Illegal logging

In Indonesia it is estimated that 76-80 percent of all logging is illegal.

Almost all logging in Papua New Guinea is illegal because it is done without the full and informed consent of the customary landowners.

Logging companies have already acquired 70 percent of Papua New Guinea’s available forest resources.

The government is planning to hand out concessions for most of the remaining accessible forest to logging companies, even though they flout the law.

The most destructive company operating in the area is Malaysian logging giant, Rimbunan Hijau, responsible for nearly half of all logs that leave the country.

In its insatiable drive to profit from destroying the forest, Rimbunan Hijau continues to break the law.

It fraudulently acquires concessions to log forest areas, breaches environmental regulations and commits human rights abuses. Yet the company appears to be protected by political patronage and its forest crimes go unchecked.

What is ‘illegal logging’?

Logging is illegal when the timber is harvested, processed, transported, brought or sold in violation of national laws.

Laws can be violated at many different stages of the supply chain such as:
• Obtaining logging concessions illegally (e.g. via corruption and bribery, or without lawful consent).
• Violating export bans.
• Cutting protected tree species or extracting them from a protected area.
• Taking out more trees than permitted, cutting down under sized or oversized trees, or logging outside a permitted area.
• Fraudulent declaration to customs of the amount or nature of timber present
• Use of fraudulent documents to smuggle timber internationally.