Negative impacts of the illegal timber trade between Cameroon and Vietnam

Following a three year investigation in Cameroon and Vietnam, the Centre pour l’Environnement et le Développement (CED) and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) released today Tainted Timber, Tarnished Temples, a report showing how several Vietnamese companies operating in Cameroon are at the heart of a booming illegal timber trade between Cameroon and Vietnam. CED and EIA’s report include evidence of illegal harvest, laundering schemes covered by paperwork, misdeclaration, and widespread violations of Cameroonian export and labor laws. Timber traffickers’ operations undermine current efforts to combat the import of illegal timber into Vietnam. Additionally, the illegal timber trade has defiled many Vietnamese temples, where Cameroonian timber has become increasingly central to construction and renovation projects.