Illegal Logging in the Tropics

Examine why illegal logging is so pervasive—and how this problem can be addressed

In March 2002, the Yale chapter of the International Society of Tropical Foresters brought together social and natural scientists, resource managers, policymakers, community leaders, and other interested parties to share experiences, strategies, successes, and failures in addressing illegal logging and corruption. The results were the conference Illegal Logging in Tropical Forests: Ecology, Economics, and Politics of Resource Misuse and this book, which brings together analyses from the perspectives, of anthropology, economics, forestry, law, political science, and sociology.

Illegal Logging in the Tropics: Strategies for Cutting Crime suggests specific policy interventions aimed at curbing illegal logging and identifying solutions to forest crime. It presents both thematic analyses of illegal logging at the global level and case studies on both the local and national levels in African, Latin American, and Asian countries. The contributors draw on their experiences in Benin, Brazil, Cameroon, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and Vietnam.

Illegal Logging in the Tropics: Strategies for Cutting Crime examines:

• global governance—with a cross-country regression analysis of deforestation and various aspects of governance
  
• global forest trade—with extensive reviews of data on global trade in forest products
  
• community perspectives on illegal logging—including a system dynamics model of villagers’ willingness to log, a description of community involvement in broader networks of illegal trade, and a chapter that challenges the credibility of illegality as defined by a corrupt government or agency
  
• the efforts of NGOs to combat illegal logging
  
• how illegal logging is typically symptomatic of broader failures of governance

• the role of monitoring in cutting forest crime
  
• whether illegal logging is better combated via law enforcement or by local communities—with pros and cons for each approach
  
• the proximate causes of illegal logging, including access to forests and equipment, and economic factors
  
• the efforts of Transparency International—a widely lauded organization combating corruption—to address illegal logging at the international policy level