"First I thought I was fighting for the rubber tappers, then I thought I was fighting for the Amazon, then I realized I was fighting for humanity."
— Chico Mendes, 1988

"[The] resources over which so much blood is being shed have consumers in the richest countries as their destination."
— Worldwatch Institute, State of the World 2002

No matter how large or complex the delivery network is, the world's richest countries are the final destination for illegal timber.

Many of us associate the word "plunder" with history. Think of Cortez seeking gold in Mexico or Columbus extracting riches from the New World. But today, plunder of precious assets is more prevalent than ever, taking place systematically and on a larger scale. Fueled by consumer demand and ready access to global markets, plunder is frequently abetted by national or rebel governments in the victimized country.

A fundamental difference between the plunder of the past and today is the lack of transparency; today’s methods of looting are less obvious. However, they are no less destructive to the earth and to local communities.

This report tells the stories of five activists trying to stop the rapacious and destructive logging of trees in their communities. It also describes illegal logging practices within their respective countries. We have chosen to highlight the work of activists in these five countries because in all cases the high level of human rights abuse matches the high level of environmental abuse. Each of the stories is followed by sample letters asking decision-makers to take action.

Healthy forests purify drinking water, stabilize hillsides and protect communities from floods. Hillsides that have lost their trees from unsustainable logging lose their ability to absorb heavy rains

This report also includes additional practical resources designed to empower consumers and activists, and affect change. Before considering each forest defender’s story, it is worthwhile to step back and try to gain a global view of how U.S. consumption and current practices of resource “extraction” are impacting the lives of each of these individuals. The United States is the world’s largest importer and consumer of timber and wood products.

Our annual imports total around $25 billion. This unsustainable consumption has devastated natural forest ecosystems in the U.S. and is not having the same affect abroad. In the 1950’s, when industrial and other privately owned lands in the U.S. were heavily logged, timber companies targeted America’s national forests for timber production. Decades of intensive commercial logging on these public lands led to the destruction of ancient forests, damage to fish and wildlife habitat and clean water supplies.

Illegal logging practices directly affect the lives and livelihoods of millions of people – often those living in impoverished countries

Now, less than 5% of America’s native, ancient forests remain. While private and industrial landowners in the U.S. generally replant their own lands for growing timber, the damage to our public forest resources is clear. Unfortunately, America’s overwhelming consumption of wood and wood products is now shifting the burden to other countries. Today, the majority of America’s softwood comes from Canada’s boreal forest — one of the planet’s most important ecosystems for regulating climate and fending off global warming.

Globalization requires a more holistic approach to resource management and conservation. America’s insistence on consuming more resources than we can produce simply requires other parts of the planet to supply the resources. But the real impact of consumer demand is not only environmental. It directly affects the lives and livelihoods of millions of people — often those living in impoverished countries. In attempting to delineate harmful timber-producing practices, analysts distinguish between “conflict timber” and “illegal timber.”

The U.K.-based Global Witness has defined "conflict timber" as "traded in a way that drives violent armed conflict and threatens national or regional security."

As a valuable and easily exploited commodity, timber has become a resource of choice for criminal entrepreneurs who benefit from perpetuating violent conflict. Conflict timber not only facilitates the continued acquisition of weapons by warring governments and "rebel" groups, but in many instances the financial gain serves as incentive for a host of participants to perpetuate the conflict. The effects of conflict timber on civilians include: human rights abuses; loss of way of life; forcible removal from land; loss of medicines and vegetables; and changes in local ecologies resulting in floods and droughts. Conflict timber creates a vicious cycle: the timber (as a resource) funds and fuels the conflict. The continued conflict increases the demand for timber, and the increased timber then exacerbates the conflict, thus increasing demand.

American consumers' unquestioning acceptance of goods delivered anonymously via the global economy helps fuel the fires of violent conflict. According to the French newspaper Le Monde diplomatique, the term "conflict lumber" was coined in 2001 by a United Nations panel investigating illegal 4 resource exploitation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Since 1998, timber has helped fund a conflict in the DRC that has killed an estimated 3.3 to 4.7 million people — the greatest loss of life since World War II.

According to the World Watch Institute, logging companies connected to Congo rebels have engaged in the rapacious clear-cutting of forests. One firm, DARA-Forest Co., was denied a logging license in early 1998, but subsequently received a concession from RCD-ML, a rebel group allied with Uganda. DARA-Forest proceeded to carry out logging practices "without consideration of any of the minimum acceptable rules of timber harvesting for sustainable forest management," according to the UN panel.

Satellite images showed deforestation occurring at an alarming pace. But although DARA-Forest evaded international requirements for timber certification, companies from the United States, Belgium, Denmark, Switzerland, China, Japan and Kenya nevertheless imported the company's timber via Uganda, the UN reported. Illegal timber is somewhat easier to define: The production of illegal timber breaks either national or international laws, or both.

The harmful effects of "conflict," "illegal" and "legal" timber often overlap. In many countries conflict timber is produced in full cooperation with the local government, but this legality doesn't diminish the devastating impact on the environment or on community members in war-torn countries. Many countries allow forests to be managed and logged in highly unsustainable ways, or in ways that violate the traditional rights and lands of indigenous peoples.

Private corporations are increasingly important actors in human rights violations and environmental degradation. They often expel local peoples from their lands, as well as fail to implement pollutioncontrol measures. Corporations bribe local officials to secure cooperation, threaten and harass activists who challenge their activities, and have even been connected with attempts to murder activists. Ultimately, logging companies and import companies are responding to consumer demand. No matter how circuitous the delivery network, the world's richest countries are the final destination for illegal timber.

The challenge for environmentalists is to make transparent the process where timber moves from an overseas forest into a western shopping mall. Increased transparency will increase the ability of consumers and retailers to discern a wood product's origins. Informed consumers must lead this effort. Pervasive customer demand regarding wood origins will increase the governmental and industry demand for transparency in the marketplace.

In turn, increased transparency will empower consumers, governments and companies to more effectively ascertain the legitimate chain of custody for wood products and to shut down illegal producers and distributors. There is another course of action that must take root among consumers: increasing the willingness to recycle and re-use wood products, which will diminish the need for producing virgin wood materials.

This report focuses on a problem of great immediacy: environmentalists fighting to stop illegal logging and the destruction of their communities are being exploited and abused. In countries where civil liberties are not guaranteed, these individuals are taking a stand. It is a "stand," because quite often it is not just corporations but the governments in their countries that benefit from illegal exploitation of timber. Like Chico Mendes, who was murdered for organizing his Brazilian community to fight powerful logging interests, these defenders face the continuing threat of harassment, detainment, rape, torture and murder.

The United States and other developed countries have exported our environmental burden to lesser developed countries because these countries are less capable of mounting a defense against such exploitation. As the single biggest actor in the international economy, the U.S. and its citizens must play a vital role in addressing the environmental degradation and human rights abuses related to timber and natural resource extraction.

Despite the complexity and danger of today's international trade in illegal timber, we can take action to end it, to protect the surviving forests from future destruction and to defend the courageous people who defend the trees. By educating, motivating and raising awareness, our aim is to amplify the voices of environmental heroes. By pressuring governments, international institutions and corporations, we can provide protection to forest defenders who are under fire.

We believe this strategy will create a dialogue among communities, companies and authorities to address the preservation of environmental resources. We must join together to demand accountability from governments and corporations to uphold international human rights and environmental protections.