A workshop on illegal logging has been held to provide an overview of relevant political processes.

The workshop on “Combating Illegal Harvesting of Forest Products and Related Trade in Europe” convened in Madrid, Spain from 3-4 November 2005 to consider relevant processes, such as the Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (FLEG) approach for Africa and Asia and the G8 process. Participants at this Ministerial Conference on the Protection of the Forests of Europe (MCPFE) workshop developed a number of recommendations, including calls for: a definition of illegal logging by countries and the areas of their legislation applicable to combating illegal logging and related trade; the development of wood tracking systems and schemes based on common principles; and the development of public-private partnerships that work with suppliers and importers as well as cooperation between agencies such as customs authorities and investigation agencies concerned with organized crimes. Workshop participants agreed to transmit the workshop’s outputs to the Europe and North Asia Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (ENA FLEG) Ministerial Conference, which met from 22-25 November 2005 in St. Petersburg, Russia. More information.