Illegal logging negatively impacts the economic and ecological systems of optimal forest management. According to the text of the 1998 G-8 meeting held in Birmingham on forest management, “illegal logging robs national and subnational governments, forest owners and local communities of significant revenues and benefits, damages forest ecosystems, distorts timber markets and forest resource assessments and acts as a disincentive to sustainable forest management. International trade in illegally harvested timber including transfer pricing, under invoicing and other illegal practices, exacerbates the problem of illegal logging.” The magnitude of illegal logging is significant. Research indicates that over 70 per cent of timber processed in Indonesia comes from illegal sources.

Illegal Logging in Tanjung Puting National Park
Photo © Environmental Investigation Agency

Log rafts on Bulah Besar river, Tanjung Puting, May 2000 Photo © Faith Doherty/Environmental Investigation Agency

Slash and burn farming near Gunung Leuser Nat Park. 1995 Photo © Campbell Plowden/Environmental Investigation Agency