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24 July 2000: For Immediate Release

Contacts
Japan: Josh Newell, tel.
Russia: Anatoly Lebedev,
U.S.: Rory Cox,
Mary Rees,

Tokyo - Pristine forests in eastern Russia are being illegally logged at an alarming rate, and the timber is being exported to satisfy rising demand in China, Japan, and South Korea, according to a report released today. The report documents the global importance of these forests as habitat for endangered species such as the Siberian Tiger, as a carbon sink to help mitigate global warming, and as the web of life for many indigenous and forest communities.

The report found that “lack of regulation is apparent on all levels” and documents in detail a lawless timber trading regime where weak federal legislation and infighting among federal and regional government agencies have led to widespread unregulated logging. The report also documents instances where Russian firms conceal profit through clever, complex methods of frauds and bribes.

The 50-page report, a culmination of years of research, is a co-publication of three environmental organizations (NGOs): California-based Pacific Environment and Resources Center (PERC), The Tokyo branch of Friends of the Earth, and the Bureau for Public Oriental Campaigns in Vladivostok, Russia. It is available in Russian and English.

Illegal logging practices prevalent in Siberia and the Russian Far East include:
*Logging without a license
*Logging in protected forest zones, including along river systems

*Logging protected tree species
*Logging outside of concession boundaries

“There really is an irony here,” said David Gordon, Director of Programs at PERC and co-author of the report. “President Putin is on a crusade against corruption, yet nothing is being done about the illegal timber trade that is rampant throughout Russia’s vast forests.”

“Logging companies are forging documents and bribing officials to send our forests out of the country and pocket the quick cash,” said Anatoly Lebedev, a report co-author and the director of Vladivostok’s Bureau for Public Oriental Campaigns. “Russia’s economy will never improve until we stop corruption in our natural resources sector.”

Much of the illegally logged timber is making its way into the marketplace as Japanese and Chinese timber importers turn a blind eye to the problem. Globally, illegal logging is recognized as a growing problem. This is evidenced by a resolution at the 1998 G-8 meeting to create the Forest Action Programme, which commits all G-8 countries to tackle illegal logging.

“Two years have passed since the adoption of the Action Program,” claims Josh Newell, a report co-author and coordinator of Siberia programs at Friends of the Earth-Japan, “and no concrete steps have been made to address the critical global issue of illegal logging. How can we develop timber certification programs and sustainable forest management when illegal logging is rampant in Russia, which has 20 percent of the world’s forests? The G-8 countries and international trade agencies like the World Bank need to get it in gear and fulfill their pledge to stop illegal logging and trade.”

Almost all of the timber is destined for markets in China, Japan, and South Korea. Demand is especially booming in China, due to domestic logging restrictions. According to the Center for International Trade in Forest Products, a think tank at the University of Washington, by 2025 China could face a deficit of 200 million cubic meters of wood per year. China, which already gets about 42% of its log imports from Russia, is looking across the porous China/Russia border to satisfy this timber deficit.

While the cutting continues to increase, Russia’s forest communities are economically languishing. Logging villages throughout the region continue to live in poverty, and local people are worried about their very survival.

The report concludes by suggesting a number of concrete actions that can be implemented now both by the Russian government and the international community to crack down on bribery and corruption, and to curb the growing consumption of timber in Northeast Asia.

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