This Wednesday, July 21st at 10 a.m.(GMT-5), Proética will present the study “Yacu Kallpa – Operation Amazonas 2015. Wood Trafficking Power Structures in the Yacu Kallpa Case” and web platform “Observatorio de Legalidad de la Madera” (Wood Legality Observatory) as part of the 10th anniversary of the Environmental Governance Program of Proética, in an effort to contribute to fight against illegal logging and related crimes.
Frank Rivero, forestry specialist of the Environmental Governance Program, will be in charge of the presentation, which will include the participation of our Executive Director, Samuel Rotta; Director of the Environmental Governance Program, Magaly Avila; the National Coordinator of the Specialized Environmental Prosecutor’s Offices, Dr. Flor María Vega Zapata; Rolando Navarro from the Center for International Environmental Law – CIEL; Intendant of Operational Analysis of the Superintendence of Banking, Insurance and Pension Fund Administrators, Daniel Linares; journalist of Mongabay Latam, Yvette Sierra; and Director in Peru of the Environmental Investigation Agency – EIA, Julia Urrunaga.
Study on the largest case of seized illegal Wood
The study “Yacu Kallpa – Operation Amazonas 2015. Wood Trafficking Power Structures in the Yacu Kallpa Case” aimed to identify the key actors and power structures of illegal wood trafficking, regarding the fourth shipment of the Yacu Kallpa case, part of the international operation called “Operation Amazonas 2015”, which represented the largest shipment of illegal timber seized to date.
A total of 96% of all wood involved was found to be illegal, when seen by country of destination, 59% of the timber destined for the United States was illegal, as was 99% of the timber destined for Mexico and the Dominican Republic.
10 exporting companies were identified that acquired illegal timber to shipped it to these three countries.
Other findings include the identification of 60 Forest Management Plans (FMPs) involved in the Yacu Kallpa case. Based on the results of OSINFOR’s supervisions, 88% of them have false information or non-existent trees.
Behind these irregular actions are involved 09 forestry officials who approved these plans; 23 forestry professionals who recommended the approval, 11 forestry professionals who cleared or approved the technical reports for approval, 12 forestry professionals who performed the visual inspection and 13 forestry consultants who prepared the PMFs with false information or non-existence of trees, which were later used to enable the commercialization of illegally extracted timber involved in this case.
“Legal Timber” platform will help to identify actors involved in the approval of false forest management plans at the national level
The “Wood Legality Observatory” platform provides information on Forest Management Plans (PMF) approved with false information or non-existence trees by forestry authorities, from 2005 to 2020, evidenced by the Forestry and Wildlife Resources Oversight Agency (OSINFOR).
Furthermore, it provides an overview of the actors who participated in the approval process of these plans, as well as their respective fields and their networks.
Currently, it shows 1301 PMFs approved with false information or non-existence trees, involving, among others, 135 consultants and/or forestry regents who were in charge of the elaboration process, 220 professionals and/or technicians who carried out visual inspections, 281 professionals who recommended the approval of such plans, and 113 officials who approved them.
Information on the amount of non-existent trees and the unjustified or illegal volume authorized under the aforementioned plans will also be given.
This platform is based on official information obtained by means of public information access forms submitted to OSINFOR, and will be updated quarterly.
This event will be broadcasted on our Facebook account via Zoom: https://www.facebook.com/ProeticaPeru