Independent forest monitoring to boost transparency in Africa

Independent forest monitoring by civil society can improve transparency and help strengthen checks on illegality in the forest sector in Africa, an international conference heard last month in Accra.

Can forests help revive war-torn Central African Republic?

Earlier this month, the United Nations envoy for the Central African Republic (CAR) reminded the world of the neglected tragedy unfolding in my country.

Commentary note on future opportunities in line with the fight against illegal logging and deforestation

What is the future of FLEGT? Are we facing "FLEGT-xit" or are we moving towards a 2.0 version? What could be the risks? And the opportunities?

Communities benefit at last from Liberia’s money trees

It’s a myth that money doesn’t grow on trees — a glance at any timber baron’s bank balance would confirm that. But for people living near tropical forests it has long been clear that when money flows to logging companies, there is little left behind for local development. Now, in Liberia, that is all changing, thanks in part to a trade deal called a Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA) the country negotiated with the EU.

EUTR News – March to May 2017

This issue of the EUTR News provides an update on the operation of the EU’s law to address illegal logging, the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), from March to May 2017.

Recommendations for an EU Action Plan to protect forests and respect rights

Keeping forests standing and restoring ecosystems is essential if the world is to meet biodiversity objectives and the Paris Agreement goal of limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees.

Hope for a hard-pressed community

The head of Tan Hoi village sits cross-legged on the floor describing the pressures his people face. “The older generation lacks education. The younger ones leave school as early as 11. Only one person has ever graduated from university as most people don’t have the resources to be able to afford it,” says Lê Văn Bức, a wiry, softly-spoken man in his 40s.

A chance for change: A civil society briefing on the Voluntary Partnership Agreement negotiations between Vietnam and the European Union

This briefing takes stock of the VPA between Vietnam and the EU at a key juncture: as the Agreement formally moves from its negotiation to ratification phase.

Making ‘zero-deforestation’ commodity production and trade a reality

The major threat to tropical forests today comes not from loggers but from large-scale forest clearance to meet rising demand for agricultural commodities. Recognising this, governments and businesses around the world are increasingly pledging to eradicate deforestation from supply chains of such commodities.

How can Europe help stop the deadly trade in conflict timber?

Twenty-two years ago Global Witness cut its teeth exposing the trade in conflict timber in war-torn Cambodia. Posing as European timber buyers, my colleagues and I exposed how the genocidal Khmer Rouge was selling wood to logging companies just across the border in Thailand.