The report 'Organised Chaos' and its accompanying film expose the scale, methods and key named actors who organise the growing illegal timber trade into China that is wreaking chaos in the forests of Myanmar.
Field studies by EIA in Indonesia, Myanmar, Russia, Laos, Vietnam, Mozambique, Madagascar and China have found China’s demand for timber is driving illegal logging with serious global consequence, irreparably damaging forest ecosystems, pushing down incomes in forest communities and driving corruption and conflict
Vixay Keosavang is one of the most ruthless and prolific wildlife criminals operating in South-East Asia today. Some call him the “Pablo Escobar of animal trafficking” in Laos, the tiny one-party communist state bordered by Myanmar, China, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam that continues to harbour him
Concerted action to combat climate change remains elusive, the illegal wildlife trade is booming and exploitation of natural resources such as forests far exceeds capacity to regenerate. One underlying cause for this disconnect is the failure to adequately implement and enforce laws designed to protect the environment
If 2012 has shown anything, it’s that we’re still small and that our concise reports anchored in hard documentary evidence – often obtained undercover in potentially dangerous circumstances – continue to give us the clout to punch well above our weight
Are you aware of how big China’s need for logs and timber actually is? Last year China imported at least 18.5 million cubic metres of illegal logs and sawn timber – that’s worth $3.7 billion. To put that into perspective, you could fill Beijing’s Olympic stadium more than six times