"Shadow permits" awarded to large-scale logging companies in West Africa are undermining efforts to fight deforestation and keep illegal timber out of the EU, a Global Witness report says
LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Industrial logging companies in West Africa are colluding with corrupt forestry officials to abuse poorly regulated logging permits, leading to deforestation and the possible laundering of illegal timber into the European Union, a report published by anti-graft watchdog Global Witness says.
The governments of Cameroon, Liberia, Ghana and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) have implemented logging permit schemes to regulate the lucrative large-scale logging industry and to promote small-scale business, but these schemes are being undermined by the widespread use of “shadow permits” within the industry, the report said.
The allocation of logging permits in West Africa is opaque and logging industry insiders are able to take advantage of poor legal frameworks and corrupt officials to acquire shadow permits which are not properly regulated, said the report “Logging in the shadows.”
The advantages to the logging companies of acquiring shadow permits typically include low taxation, poor consultation with local people and minimal environmental requirements, the report said.
“Unless European and African policy-makers take urgent action, shadow permits could become the Trojan horse by which illegal timber is brought into the EU and passed off as legitimate,” Alexandra Pardal, Europe Campaigner at Global Witness, said in a statement on Tuesday.
“Timber importers must do proper checks right the way along their supply chains to make sure they know exactly where their timber came from and whether the permit used to get it was legal,” Pardal added.
The EU is at the forefront of international efforts to clamp down on illegal deforestation and timber exports, but the shadow permits used by the logging industry are bypassing EU regulations, the report said.
The EU Timber Regulation, which prohibits the importing of illegal timber, was passed in March this year, but since then Global Witness and Greenpeace have uncovered suspicious log shipments in EU ports from two of the countries featured in the report.
“The EU’s investment in protecting some of the world’s most precious rainforests is very welcome, but unless its reforms address all types of permits being used, they will fail and the forests will be gone,” Pardal said.
“Transparency, openness, and competitive bidding processes should be the rule for all types of logging permit,” she added.
Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.
