EU Forest Crime Initiative Final Conference at 15th & 16th June 2021

Forests disappear by a fatal combination of (sometimes) the bark beetle and (mostly) corruption. Brave people protecting the forests are positioning themselves and their families at risk. Also in the middle of Europe. In some countries this is worsened by the fact that space for civil society is shrinking. At the same time the people globally consume and work with timber products every day that have a risk of up to 30%, that it was illegally logged (2019 INTERPOL Global Forestry Enforcement).

Implementing a law means bringing cases to court. So, why are there nearly no relevant forestry crime cases in Europe? Even though the EU Timber Trade Regulation (EUTR) is in place since 2013. Even though calls on the urgency to fight forestry crime and recommendations are explicit for clearly more than a decade. This is one grave lesson learnt in the EU Forest Crime Initiative, a project financed by the EU Internal Security Fund.

This conference will present the findings and recommendations of a 2-year EU-funded project, which has brought together INTERPOL’s law enforcement expertise with WWF’s practical experience in supporting companies to avoid illegal wood trafficking. The event is designed for EU and national decision makers dealing with the EUTR and its implementation, foresters, customs agents, prosecutors, judges, competent authorities, police, investigation and anti-corruption bureaus, representatives of environment/agriculture ministries, as well as Civil Society Organisations/NGOs.

The event will be available in Bulgarian, French, Romanian, Slovakian, Ukrainian.

Panel with forensic biologist Mark Benecke on June 15, 2021, 14:00 London time.