World-wide efforts to thwart illegal logging and make it harder for timber smugglers to profit are paying off, according to a new report released by Chatham House.

The report, "Illegal Logging and Related Trade: Indicators of the Global Response," say total global production of illegal timber has fallen by 22 percent since 2002.

"Up to a billion of the world's poorest people are dependent on forests, and reductions in illegal logging are helping to protect their livelihoods," said Sam Lawson, Chatham House Associate Fellow and lead author of the report.

The report states that illegal logging has dropped by 50 percent in Cameroon, by between 50 and 75 percent in the Brazilian Amazon, and by 75 percent in Indonesia in the last decade. This reduction, documented in three of the five tropical timber producers studied, has prevented the degradation of up to 17 million hectares of forest, an area larger than England and Wales combined. By preventing forest degradation, which is often the first step towards forest destruction, efforts to tackle illegal logging in these three countries may over time help prevent - at relatively low cost - the release of up to 14.6 billion tons of carbon dioxide - the equivalent of half the carbon dioxide released by human actions worldwide each year. Conversely, if the timber were harvested under government auspices an estimated $6.5 billion dollars could be raised in these countries alone, more than twice that which the world spends each year in overseas aid for primary school education.

The new report covers starts in the forests of five "producer" countries studied: Brazil, Indonesia, Cameroon, Malaysia and Ghana. The study also analyzes the entry of timber into markets in five "consumer" countries, including the United States, Japan, the UK, France and the Netherlands, as well as through the ports and factories of two "processing" countries - China and Vietnam - and from there to buyers in the industrialized world.

The study notes that despite the "dramatic decline," illegal logging remains "a major problem." While more overt instances of illegal forest sector activity are addressed, less-easily detected illegal practices are becoming more significant. For example, the study notes that companies with legal harvesting licenses may log outside the permitted area. In addition, licenses to clear forest for agricultural plantations are also often issued illegally.

According to the study, in 2008, companies in the United States, Japan, the UK, France and the Netherlands bought 17 million cubic meters of illegal timber and wood products worth around $8.4 billion. Most of it entered those nations in the form of processed products like plywood and furniture, mainly from China.

In 2009, a total of 100 million cubic meters of illegal timber were harvested in the five timber producing countries studied. 'If laid end to end the illegal logs would encircle the globe more than ten times over,' said to Larry MacFaul, co-author of the report. 

The report notes that the United States became the first country to create a law against the handling of illegally harvested timber and products made from illegal logs when it amended the Lacey Act in 2008. The report sees early indications that the new law is already placing pressure on timber producers and processors around the world to police their supply chains.

"The effort to combat illegal logging and improve forest governance has brought developed and developing countries together in a unique way with a shared sense of purpose, Lawson said. "Our study shows that consumer interest and pressure combined with action by producer countries can yield very positive results.'"
 
Read Chatham House's full press release, which includes links to a briefing paper of the report and "report cards" of the 12 nations studied.