China urged to act on illegal timber

London-based Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) said in a new report Appetite for Destruction: China's Trade in Illegal Timber that China is now the single largest international consumer of wood stolen by organised crime syndicates.

It imported 18.5 million m3 of illegal timber last year worth £2.5bn. Significant efforts by major timber consumers such as the US, Europe and Australia have been taken in the last 10 years to stop illegal logging and by producer countries such as Indonesia.

Although China has taken laudable steps to protect and re-grow its own forests, it has simultaneously nurtured a “ravenous” wood processing industry reliant on importing most of its raw materials, the EIA said.

“China is now effectively exporting deforestation around the world,” said Faith Doherty, head of EIA’s Forests Campaign.

It has called on the Chinese government to act swiftly to strengthen enforcement. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said China was willing to work with the international community to protect forests.

“We resolutely oppose and crack down on the illegal felling of timber and relevant trading behaviour.” Total Chinese timber imports reached 180 million m3 last year, a three-fold increase since 2000.

The types of timber and the end uses vary, according to the report, from construction to rosewood for reproduction dynastic furniture for the the country’s burgeoning elite.

EIA investigators worked undercover since 2004 in China, Indonesia, Laos, Madagascar, Mozambique, Myanmar, the Russian far east and Vietnam.

“The burden of making any further progress in the international fight against deforestation, illegal logging and the criminal networks behind it now rests squarely on its (China) shoulders,” Ms Doherty said.