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Another common scam is to forge a permit. In some places, per-
mits may be hand-written, easily reproduced or have the dates
changed. With very few resources for enforcement and many
operators, an inspecting forestry officer or ranger would have to
consult multiple offices and files in order to cross-check the au-
thenticity of a permit. The officer may even be denied access to
official records or have no means to access them by phone or in
person over long distances and with limited funds. Bribery of of-
ficials is a further challenge. Furthermore, a company may sim-
ply copy many permits and, without accurate borders, it becomes
very difficult to check. Finally, as operators may change, passing
on or resale of permits is not uncommon. Thus, one company
may log an area for a certain volume, then move on to the next,
and sell the permit to a second party who will then extract a simi-
lar volume of timber from the original area on the same permit.
These permit sales may also involve forgery of eco-certification.
One of the most common ways to conduct illegal logging is
for a company to obtain a legal permit to harvest timber and
simply exceed the legal volume or, as permits are normally
issued for a geographic area, to cut beyond this area. This
is quite easy, as permits may not include an accurate de-
scription and coordinates of the area to be cut, and there are
few resources available to cross-check or monitor either the
amount extracted or the area actually logged. Without a joint
master map and with many concessionaires often operating
in one region, it is difficult to monitor, trace or cross-check
the areas logged. Accurate information on borders, conces-
sions and operating companies is not available for cross-
check on the ground, by air or remotely. Furthermore, as
companies have a legal permit for part of what they cut, they
can simply mix legal with illegal timber and thus launder the
illegal logs on the spot.
LOGGING WITH FORGED OR
RE-USED PERMITS
LOGGING IN EXCESS OF PERMIT
OR CONCESSION QUOTAS
#5
#4
One of the most common
ways to conduct illegal
logging is to obtain a legal
permit and simply exceed
the legal volume.
Another common scam is
to forge a permit.