Trade in illegal wood products and corruption
Where government officials are keen to keep an eye shut for a share of the profits, the more the forests suffer. About 5 billion USD per year is estimated to be lost due to uncollected taxes and royalties on legally sanctioned timber harvests due to corruption. Other forests are falling while the responsible officers look the other way. A majority of the illegal timber comes from Asia, with China and Indonesia as the main sources.
Year: 2008
From collection: Environment and Poverty Times #5: Pro-poor growth issue
Cartographer: Hugo Ahlenius, UNEP/GRID-Arendal