The signs are growing that international efforts to shut down illegal logging and enforce timber harvesting regulations are succeeding in slowing the destruction of forests.
In particular the overhaul of logging laws and the injection of zeal into enforcement have led to a significant drop in Brazil’s illegal logging and deforestation rates as a whole.
During a recent trip into an area of once rampant deforestation, Bob Walker a expert on deforestation in the Amazon and a professor of geography at Michigan State University, witnessed the clamp down on illegal logging.
“You had tens of thousands of loggers who were out of work — people were not happy,” Mr. Walker said in an interview. “A lot of the sawmills went broke. I was amazed to see it.”
According to a new report by Chatham House, a British think tank the decline in illegal logging and deforestation rates is also being witnessed by major timber producing countries such as: Cameroon, Malaysia, Ghana and Indonesia.
Due to weak or limited regulations the term ‘illegal logging’ remains somewhat unclear in many producer countries. However progress has been made due to international pressure on countries like Cameroon. An independent regulator now oversees their timber trade, financed by a coalition of donor countries this has resulted in tighter controls over logging in general and reductions in overall deforestation.
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