China's Timber Imports Raise Concerns

Following the death in 1998 of more than 4,000 people due to floods blamed on excessive deforestation, China implemented a widespread ban on logging. The ban may be good news for China's forests but may be bad news for other forests in the region. It is now feared the ban will lead to an increase in China's timber imports, exerting enormous pressure on the forests of South East Asia and eastern Russia, often in the form of illegal logging.

In response to this international concern, CIFOR and Washington-based NGO, Forest Trends, have launched a multi-partner project that will increase the level of information available about timber demand and trade in China and the impacts this will have on conservation and livelihoods.

A wood chips processing plant, Guangdong, China. Photo by Christian Cossalter.

In 2002, China imported 16 million cubic meters of round wood, some 16 times more than the figure for 1997. It is estimated this figure will reach 100 million cubic meters by 2010, accounting for half of the total annual demand in the country. Such high demand has serious implications for global forestry conservation.

"You have a country that is growing at eight to nine percent, where its own domestic supply of forest products is decreasing, so it has created a huge demand for forest products from the region. (This) will have a strong impact on livelihoods, jobs and people transforming forest products. We will also see considerable impact on local and neighboring economies, and on the environment," says David Kaimowitz, CIFOR's Director General.

Andy White, a Senior Director with Forest Trends, says there is no mechanism for monitoring how China's import of timber affects markets and the environment. "China's booming imports fuel illegal logging, unsustainable trade and poverty. Currently there is little knowledge of how to influence policy in China. We are missing the basic building blocks to launch effective development initiatives," says White.

White says the project will strengthen regional networks, identify leverage points where advocates can effect change and develop policy frameworks. Key partners in the project include: the Chinese Center for Agricultural Policy, the Chinese Academy of Forestry, the International Tropical Timber Organization, World Agroforestry Centre, Papua New Guinea's Foundation for People and Community Development, Bogor Agricultural University, Indonesia's Ministry of Forestry, University of British Colombia, and Russia's Economic Research Institute.