“Legal Logging” is not the same as “Sustainable Logging”

I recently wrote about illegal logging and the damage it does to forests, indigenous people, wildlife, and the world’s climate.  Australia has passed a law (The Illegal Logging Prohibition Act) to try to stop the importation of illegally logged timber, or the processing of illegally logged Australian timber.

I am sorry to tell you that just because timber has been legally logged it is not necessarily sustainably logged. This means that the timber goods (and that includes paper) that are imported into Australia, or are processed from Australian felled trees, may still have caused enormous damage to the local ecosystem and the environment and could be against the rights and wellbeing of local communities.

Different countries have different levels of enforcement and different requirements for what is legal. Countries, particularly those with the high demand tropical hardwoods issue permits, or allow widespread logging without putting any, or many, restrictions on the harvester.  Environmental and social issues may not even be considered in determining the legality of logging.  Also, in some countries bribery and corruption make the local laws meaningless.

We are all aware of the destruction of rainforests in developing countries for example in Indonesia, the Amazon, PNG, but it happens here too. For example, the Queensland Government is allowing the deforestation of large swathes of native koala habitat, and forest that otherwise provided some protection for the Reef.  Although, not cleared for timber, its also worth noting that South Korea has reportedly just bulldozed forests that are sacred to local people and home to many endangered or threatened species to make way for a couple of ski runs for the winter Olympics.  These are “legal’ but far from sustainable and in the best interests of people and the local ecosystem.

“Sustainable Logging” is not the same as “No Logging”

As much as the ideal situation (well, my ideal, anyway) would be to leave native forests alone, timber is an important material for our lives and, if harvested properly, a great environmental option to some of the alternatives. Much of the timber we need comes from existing plantations, but this does not cover all our needs and forest timber, rainforests in particular, are logged to meet the demand. The important thing is that they can be logged in a way that the overall forest is left intact, local communities’ rights are respected, workers are protected, wildlife has a home and the forest can keep giving for generations.

What can consumers do?

It’s not possible for consumers to know where timber comes from, but buying certified timber where the whole chain of custody is known from forest to retailer is the way to go.  Preferably, where possible buy products made of certified post consumer recycled fibre.

The most stringent certification scheme is the FSC Forestry Stewardship Certification scheme.   Look for the FSC logo on stationery,  timber products, toilet paper, hand towels…..

The second major certification scheme is PEFC Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification scheme. It is not as stringent in some areas as FSC is, but for timber coming from “low risk” sources for example plantation timber or non- rainforest timber, you can be relatively assured that the environment, local people and workers are looked after. Look for the PEFC logo

PEFC logo

Specify FSC timber when building and renovating.

Shop from retailers that support these certifications.

Make sure that  your business  buys certified timber and paper goods.