2005 contains an overview of recent developments in the forest sector including a chapter on illegal activities and corruption in the forest sector.

  APFSOS Working Paper No. 22, on the Philippines contains region-specific information on forestry corruption

  FAO has a useful, searchable database of forestry laws from around the world. To visit FAOLEX, click here. Follow the "search and retrieval link" to the search page.

  FAO also has a collection of legal papers, some of which deal with forest issues.

   

• The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) started a presidential initiative in April 2005 to combat illegal logging.

The Resources Page maintains a list of publications from USAID and its partners.

Baker, M., R. Clausen, R. Kanaan, M. N'Goma, T. Roule, and J. Thomson. Conflict Timber: Dimensions of the Problem in Asia and Africa. Volume III: African Cases. Submitted by ARD-BIOFOR Consortium to USAID/OTI & USAID/ANE/TS. ARD-BIOFOR Consortium, Burlington , Vermont : May 2003.

Brinkerhoff, Derick W. with assistance from Nicolas P. Kulibaba. Identifying and Assessing Political Will or Anti-Corruption Efforts. Working Paper No. 13. A publication of USAID's Implementing Policy Change Project. January 1999.

Winbourne, Svetlana Corruption and the Environment Sectoral Perspectives on Corruption. Prepared by MSI for USAID, Washington , DC : ovember 2002.

 

• The World Bank has published a number of reports regarding forest corruption.

Callister,Debra J. 1999. Corrupt and Illegal Activities in the Forestry Sector: Current understandings, and implications for World Bank Forest Policy Draft Paper prepared for the World Bank Forest Policy Review

Contreras-Hermosilla, Arnoldo. 2001. Law Compliance in the Forestry Sector. An Overview Paper presented at the East Asia Ministerial Conference on Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (FLEG), Indonesia, September 11-13, 2001

Simula, Markku and Indufor Oy. 1999. Certification of Forest Management and Labelling of Forest Products Discussion Note prepared for the World Bank Forest Policy Review

General Accounting Office (GAO). U.S. Anticorruption Programs in Sub-Saharan Africa Will Require Time and Commitment Report to the Subcommittee on African Affairs, Committee on Foreign Relations, U.S. Senate. GAO. Washington , DC : April 2004.

 

• The World Conservation Union (IUCN) is a broad coalition for conservation.

  IUCN published a resolution regarding forestry and corruption at the Second World Conservation Conference in Amman Jordan (October 2000). This resolution cites relevant international agreements regarding the fight against corruption.

   

• The World Resources Institute is a research and information-based organization focusing on global environmental problems.

  A report, Trial by Fire: Forest Fires and Forestry Policy in Indonesia, by C.V. Barber and J. Schweithelm, links government corruption with the destruction of forests by fire (July 2000).

• The World Wildlife Fund is a leading international conservation group.

The report Monitoring of Illegal Logging Operations in Riau, Sumatra documents the results of spot checks of WWF in August 2003 and August 2004.

 

• The Worldwatch Institute is an independent research organization that works for an environmentally sustainable and socially just society.

The paper The Anatomy of Resource Wars includes a chapter on illegal logging in Indonesia.

Page Last Revised: March 22, 2005