Fact Sheet
Office of the Spokesman
Washington, DC
July 28, 2003
The President’s Initiative Against Illegal
Logging
On July
28, 2003, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell formally launched a major
United States commitment to address the global problem of illegal
logging. The President’s Initiative Against Illegal Logging is the
most comprehensive strategy yet undertaken by any nation to address
this critical sustainable development challenge and reinforces the
U.S. leadership role in taking action to counter the problem.
The new initiative was developed at the direction of President
George W. Bush with the objective of assisting developing countries in
their efforts to combat illegal logging, including the sale and export
of illegally harvested timber, and in fighting corruption in the
forest sector. The initiative focuses on three critical regions -- the
Congo Basin, the Amazon Basin and Central America and South and
Southeast Asia -- and will emphasize four key strategies:
Good Governance -- Building
country capacity to establish and strengthen legal regimes and
enforcement of laws affecting forest management, especially those
aimed at illegal logging;
Community-Based Actions --
Enhancing community involvement in forest governance and related
wildlife issues;
Technology Transfer --
Developing integrated monitoring systems and building in-country
capacity to monitor forest activity and compliance with laws,
including using remote-sensing and ground-based technologies to
monitor changes in forest conditions;
Harnessing Market Forces --
Promoting good business practices, transparent markets and legal
trade, including country capacity to implement obligations under the
Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species.
Current actions supported by the United States to address illegal
logging around the world total up to $15 million. These efforts will
build the foundation for future action with partner countries and
stakeholders.
Illegal logging destroys forest ecosystems, robs national
governments and local communities of needed revenues, under prices
legally harvested forest products on the world market, finances
regional conflict and acts as a disincentive to sustainable forest
management. The World Bank estimates that illegal logging results in
annual losses of $10 - $15 billion in developing countries.
|
