Wildlife and forest crimes are transnational crimes where corruption is known to play a pivotal role in their facilitation and growth. Annually, illegal wildlife trade alone is estimated to range from $7 billion to $23 billion while illegal timber trade ranges between $30 billion to $100 billion.
Two forest rangers, Sieng Darong and Sab Yoh, have been murdered in Preah Vihear Protected Forest, Cambodia. They were shot by illegal loggers, one of which has been tied to the Cambodian military, with high-powered rifles. The main driver of these crimes is unsustainable demand for rosewood timber in Vietnam and China
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
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.
EIA has been working closely with a network of activists to set up an innovative system for forest monitoring in Aceh, a province on the very western tip of Indonesia hosting some of the richest forests in Asia, especially the peerless Leuser Ecosystem which is home to Sumatran tigers, elephants, orangutans and rhinos
Looking back over the past 12 months, during which EIA celebrated its 30th anniversary, it’s evident that 2014 has been yet another hectic and successful year