illegal logging

ADF STAFF Massive redwood trees tower above the floor of central Kenya’s Aberdare National Park, home to an array of animal species, including antelope, buffalo, elephants and endangered species such as black rhinos, mountain bongos,…

ADF STAFF Mozambique has eclipsed other African countries as China’s primary supplier of rosewood, a material coveted for its use in expensive furniture. Mozambique shipped 20,000 metric tons of the internationally protected timber to…

ADF STAFF A new four-part investigation by the Pulitzer Center Rainforest Investigations Network and The Africa Report shows how trees felled in the Democratic Republic of the Congo make their way across borders with the help of official…

ADF STAFF Mozambican authorities are worried that timber smuggling in Cabo Delgado province is funding terror groups such as Ansar al-Sunna, which has led an insurgency there since 2017. The province is rich in valuable wood species…

ADF STAFF Despite an amazing array of natural resources, the Central African Republic (CAR) has endured years of civil war, poor governance and corruption. Traffickers, terrorists, mercenaries and thieves are stealing its wealth of…

ADF STAFF The Tanzania Forest Agency (TFA) is adding drones to the tools it uses to protect dwindling woodland areas, which are under pressure from a variety of sources. “The utilization of drone technology is important because it will…

ADF STAFF Ghana banned rosewood logging in 2019. Despite that, logging continues, driven by China’s insatiable appetite for the lumber and the substantial amounts of money Chinese logging companies spread around in some of Ghana’s poorest…

ADF STAFF A new study reveals how a Chinese logging company is illegally leveling rainforests in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), stripping the country of millions of dollars’ worth of irreplaceable natural resources and fueling…

ADF STAFF Since entering the Central African Republic (CAR) in 2018, Russia’s Wagner Group mercenaries have ruthlessly exploited the country’s natural resources, most recently turning to logging to fund the organization and to fuel Russian…

The war-weary people of Casamance are desperate for peace, but timber and cannabis trafficking continue to fuel conflict. An agreement signed in August 2022 between a factional leader of the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance…