INTERPOL and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) launched a new, joint initiative this week aimed at combating forest crime and improving what has been a broken, ineffective patchwork of forestry law enforcement.

Known as Project LEAF (Law Enforcement Assistance for Forests), the effort represents an international response that, for the first time, matches the organization and sophistication of transnational crime.

According to a World Bank study released in March, illegal logging has become a “global epidemic,” accounting for up to 90% of all logging activity and generating $10-15 billion annually.

 

Read more (Ecology Global Network)…