 | The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with India and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(May 2020) |
Timber mafia refers to organized crime in the field of illegal logging in timber.
| The examples and perspective in this article deal primarily with India and do not represent a worldwide view of the subject.(May 2020) |
Timber mafia refers to organized crime in the field of illegal logging in timber.
 | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (November 2013) |
Brazil has rampant illegal logging, [1] with deforestation increasing in 2013. [2] The mafia intimidate opponents, however they also have a veneer of legitimacy. [3]
Congo is also a victim of the illegal timber trade. [1]
Protected forest areas in parts of India – such as Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka and Jharkhand – are vulnerable to illegal logging by timber mafias that have coopted or intimidated forestry officials, local politicians, businesses and citizenry. [4] [5] Non-state groups have joined the nexus in militancy-affected areas such as Kashmir. [6] Clear-cutting is sometimes covered-up by conniving officials who report fictitious forest fires. [7]
Many studies indicate large losses of forest cover to indiscriminate logging by timber mafias, with over a million hectares in the environs of Chhotanagpur alone being illegally transferred by the forest department directly to industrial, mining and logging companies. [8] Besides the environmental degradation, public financial losses can be substantial: One 1994 estimate of stolen timber in the state of Karnataka amounted to Rs. 10 billion (about US$230 million). [9] Veerappan was a notorious bandit who, until his shooting death by state police in 2004, specialised in illegally logging sandalwood in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu. [10]
As with coal, there have been incidents of substitution of low-grade wood for high-quality timber when the procurement of wood is authorised for government use. In an incident in 2005, officials determined that high-quality deodar wood meant for military and railway use had been substituted with lower-quality chir wood in Jammu and Kashmir state; the higher quality wood was intercepted in the process of being smuggled across the state border into Punjab. [11]
The forests of Borneo have faced illegal logging which threatens livelihood and the ecosystem. [12]
The forest industry in Romania is dominated by a “timber mafia” or a “forest mafia.” Half of all Romanian timber is illegally harvested. Those who cross the timber mafia or attempt to enforce Romania’s forest laws are targeted for retribution. [13]
Corruption is a deep rooted issue in Romania that attracts foreign timber companies such as HS Timber which has been implicated in the illegal timber trade, leading Ikea to end sourcing from them. Romania is facing European Commission scrutiny for its failure to halt illegal logging, highlighting the critical situation.
Illegal logging is the harvest, transportation, purchase, or sale of timber in violation of laws. The harvesting procedure itself may be illegal, including using corrupt means to gain access to forests; extraction without permission, or from a protected area; the cutting down of protected species; or the extraction of timber in excess of agreed limits. Illegal logging is a driving force for a number of environmental issues such as deforestation, soil erosion and biodiversity loss which can drive larger-scale environmental crises such as climate change and other forms of environmental degradation.
Koose Munisamy Veerappan was an Indian bandit turned domestic terrorist who was active for 36 years, and kidnapped major politicians for ransom. He was charged with sandalwood smuggling and poaching of elephants in the scrub lands and forests in the states of Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Kerala.
Mirpur, officially known as New Mirpur City, is the capital of Mirpur district located in Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. It is the second largest city of Azad Kashmir and 74th largest city in Pakistan.
Articles on forestry topics include:.
The Changa Manga is a planted forest which includes a wildlife preserve, in the Kasur and Lahore districts of Punjab, Pakistan. It is located approximately 80 kilometers south-west of Lahore. It was once the largest man-made forest in the world but has undergone illegal deforestation at a massive scale in recent times.
Deforestation in Thailand refers to the conversion of its forested land to other uses. Deforestation numbers are inexact due to the scope of the issue. According to the Royal Forest Department (RFD) in 2019, Thai forests cover 31.6% of Thailand's landmass. The department claims that forest coverage grew by 330,000 rai in 2018, an area equivalent in size to the island of Phuket. A year earlier, an academic claimed that, since 2016, forested area has declined by 18,000 rai, a significant improvement over the period 2008–2013, when a forested million rai were lost each year. In 1975, the government set a goal of 40% forest coverage—25% natural forest and 15% commercial forest—within 20 years. To achieve that target in 2018, 27 million rai would have to be afforested.
Deforestation in Cambodia has increased in recent years. Cambodia is one of the world's most forest endowed countries, that was not historically widely deforested. However, massive deforestation for economic development threatens its forests and ecosystems. As of 2015, the country has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world.
Forestry in India is a significant rural industry and a major environmental resource. India is one of the ten most forest-rich countries of the world. Together, India and 9 other countries account for 67 percent of the total forest area of the world. India's forest cover grew at 0.20% annually over 1990–2000, and has grown at the rate of 0.7% per year over 2000–2010, after decades where forest degradation was a matter of serious concern.
Deforestation in Laos is a major environmental concern, with Laos losing forest area to legal and illegal logging.
Mafia Raj refers to a criminalised nexus of government officials, elected politicians, business interests and other entities.
Deforestation in Indonesia involves the long-term loss of forests and foliage across much of the country; it has had massive environmental and social impacts. Indonesia is home to some of the most biologically diverse forests in the world and ranks third in number of species behind Brazil and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Illegal logging has been a problem in Madagascar for decades and is perpetuated by extreme poverty and government corruption. Often taking the form of selective logging, the trade has been driven by high international demand for expensive, fine-grained lumber such as rosewood and ebony. Historically, logging and exporting in Madagascar have been regulated by the Malagasy government, although the logging of rare hardwoods was explicitly banned from protected areas in 2000. Since then, government orders and memos have intermittently alternated between permitting and banning exports of precious woods. The most commonly cited reason for permitting exports is to salvage valuable wood from cyclone damage, although this reasoning has come under heavy scrutiny. This oscillating availability of Malagasy rosewood and other precious woods has created a market of rising and falling prices, allowing traders or "timber barons" to stockpile illegally sourced logs during periodic bans and then flood the market when the trade windows open and prices are high. Over 350,000 trees were illegally felled in Madagascar between 2010 and 2015, according to TRAFFIC.
Deforestation in Borneo has taken place on an industrial scale since the 1960s. Borneo, the third largest island in the world, divided between Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, was once covered by dense tropical and subtropical rainforests.
K Vijay Kumar, IPS, is a retired IPS officer. He was the chief of the Special Task Force of Tamil Nadu that was involved in the death of the Veerappan during Operation Cocoon of 2004. He had also been the senior advisor to Home Ministry for the Left Wing Extremism areas. He served as the Advisor to the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir with Home, Forest, Ecology & Environment, Health & Medical Education, Youth Services & Sports, Hospitality & Protocol, Civil Aviation, Estates and Information portfolios. Currently he has joined back as senior security adviser in Ministry of Home Affairs in December 2019.
The forestry sector of Pakistan is a main source of lumber, paper, fuelwood, latex, medicine as well as food and provide ecotourism and wildlife conservation purposes. 4.91% of Pakistan's land is covered in forest.The Shangla district is the only district of Pakistan that composed of more than 80% of forest land
Awan Patti Urdu: اعوان پٹی is a valley in Muzaffarabad district, Azad Kashmir, Pakistan. It is located 25 kilometres (16 mi) southeast of Muzaffarabad city, on the right bank of the Jhelum River and opposite of Garhi Dupatta.
Kashmir walnut wood carving is wood carving work that is manufactured in Jammu and Kashmir, India. Walnut carving is protected under the geographical indication (GI) of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) agreement. It is listed at item 182 as "Kashmir Walnut Wood Carving" of the GI Act 1999 of the Government of India with registration confirmed by the Controller General of Patents Designs and Trademarks.
There are three species of orangutan. The Bornean orangutan, the most common, can be found in Kalimantan, Indonesia and Sarawak and Sabah in Malaysia. The Sumatran orangutan and the Tapanuli orangutan are both only found in Sumatra, Indonesia. The conservation status of all three of these species is critically endangered, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List.
Forestry in Romania is an important sector of the economy and is of global significance. Half of all forestry production in Romania is the result of illegal logging.
Baniya, or Bania, is a clan of the Gurjar community of India and Pakistan. They speak Gujari in the Himalayan region and a number of other languages in the other locations where they inhabit. They practise Hinduism and Islam. They are Muslims in Kashmir and Pakistan, and Hindus in northern Indian regions.
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