Illegal Logging: Tracking Timber in Honduras

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Wednesday, March 1, 2006
Author: 
Jed Borod
Volume: 
22
Issue: 
3
116
Abstract: 
Effective environmental enforcement posed acute problems in Brazil, a country with a middle-of-the-road level of economic prosperity in Latin America. In a previous series examining the effects of illegal mahogany logging in Brazil, the International Enforcement Law Reporter noted the ability of logging companies to use their economic power, coupled with structural issues unique to the Brazilian political and judicial systems, to bring about favorable policy outcomes. In Brazil ? especially in the poorer, rural state of Para ? logging companies exerted disproportionate power based on their economic bases. A recent report from the Environmental Investigation Agency, The Illegal Logging Crisis in Honduras, notes similar problems in Honduras. In a far less developed country ? Honduras is ranked 158 of 232 countries in 2004 per capita GDP, versus Brazil at 92 ? the best hope for the problem of illegal logging seems to be stronger international enforcement ? [more]