Founded in 1984, we first began working to protect forests in the mid-1990s, through advocating a global forests convention. By the late 1990s it became clear a more direct approach was needed to curb tropical deforestation, we changed tack and began documenting illegal logging in a vital Indonesia orangutan habitat
The work of our Forests team is about far more than trees and the protection of the Earth’s precious remaining forests – it also keeps a sharp watch on the issue of forest conversion for cash crops, especially palm oil, and on related human rights issues such as corruption, governance and land rights
An incredible document has landed on my desk, a policy position paper underpinning an article in the European Timber Trade Federation (ETTF) Summer 2018 Newsletter, which covered the views of a so-called ‘Large Yacht Industry Cluster’ regarding EU, US and Australian legislation on illegal timber
At the end of 2016, elephants made headlines as China announced a timeframe for closing its domestic ivory market – long held by many conservationists as the single biggest step that could be taken to end the slaughter of elephants. It is now imperative the ban be strongly enforced and any potential loopholes closed
In the name of development, the rich resources of Myanmar’s Mong Pan turned out to be a curse under the military government. Natural resources and forests have been exploited by timber companies in conspiracy with the military government via many destructive logging projects, both legal and illegal
The EIA team which launched the new Forest Campaign report Organised Chaos: The illicit overland timber trade between Myanmar and China in Beijing met in Yangon, Myanmar with civil society groups, media, activists and representatives of international institutions such as the EU and DFID