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Illegal logging is a global concern, associated with severe negative environmental, social and economic impacts, such as deforestation, degradation of biodiversity and loss of government revenues. Despite recent international efforts to combat illegal logging activities, the problem remains widespread. While the academic literature on the subject is extensive, little systematic research has been devoted to analysing the causes of illegal logging. Here, this knowledge gap is addressed with a cross-national assessment of factors hypothesized to impact illegal logging. The logistic regression analysis conducted in this study corroborates some widely held beliefs, but also provides some new insights on the factors that are important for whether illegal logging is likely to be a problem. It is shown that, besides physical-geographic characteristics, a number of factors relating to the level and speed of a country's economic-institutional development are associated with illegal logging. These include gross domestic product per capita, economic growth, voice and accountability, rule of law and control of corruption. The findings also have implications for existing policies to tackle illegal logging activities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, it has become increasingly popular to consider the forest-based industries as a so-called cluster. The forest cluster includes forestry enterprises as well as a wide range of industries, all engaged in the processing and manufacturing of roundwood as well as of semifinished and finished wood, pulp and paper products. The purpose of this paper was to depict the inter-industry linkages of the German forest cluster with the help of an input-output table. In the past, it was often the case that the various interactions between the different industries of the forest cluster were not fully perceived by industry managers, governmental bodies or associations, probably due to the distorted representation of the forest-based industries in official statistics. In this sense, the present study aimed at providing crucial baseline information for the understanding of this still rather fragmented sector. The disaggregated input-output table shows the various flows of inputs (measured in monetary values) into the productive process and matches them with outputs. Moreover, two exemplary impact analyses are conducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an ex-post calculation approach for the use-side estimation of wood fellings in Germany. Based on an existing approach for calculating wood removals, all roundwood using sectors and available data sources are to be identified. An intensive analysis and evaluation of the data scope and quality, as well as the subsequent identification of data gaps on the use side are essential parts of the approach. A complementary part of the study is the development of individual sectoral models to close the identified data gaps on the use side. The calculated data on wood removals are then used for the estimation of wood fellings, taking into account variables such as logging residues. The comparison of the use-side calculated data for fellings in this paper, with supply-based data from official statistics, shows that there was a difference of about 16.1 million m in 2013. This tendency toward constant underestimation of fellings in the official statistics is known from various studies and can now be quantified for the complete period of investigation (1995-2013). The results also allow for a more realistic view on a possible sustainable increase in wood harvests and on decision making in forest-based industries. Moreover, they allow for more accurate calculations of carbon sequestration in forests and harvested wood products. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]