Protected Brazilian Timber Reportedly Being Sold as “Eco-Certified”

The Brazilian government is investigating charges that illegal timber is being cut in protected reserves and laundered as “eco-certified” to markets abroad, including the United States and Europe, according to a report in the newspaper O Globo. A federal prosecutor says wood taken from reserves and indigenous lands in the Brazilian state of Pará was classified as certified timber, a designation that earns a higher price from international buyers interested in purchasing and marketing sustainably harvested wood. The alleged operation involves as many as 3,000 companies, according to the report. Pará, which has emerged as a major timber market in recent years, also has the highest deforestation rate in the Brazilian Amazon, accounting for 43 percent of total forest loss.