Most Chinese were unaware that across the globe in Johannesburg, South Africa, decisions passed at an international convention meeting will have long lasting impact on many industries in China, including the Hongmu furniture industry producing luxury reproductions made from endangered tree species such as rosewood
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
The Spring 2013 issue of our bi-annual newsletter Investigator, giving you an overview of our key campaign activities during the past six months. This issue features our exposé of China’s conservation double standard and lots more
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
China, emergent superpower and the world’s second biggest economy, is effectively standing on the sidelines as its exponential growth devastates forests in a trade worth billions of dollars a year, making it the single largest international consumer of illegal timber stolen by organised criminal syndicates