What is Interpol doing about Forestry Crime?

This is taken from the Interpol international website. Go to https://www.interpol.int/Crimes/Environmental-crime/Forestry-crime

Living forests are vital to human health. Interpol disrupts the networks behind illegal logging.

The issues

The criminals responsible for illegal logging are not just destroying biodiversity but they also threaten the livelihoods of those reliant on forest resources. For example, criminal land clearing can cause landslides and deny forest-dependent communities access to food, medicine and fuel.

Illegal logging contributes directly to climate change, accounting for an estimated 17 per cent of global carbon emissions – more than from all the world’s air, road, rail and shipping traffic combined. The illegal trade of timber is worth billions of dollars every year.

Criminal groups exploit high-value endangered wood species, such as rosewood and mahogany, they launder illegally sowed wood through plantations and agricultural front companies, and they illegally log in protected areas, on indigenous lands or outside concession boundaries.

Crimes can occur at every point in the supply chain – from harvest and transportation, to processing and selling. They are often linked to other illegal activities such as document fraud, corruption and money laundering.

The INTERPOL Forestry Enforcement team supports law enforcement working across the entire timber supply chain to disrupt international criminal networks. We assist member countries by identifying modus operandi and trafficking routes, enhancing intelligence exchange and coordinating cross-border operations and investigations that target networks involved in forestry crimes.

We conduct extensive training and capacity building for law enforcement agencies, with regional and national programmes in Africa, Asia and Latin America. We also help civil society organisations link up with law enforcement to share intelligence on illegal logging and other forestry crimes.

Forestry Crime Working Group

Our Forestry Crime Working Group is a group of experts who provide strategic advice to improve the effectiveness of law enforcement operations in the forestry sector. The group has initiated several successful operations, including Operation Amazonas II (2015) and Operation Log (2015). It develops guidelines and methodologies, and also organises training for a range of players in forestry crime enforcement, from government agencies to forest-dependent rural communities.

How does Interpol work?

INTERPOL has 194 member countries, making it the world's largest police organisation. They work together and with the General Secretariat to share data related to police investigations.

Each country hosts an INTERPOL National Central Bureau (NCB), which links national police with our global network. 

Note: We share this story as a crucial part of our Focus on Forests campaign. We believe awareness of the problem - and of the work of Interpol, in conjunction with member countries and international organisations - is vital if we are to bring an end to illegal logging, deforestation and out of control wild fires. Ken Hickson