Forest law enforcement, governance and trade in the Southern African Development Community. Vol. 1 (9).

There is a significant proportion of timber that is harvested, transported, processed and traded illegally throughout the world. This is often associated with detrimental environmental, social and economic consequences, including loss of biodiversity and habitats, political instability, increased income disparities and market distortions. However the magnitude of the problem is not known with absolute certainty though the World Bank value illegal logging to be US$10 billion annually and US$5 billion in lost government revenues (World Bank, 2008). Illegal forest activities are a serious threat to sustainable development, ranging from financial loses to environmental degradation, worsening governance, increased poverty and social conflict (Tacconi et al., 2003).