Timber mafia refers to organized crime in the field of illegal logging in timber.
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 were also victim to illegal logging and 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]