Publication - 19 September, 2006
This statement outlines what we, the undersigned NGOs, believe must be done at EU level, as part of the EU processon Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) to address the import of illegally sourced timber inthe EU and the illegal practices of the EU timber industry.
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Executive summary: Although this statement focuses on illegal logging, we would like to state that legal and illegal logging are oftenclosely linked and that legal logging can be highly destructive.
The illegal aspect of the current timber trade is only part of the wider problem of a timber industry that has largely been unable to regulate itself and is destroyingforests and peoples’ livelihoods on a grand scale. Actions addressing the illegality of operations can therefore notbe seen as separate from actions addressing the wider issue of destructive logging practices. It is ultimately theissue of forest sustainability that needs to be addressed.
As many forestry legal regimes permit or even encouragecorporate malpractice and deny the rights of forest dependent peoples, it is vital that FLEGT initiatives do notreinforce inappropriate laws.
Num. pages: 4