The need to cut China's illegal timber imports

Abstract

IN THE POLICY FORUM “CHINA’S FORESTRY REFORMS” (7 DECEMBER 2007, P. 1556), G. Wang and colleagues describe laudable steps to improve forest management and increase wood production in China. However, they fail to even mention China’s burgeoning consumption of imported timber—much of it illegally harvested—and its profound implications for Chinese forestry and the global environment.