The world’s demand for timber and paper
means there is much international trade in these products. Some
timber companies are now large, very rich, transnationals, with
Malaysians logging in Guyana, Indonesians in Brazil, Koreans in
Siberia, Japanese in Papua New Guinea and French companies in Gabon.
The power they wield often leads to a clash of interests with governments,
or between governments, landowners and local people. The profits
to be made also sometimes lead to corruption of government officials.
Unfortunately, some logging companies, unlike PfB and others which
have FSC certification, have no long-term interest in the forests,
the wildlife or the local people. This can lead to extraction of
trees without consideration for future harvests. In some places,
for example in the North West Pacific area of Canada and the USA
and in the Philippines, huge areas of ancient forest are being clear-felled
(all the trees cut).
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The
bad news
The
bad news
Problems
with logging