Opinion: How to future-proof the EU’s efforts to save the world’s last rainforests

How to future-proof the EU’s efforts to save the world’s last rainforests

Thirteen years since the launch of an EU-wide initiative aimed at tackling the global trade in illegal timber, the results of its first official evaluation are in. The European Commission’s rather optimistic take on it was “EU action on illegal logging is bearing fruit”.  But take a closer look at the evaluation and the picture is much more mixed.

As countless Global Witness exposés have shown, the EU is a major destination for illegal timber. Europe is also a major donor – contributing 882.4 million euros in the first eleven years of the FLEGT Action Plan to tackle illegal logging.  This means that it has the potential to make a real difference in tackling the illegal timber trade.

Read the original post by Jo Blackman published on the Global Witness blog