Forests Sourcebook - HCV Resource Network

ANNEX 5.5A
DRIVERS OF ILLEGAL LOGGING AND OTHER FOREST CRIME: MOTIVE, MEANS,
AND OPPORTUNITY
Using the motive, means, and opportunity elements to analyze
illegal logging and other forest crimes illuminates fundamental
drivers of the problem (Magrath et al. 2007). This
annex presents an overview of some of these drivers derived
from a set of country-level studies and assessments.
Motive
■ Overriding need to generate foreign exchange
■ Imperative to finance military operations
■ Poverty and lack of alternative income
■ Lack of affordable fuel alternatives
■ Denial of access by local people to resources they need
for subsistence or livelihoods
■ Indiscriminate (regarding legality of origin) demand for
timber in neighboring countries
■ Indiscriminate international demand for timber
■ Economic factors and policies favoring forest conversion
■ Low cost of illegal timber (that is, ineffective sanctions)
and rent-seeking business culture in the forest sector
companies
■ Overcapacity in the wood processing industry
■ Difficulty complying with legal regulations (especially by
small-scale producers, concession holders, communities,
and private forest owners)
■ Bureaucratic laws related to forest management (cost of
complying with laws is too high)
Means
■ Roads, navigable rivers, harbors, and other transport
infrastructure
■ Labor in forest areas (often without alternative sources of
livelihoods)
■ Capital to finance illegal logging and other forest crime
■
■
Equipment for logging and transport of timber and
wood products
Opportunities for money laundering to hide financial
proceeds
Opportunity
■ Weak governance in parts or all of the country (including
areas affected by conflict and war)
■ Breakdown of institutional controls and lack of accountability
of public officials
■ Rapid and disorganized decentralization and lack of
institutional capacity at decentralized levels (see note 5.1,
Decentralized Forest Management)
■ Ambiguous forest land tenure (that is, lack of legal definition,
overlapping uses, conflicting laws, and so on) (see
note 1.4, Property and Access Rights)
■ Inadequate or inappropriate legal framework (not based
on a social contract with key forest users) (see note 5.3,
Strengthening Legal Frameworks in the Forest Sector)
■ Lack of or weak recognition of customary rights (of local
and indigenous communities)
■ Weak internal organization of these communities
■ Inadequate or inappropriate prescriptions for forest
management and use (regulations)
■ Lack of reliable and up-to-date information on forest
resources and their use
■ Weak, poorly managed, or corrupt forest administration
■ Ineffective or corrupt law enforcement
■ Ineffective or corrupt judiciary
■ Weak governance or contradictory policies in sectors
related to forestry
■ Weak control of illegal exports in producing countries or
imports in purchasing countries
Source: Modified from Puustjarvi (2006b).
198 CHAPTER 5: IMPROVING FOREST GOVERNANCE