Author Brown, D. et al.

Year of publication 2008

This book investigates a topical issue in international forest policy development: how to verify the legality of timber sold on regional and international markets in ways that will satisfy both the interests of producer states and the demands of consumers. This seemingly straightforward and technical matter is in fact complex and political. It addresses a critical interface in inter-governmental relations, where producer states' rights of ownership are defended with considerable tenacity. It bridges a major geographical and social divide - the concerned consumers are primarily in the post-industrial north, while the producers are primarily in the industrialising south. It also relates to a topic - illegal logging - that has been at the forefront of an international movement in which private actors (both profit-seeking and not-for-profit) are playing increasingly important roles in public governance, and are beginning to set policy agendas for both the north and south. While at one level the subject matter of this book is forest sector-specific, it touches on much broader issues about the balance between sovereign state control and the international stewardship of global public goods, illegality as a dimension of poor governance, and mechanisms of national and international public accountability.