Underlying causes of the rapid expansion of illegal exploitation of tropical timber
The notion of 'illegal exploitation' is more difficult to define than one would expect. The laws and regulations vary a great deal from country to country. Offences are different and haphazard, and all have different degrees of seriousness, as they concern the laws of the country or
the management of resources. We run the risk of penalising the very countries that are making an effort to better their regulation systems. When Friends of the Earth claims, as it did in 2001, that 70% of wood is cut illegally in Gabon, based on the fact that only part of the profession has
begun to put into practice management plans which have become compulsory, it gives an erroneous picture of the evolution of the forest and of its management conditions. Development prospects are rather better in Gabon than in other places, and the resource is less in jeopardy than in neighbouring
Equatorial Guinea for example.
Document Type: Research Article
Affiliations: CIRAD-ForĂȘt, Campus de Baillarguet, TA 10/D, 34398 Montpellier Cedex5, France
Publication date: 01 September 2003
- The International Forestry Review is a peer-reviewed scholarly journal that publishes original research and review papers on all aspects of forest policy and science, with an emphasis on issues of transnational significance. It is published four times per year, in March, June, September and December. Theme editions are a regular feature and attract a wide audience.
The IFR is part of The Global Forest Information Service - GFIS
International Forestry Review has an Impact Factor of 1.705 - Editorial Board
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