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Illegal
Logging in New Zealand
Illegal logging takes place when timber is harvested,
transported, bought or sold in violation of national
and/or international laws. It is a pervasive problem in
many countries where it is undermining their efforts to
manage forests sustainable manner. Over the last five
years it has become an issue at the forefront of
international forestry dialogue, and there is a growing
international willingness to combat the problem.
Illegal logging includes:
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Logging protected species
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Girdling or ring-barking, to kill trees so that they can
be legally logged
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Contracting with local entrepreneurs to buy logs from
protected areas
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Logging in protected areas
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Logging outside concession boundaries
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Logging in prohibited areas such as steep slopes,
riverbanks and water catchments
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Removing under/oversised trees from public forests
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Extracting more timber than authorised
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Reporting high volumes extracted in forest concessions
to mask the fact that part of the volume declared is
extracted from non-authorised areas outside the
concession boundaries
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Logging without authorisation
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Obtaining logging concessions through bribes
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Setting woodlands on fire to convert it to commercial
uses
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Transporting logs without authorisation
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Transporting illegally harvested timber
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Smuggling timber
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Exporting and importing tree species banned under
international law, such as CITES.
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Exporting timber in contravention of national bans
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Declaring lower values and volumes exported
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Declaring higher purchase prices above the prevailing
market prices for inputs such as equipment
or services from related companies
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Manipulating debt cash flows to transfer money to
subsidiary or parent company, for example by inflating
debt repayment to avoid taxes on profits
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Under-grading, under-valuing, under-measuring and
misclassification of species exported or for the
local market
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Operating without a processing license
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Ignoring environmental and social and labour laws and
regulation
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Using illegally obtained wood in industrial processing
Illegal logging is a pervasive global problem. A number
of estimates quote figures of illegal logging equalling,
nearing, or in some cases even exceeding the legal
harvest of timber in some countries. Illegal logging is
especially prevalent in countries which have limited
resources to monitor and control forestry operations.
Within New Zealand there have been relatively minor
instances of illegal logging. Most known cases have been
successfully prosecuted. New Zealand based operations
comply with strict controls under New Zealand
legislation such as the Resource Management Act 1991,
and in the case of indigenous timber, Part IIIA of the
Forests Act 1949. In addition to these strict controls,
some forestry and wood products operators have also
chosen to join third party certification schemes and/or
gain relevant ISO environmental accreditation.
Illegal logging affects people’s livelihoods and the
welfare of communities, costs governments of producer
countries billions of dollars in lost revenue, and
causes considerable harm to forests and other
ecosystems. Globally, illegal forestry practices are
said to result in annual government revenue losses of
between US$10 and $15 billion per year. Resources lost
through illegal logging are those that could assist in
improving sustainable forest management, poverty
alleviation through better health, education, and
housing and environmental programmes. Another problem is
that a significant amount of this illegally cut wood
enters the global wood trade, depressing prices of
legally harvested wood products and presenting unfair
competition to those companies that respect the law. New
Zealand’s wood industry operates under the sustainable
management principles of the Resource Management Act
1991 and the indigenous forest provisions (Part IIIA) of
the Forests Act 1949. It is therefore difficult for the
New Zealand wood industry to compete fairly with
competitors who can bypass equivalent requirements
through illegal logging practices.
Illegal logging fuels an image of forestry as a practice
and trade that cares little for social, community,
economic and environment issues. Whilst illegal logging
continues it is difficult to achieve movement towards
global sustainable forestry management practices. On the
other hand, well-managed sustainable and legal wood
supply represents an environmentally-friendly, low
energy intensity and sustainably produced resource.
In order to curb illegal logging, New Zealand’s Forest
industry and the Malaysian Timber Council have issued a
joint a statement condemning illegal logging. According
to New Zealand’s Forest Industries Council Chairman Lees
Seymour the solution to the illegal logging issue is not
a return to trade barriers or protectionist economic
policy. This is because tariffs actually increase the
cost disparity between using legal wood supply as
compared with illegally logged timber. If the costs
could be reduced the incentive for illegal logging would
actually reduce. Trade liberalisation is actually part
of the solution to this problem.
New Zealand consumers who are concerned to help conserve
at risk forests and protect biodiversity have the option
of buying New Zealand produced plantation timber, or
looking for certified imported product.
The forest industries of Malaysia and New Zealand, as
represented by the Malaysian Timber Council and the New
Zealand Forest Industries Council and the New Zealand
Forest Owners Association are united in the belief that
profitable and competitive forest sectors working in
accordance with domestic legislative and regulatory
frameworks contribute actively to national economic,
environmental and social well-being.
This positive contribution is undermined by activities
that do not conform to sustainable forest management,
such as illegal logging. The industries therefore
condemn such activities and commit to work to find
solutions to help those countries affected to overcome
the problem. Such activities not only contribute to
deforestation but also threaten the viability of legally
harvested and traded forest products and are a serious
detriment to forest sustainability.
MAF
is in the process of developing a comprehensive illegal
logging policy. This may incorporate national,
bilateral, regional and/or international responses to
the issue. The development and implementation of
cohesive policy is urgent given both national and
international concern. Officials recommend that a New
Zealand policy approach on illegal logging be developed
over the coming months based on a combination of
measures which could include;
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working through the review of the New Zealand Interim
Timber Procurement Policy
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working with New Zealand business to develop solutions;
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support for Asia-Pacific regional initiatives and
bilateral activities; and
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working within existing international fora such as
United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), CBD
and ITTO.
New Zealand will contribute to the international battle
against illegal logging following MAF and the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs and Trade attendance at a meeting of
the Forest Law Enforcement and Governance Taskforce (FLEG)
in Jakarta.
In fact, Greenpeace has asked the New Zealand government
to take urgent action and introduce import restrictions
on illegal timber. According to Greenpeace forests
campaigners the New Zealand Government has failed to act
on illegal timber imports even after Greenpeace exposed
illegal timber imports from Papua New Guinea earlier
this year. In fact, EU Environment Ministers have called
for legislation to prevent trade in illegal timber. In
2003 New Zealand imported over 10,000 m3 of
tropical timber worth $12 million along with $150
million worth of wooden furniture. Two of the major
source countries are PNG and Indonesia. The Indonesian
government has acknowledged that 80% of logging is
illegal. In PNG a World Bank/PNG Government forestry
review team found breaches to the forestry regulations
by most logging operations. The Labour Party had made a
commitment in its last two manifestos to cleaning up
timber imports, but the New Zealand Government has
continually failed to take action. It is particularly
unfair for local forestry as they are required to be
legal and meet all the requirements of the Forests Act.
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