Illegal logging

Ikea has come under heavy criticism for failing to use sustainable forestry for making its wooden furniture.

The Swedish company has been found to have cleared old-growth forests in the north of Russia in Karelia through its wholly-owned subsidiary Swedwood.

Project Leaf will also support enforcement agencies in countries with the biggest forest crime problems, the state-funded BBC reported.

The government of Cameroon has intensified a crackdown on illegal loggers in a measure aimed at conserving the country’s forest resources and combating the effects of climate change.

STATE-OWNED timber agency VicForests has been hit with court action by the Environment Department after it allegedly logged protected rainforest.

The representatives of 43 European countries – the 27 EU member states plus the European Commission, Russia and other non-EU European countries – have begun negotiating a legally binding agreement on sustainable forest management in Europe.