President's Initiative Against Illegal Logging

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Announced July 2003, the President's Initiative Against Illegal Logging brought much needed visibility to the issues of illegal and conflict logging around the world.The initiative essentially repackaged 19 existing US Agency for International Development (USAID) projects valued at approximately $15 million, and offered support for developing countries against the illegal harvesting and sale of timber products. The Initiative promised to "fight corruption in the forest sector," and "protect forests and the livelihoods that depend upon them."

But the President's Initiative Against Illegal Logging did not ban the import of illegal timber into the U.S. In fact, rather than addressing the problem of illegal timber, former Attorney General John Ashcroft chose instead to prosecute the entire Greenpeace organization under an archaic 1872 "Sailor Mongering"law after Greenpeace activists boarded a ship transporting mahogany illegally exported from the Amazon rainforest in Brazil.

The U.S. District Court of Miami recently threw out these charges prior to hearing from the defense,ruling that there was insufficient evidence for the case to go to jury. "Our nation has a proud history of civil disobedience. Prosecuting Greenpeace for the peaceful protest of its activists is like prosecuting the NAACP when Rosa Parks refused to go to the back of the bus," said Carl Pope, Executive Director of the Sierra Club.

The Sierra Club believes that the president's initiative could be enhanced by expanding the program to include defending the human rights of environmentalists in developing countries. Under the President's Initiative, action is limited to three global regions identified as critical: the Congo and Amazon Basins, Central America, and South and Southeast Asia.The initiative also outlines four "key strategies" to be pursued in each region:

• Good governance — Capacity building to establish and strengthen legal regimes and enforcement of laws affecting forest management,especially those aimed at illegal logging;
• Community-Based Actions — Enhancing community involvement in forest governance and related wildlife issues;
• Technology Transfer — Building in-country capacity to monitor forest activity and compliance with laws using integrated monitoring systems, including remote-sensing,and;
• Harnessing Market Forces — Promoting good business practices, transparent markets and legal trade, including country capacity to implement obligations under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.

Despite the launch of this initiative, illegal timber and wood products continue to enter the United States. There has been minimal government effort directed toward stopping U.S.imports or global trade of illegal timber.There has also been a lack of follow through regarding the initiative's promises to create and support legal frameworks directed at protecting forest resources.

The President's Initiative Against Illegal Logging could be used to stop the importation of illegal timber into the United States, increase the enforcement of measures against illegal logging worldwide, protect global forests, and protect the livelihoods of those who depend on forests.Strengthening the President's Initiative could be an important step in stopping human rights abuses associated with the illegal timber trade.