The palgrave international handbook of a 256

252 R White Although the global rate of net forest cover loss has slowed, partly due to the expansion of plantations and to natural forest restoration, forest biodiversity loss continues to occur disproportionately since the highest levels of deforestation and of forest degradation are reported for biodiversity-rich natural forests in developing countries (United Nations Environment Programme 2011, p 48) Net losses are especially significant in South America and Africa Factors affecting deforestation, and reduction in forest biodiversity, include unsustainable harvesting of forest products for industrial use and livelihood needs, deforestation for agriculture, and severe drought and forest fires Every year some 10 million hectares of forest are destroyed, industrial timber exports total around US$150 billion per year, and estimates of illegal logging account for about 25 % of removals worldwide (Setiono 2007, p 27) Much of this illegal logging occurs with the involvement of corrupt government officials, including law enforcement officers, financial institutions and backers, and business people who import timber or wood-base products Bribery and ‘goodwill’ payments, smuggling, illicit trafficking, money laundering and forging of documents are all part of the illegal logging industry (Bisschop 2015; Setiono 2007) Deforestation and species reduction are not only solely the outcome of logging Land clearance is also due to agricultural exploitation, cattle farming, mining, oil and gas installations, and hydroelectric dams (see Boekhout van Solinge 2008a, b, 2010a, b; Boekhout van Solinge and Kuijpers 2013; Khagram 2004) There is also the phenomenon of ‘conflict timber’, associated with West Africa, for example, in which deforestation is linked to the funding of civil wars and armed conflicts (Boekhout van Solinge 2008a; Brisman and South 2013; Brisman et al 2015) In these contexts, the ecological impact of logging and land clearance transcends the legal-illegal divide insofar as vast amounts of forest are destroyed in many different locations—from Peru and Brazil, Liberia and Sierra Leone, to Indonesia and Australia The motivations, objectives and practices may vary depending upon the social context and specific industry interests, but the result is further depletion of many different kinds of trees and variety of forests Another reason for deforestation and biodiversity reduction is the increasing reliance on energy from organic sources, especially in the global North (see Burrell et al 2012; Charles et al 2013) For example, global vegetable oil supplies used for biodiesel production are on the increase because of European and North American demand, with Indonesia and Malaysia major producers in the Asian region (Mitchell 2008) This translates into massive shifts in land use Indeed, the profitability of biofuel production is