HomeNewsChile Loggers Try New Rules to Crack Down on Illegal Timber
NEWS

Chile Loggers Try New Rules to Crack Down on Illegal Timber

CHILE / 20 AUG 2021 BY TOMÁS MICHAEL EN

Faced with endemic timber theft and uneven government enforcement, logging companies in Chile have agreed to new guidelines meant to cut down on the sale of illegal wood.

On August 11, six of Chile’s largest logging unions joined forces to establish a campaign to combat timber trafficking and theft, which results in losses of over $70 million a year, according to organizers. In May, police stopped one convoy of seven trucks carrying 161 meters of stolen pine wood, worth an estimated $10.5 million.

The framework, named “Buena Madera, confiable desde su origen,” (Good wood, with a trustworthy origin), has three aims: to educate consumers about the origin of the wood they buy, to protect workers and small and medium enterprises in the timber industry and to develop a system to track illegal wood, starting from supervising each truck carrying timber.

Sixty-five logging companies, accounting for 70 percent of Chile’s wood production, have signed up to abide by the new guidelines, which require them to provide more thorough information on the origin, destination and legality of their timber.

SEE ALSO: Chile News and Profile

The unions involved stated that this move was all the more necessary due to weak government support for the issue.

In August 2018, the Chilean Senate introduced a bill to strengthen law enforcement surrounding logging theft and improve the prosecution of the criminals involved. But the bill was rejected by the Senate in January 2020. A new bill with similar goals was presented in March 2021 but has not yet been voted on.

This legislative deadlock has come amid repeated attacks on logging workers, who have also seen their families and homes targeted and their machinery stolen.

Accusations of lackluster government enforcement are nothing new. Last September, the head of Chile's forestry workers' union, René Muñoz, lambasted the government as being "cowards because they have the tools but don't want to do anything."

InSight Crime Analysis

Chile's logging industry has a notorious history of criminal involvement, from international smuggling rings to stealing entire truckloads of legally felled wood.

According to a report by BioBioChile, illegal loggers operate by trespassing in forests owned by licensed logging firms, removing the wood, and then loading it up onto trucks to take to ports.

Other times, gunmen will hijack already trucks loaded with timber.

Timber traffickers will then falsify information about the wood's origins, masking it as legally sourced to allow it to be shipped and sold.

The Buena Madera framework is targeting this particular issue by raising the standard for background information on wood shipments.

SEE ALSO: Convoys of Stolen Wood – Widespread Theft in Chile’s Logging Industry

But not all issues in Chile's logging industry can be solved by tighter regulations. The Indigenous Mapuche people have a long history of grievances against the logging industry, accusing companies of repeatedly encroaching on their lands and destroying natural resources.

In 2020 and 2021, dozens of trucks belonging to timber companies have been set on fire, allegedly by Mapuche community members, amid a range of violent acts targeting officials and businesses.

share icon icon icon

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

What are your thoughts? Click here to send InSight Crime your comments.

We encourage readers to copy and distribute our work for non-commercial purposes, with attribution to InSight Crime in the byline and links to the original at both the top and bottom of the article. Check the Creative Commons website for more details of how to share our work, and please send us an email if you use an article.

Was this content helpful?

We want to sustain Latin America’s largest organized crime database, but in order to do so, we need resources.

DONATE

Related Content

CHINA AND CRIME / 4 APR 2022

A string of seizures highlights Panama's important role in international timber trafficking. The country’s strategic position and the presence of…

ARGENTINA / 12 SEP 2022

Synthetic drugs like methamphetamine, fentanyl, and ecstasy are reshaping Latin America's drug trade.

BRAZIL / 8 NOV 2022

As gold prices have skyrocketed, a boom in mining across the Amazon Basin has flourished, leaving a deep environmental footprint.

About InSight Crime

THE ORGANIZATION

All Eyes on Ecuador

2 JUN 2023

Our coverage of organized crime in Ecuador continues to be a valuable resource for international and local news outlets. Internationally, Reuters cited our 2022 Homicide Round-Up,…

WORK WITH US

Open Position: Social Media and Engagement Strategist

27 MAY 2023

InSight Crime is looking for a Social Media and Engagement Strategist who will be focused on maintaining and improving InSight Crime’s reputation and interaction with its audiences through publishing activities…

THE ORGANIZATION

Venezuela Coverage Receives Great Reception

27 MAY 2023

Several of InSight Crime’s most recent articles about Venezuela have been well received by regional media. Our article on Venezuela’s colectivos expanding beyond their political role to control access to…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime's Chemical Precursor Report Continues

19 MAY 2023

For the second week in a row, our investigation into the flow of precursor chemicals for the manufacture of synthetic drugs in Mexico has been cited by multiple regional media…

THE ORGANIZATION

InSight Crime’s Chemical Precursor Report Widely Cited

THE ORGANIZATION / 12 MAY 2023

We are proud to see that our recently published investigation into the supply chain of chemical precursors feeding Mexico’s synthetic drug production has been warmly received.