Forests - Environmental Transformations - page 89

agricultural practices are often coordinated by
global food corporations who are eager to exploit
tropical climates in order to produce high-profit
yielding commodities such as beef and bananas.
The globalization of forest resources has
resulted in more than officially sanctioned de-
forestation. In many instances, so-called illegal
logging (often in protected forest areas) is in-
formally supported by governmental authorities,
which protect timber corporations from legal
prosecution. At another level, however, small-
scale illegal logging is on the rise (INTERPOL/
World Bank, undated). Recent estimates by the
World Bank suggest that illegal logging activities

throughout the world result in economic losses
of some $10 billion every year, plus lost tax and
royalty payments of $5 billion per annum (World
Bank, 2006). In many states illegal logging also
constitutes a significant percentage of all logging
activities (see Figure 5.4). The extent of current
illegal logging activities is clearly the product of
the great profits that can be made within the
global timber markets. The processes of global-
ization do, however, also make it much easier
to traffic illegal timber throughout the world. As
illegal timber is transported throughout the world
its association with illegal points of origin can be
easily obscured.

Figure 5.3 Routes of illegal timber trade in Southeast Asia
Source: INTERPOL