What are the effects of illegal logging in protected lands?
Apart from the environmental destruction mentioned, illegal logging displaces wildlife and also people. I have read recent estimates that 70% of the teak on the world market is illegally logged in SE Asia. There is a “timber Mafia” logging protected reserves, with corrupt politicians on the payroll, and the teak is shipped through places like Malaysia, where it is re-labled and becomes untraceable. These people do not hesitate to kill environmentalists who try to stop them. They use elephants to pull logs, injecting them with methamphetamines to keep them working. When the elephants become psychotic (as with humans on meth) they are shot. Most of the teak ends up in the US as patio furniture. I work in boat building, and all our boats have teak decks. I look at those decks and see blood.
