China's Demand for Wood Impacts World's Forests

According to a WWF report, released in March, China will soon be the leader in the global wood market. Increasing demand for wood products is putting pressure on forests in other countries. Much of China's timber imports come from countries where logging is poorly regulated. The report, China's Wood Market, Trade and the Environment cites China as being a major destination for illegally harvested or traded timber.

After devastating flooding in 1998, China implemented new policies to protect its forestlands, including a logging ban, which resulted in a large drop in timber production. WWF generally supports these policies, but feels that demand for imports could be lessened by more efficient production methods and the return of environmentally sustainable harvest to some of the areas where logging is currently banned.

Link: China's rising wood imports a threat to the world's forests from WWF. The report, China's Wood Market, Trade and the Environment, by Z. Chunquan, R. Taylor, and F. Guoqiang is avaiable for download.

Posted by Eric La Fountaine at 4:15 PM on April 12, 2005

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