Jungle Outlaws: The Chainsaw Trail Panorama

Tonight, Panorama is on the timber trail,

following hardwood logs from the floor of the African

rainforest to the shop floors across Europe, including the UK.

If we find any material that's coming into our yard is illegal,

then obviously it will be taken off sale.

We're testing the promise that the timber

we buy is legally sourced.

TRANSLATION FROM FRENCH: We say to those who buy the wood, that they

should think about the forest where it comes from.

It's a lucrative trade from the jungle to the checkout,

beginning with the loggers who risk their lives

cutting down 100-year-old trees for just £2.50 a day.

We should be really careful about clearing those incredibly valuable

forests to put into everyday products like plywood.

'New regulations are enforced to stop illegal timber entering

'the European market, but not everyone appears to be doing

'enough to make sure they're complying with the law.'

He's getting into his car. I wanted to ask you some questions

about the wood you brought in. Should you have done more?

The wood industry is worth billions to the British economy.

Look around - wood is everywhere.

We sit on it, we walk on it, eat on it and DIY with it.

This is sustainable plywood, but our desire for some tropical wood

is helping to drive an illicit trade for tropical timber.

The internationally-accepted definition of illegal logging

is the harvesting and processing of timber in a way that breaks

the law in the country of origin.

And there are some huge multinational logging companies

on the wrong side of it.

The problem with illegal logging is it leads to a lot of conflict,

corruption, criminal and illegal behaviour,

but also governments are losing out

on huge amounts of revenue,

and I think this is what we've got

to understand - this is

a multi-billion-dollar industry which is having a huge impact.

With the forest home to some of the world's most endangered species,

law makers, timber associations and environmentalists

have been trying to clean up the wood industry for years -

most recently in March,

with the implementation of the new European Timber Regulation.

The aim is to ensure wood products are traceable

from the forest to the High Street.

It's going to be much more difficult for illegal loggers to enter

into the European Union because the operator has

to demonstrate the legality

of the timber products that he is importing.

La Rochelle - an idyllic town on France's Atlantic coast.

Its tranquil marina

and pretty cafes make it a popular holiday destination.

But I'm here because La Rochelle is also a major

European gateway for West African logs.

It's the destination for a ship that I've been tracking carrying

wood from a country where illegal logging is rife.

HORN HONKS

In mid-March,

the ship set sail from Pointe-Noire in the Republic of Congo.

Last year, it exported an estimated 180,000 logs,

with one in ten going to Europe.

There are hundreds and hundreds of logs around me.

This is the start of the journey of the logs from the Republic

of Congo that travel to Europe.

The question is, what are illegal and what are not illegal?

The rainforests here are the new frontier for international logging.

Over 30 companies have permits to operate,

but only a handful are certified and audited to a standard that

would allow them easy access to the European market.

Half of the companies operating in the Republic of Congo today

do not entirely meet and do not meet the complete definition of legality.

Which leaves little doubt the Republic of Congo is a high-risk

country from which to import wood.

So what does this mean for the wood on the ship I've been tracking,

docking in the dead of night in France?

It's the early hours of the morning, it's finally docked,

and I'm now going to go and have a look at the trees on the vessel.

The cranes are moving, that's for sure.

The logs on board will be some of the first to land

since the new timber regulations came into force.

This high-risk shipment will test that promise to European consumers

that the timber we buy is guaranteed legally harvested.

I've just been looking at the logs being offloaded

direct from Pointe-Noire, logged from a company we've been

told about that has systematically broken forestry laws.

'And as dawn breaks,

'the log markings confirm who that company is.'

This is one of the logs that was taken off of that ship

and it has the marking T-I-L.

'The markings stand for Taman Industries Ltd.'

Taman is a major timber exporter from here, the Republic of Congo.

It's named on permits to cut trees in two zones,

covering an area three times the size of London.

With such a presence, Taman's wood isn't hard to find.

Like all companies, it has to mark each log with the zone it was

felled in and a unique cut number.

The markings allow government checkpoints to monitor the movement

of trees and count them in order to help calculate felling taxes.

At dusk, I followed some Taman logs on a suspicious journey

heading in the direction of Pointe-Noire.

Under Congolese forestry laws,

it's illegal to transport logs at night, but as you can clearly see,

this truck is transporting logs in the dead of night.

And the reason it's illegal, when the sun sets, government

checkpoints are unmanned, allowing the unregulated movement of timber.

TRANSLATION FROM FRENCH: We don't have enough staff who could

invest the time across all 12 million hectares of the forest

to supervise everyone on a daily basis.

We lack more vigorous monitoring and inspection tours

for preventing companies slipping through the net.

So with not enough boots on the ground to police the forest,

what exactly is going on there?

The markings on the Taman logs I saw land in La Rochelle show

they're Okoume tropical hardwood trees.

They also reveal which of Taman's

two forest zones they were cut from.

The markings show they came from a region called Banda Nord,

deep in the vast forest of the Congo basin.

It's the second-largest tropical rainforest on earth

and the lungs of Africa.

It's where the tropical timber supply chain begins.

Banda Nord is so remote, we were told no journalists have been there.

I'm just now approaching the Banda Nord tropical forest

concession belonging to Taman.

There seems to be a small checkpoint, but nobody's there.

We drove in on an avenue bulldozed through the forest, authorised

so Taman can remove the trees.

And we soon came across the stumps left behind by Taman's logging.

Oh, yes, scratched in.

Yes, I can just see that. T-I-L.

'My guide is Ibassa, who promotes the environment

'and the rights of people living in the forest.

'He showed me the impacts of Taman's logging.'

-Deforestation.

-Yes.

'Taman says it undertakes selective logging,

'only cutting the trees of value.

'I met a Taman worker who wanted to tell me just what that means.'

Bonjour, monsieur. 'We've protected his identity.'

TRANSLATION FROM FRENCH: Taman has destroyed the forest.

When you find a tree you want, even if it's two or ten kilometres,

you need a road for the bulldozers.

The trees that are not under consideration there,

they ravage everything.

They cut them down to make a road to fetch the trees that they need.

That's how it works.

Our desire for tropical wood drives the exploitation of the Congo

rainforest, and government laws are having to play catch-up.

Over the last two years, Taman has been fined over £100,000 for

offences including cutting too many trees and attempted tax avoidance.

Taman is symptomatic of an industry in a hurry.

The forestry companies that are exploiting the South do not

respect the law and regulations of our country.

There is no planning,

and the forests are managed chaotically and illegally.

The Congo's rainforests are the new frontline for the tropical

timber industry.

The fear among environmentalists is that history is about to

repeat itself.

Big multinational corporations are moving into the Congo Basin.

If what has happened in places like Indonesia -

where you see the massive amounts of deforestation and destruction - if

you now transpose that to the Congo Basin, where you still have stunning

rainforest, and you think these

companies are now just going to

start destroying those rainforests,

this would be an absolute tragedy.

Large swathes of the forest are now lying in the dock.

Last year, so many logs were shipped abroad that the

government stepped in and imposed an export ban.

It affected 13 companies that had topped their annual

quota in just five months.

The ban prevented the export of logs from Taman's

second cutting zone.

But soon after, logs coming out of the unrestricted zone of Banda Nord

were found with altered markings - the zone of origin had been changed.

Taman said it was a mistake due to human error and paid a small fine.

For the last seven years,

the logging industry has been watched over by a team

of expert investigators - the Independent Forest Monitors.

-Hello. Nice to meet you.

-It's a pleasure.

'Funded by the UK and EU, they work with the government to monitor

'the loggers and expose companies suspected of breaking forestry laws.

'They investigated Taman during the export ban.'

We arrived to the conclusion

that there is a problem.

Based on the sheer volumes that were coming out of Banda Nord,

we thought, "Hmm, this doesn't seem right.

"It doesn't seem to be possible for them to be cutting that many trees."

We suspected they were...

'They found timber harvested from Banda Nord had

'increased by nearly 500%.

'It was an impossible rate of output.'

Markings were changed.

'And they concluded the change was no mistake.'

They wanted to make it seem like these logs were cut here

-and not here.

-To get around the ban?

To get around the ban on the log exportation, yes.

Their investigation concluded Taman was using the Banda Nord

concession fraudulently,

as a front through which they illegally exported thousands

of logs which would otherwise have been part of the export ban.

That would make it one of the biggest recorded scams

in Congolese forest history.

I showed the monitors pictures of the logs we'd tracked to

La Rochelle in France to see if they bore the hallmarks of the scam.

-There has been some falsification of the numbers...

-The zone numbers.

The paint looks a little awkward -

where it could be changed from a 3 to a 2.

And that is exactly what we found during our investigations.

Looking just at the picture,

we highly suspect that they have

been illegally exported.

-You would say they've been exported illegally?

-Yes.

'The Independent Forest Monitor's latest report recommended

'the Congolese government suspend Taman's licence to export

'logs for systematic fraud, forgery and falsification.

'Time to talk to Taman.'

I'm about to enter their mill just outside of Pointe-Noire,

where I'm hoping to meet their deputy director.

'With a mill the size of a small village,

'they weren't exactly hard to find.'

Very nice offices. Only the finest wood.

Tommy Lee? Hi, Tommy Lee.

-My name is Raphael Rowe, I'm from BBC Panorama, television.

-OK.

There have been a number of reports by an independent monitor...

'I wanted to ask Taman about our logs

'and how they operate in the Republic of Congo.

'But Tommy Lee, the deputy director of Taman's operations, asked us

'to turn the camera off.'

Sure.

'But they were happy to take me around one of their warehouses

'packed with processed timber awaiting export.'

-So all of this in here, Okoume?

-Yes.

-That's a lot of Okoume.

-Yes.

'We asked Taman about the changed markings

'and whether the La Rochelle logs were part of a scam.

'They agreed our markings appeared to be changed

'and promised to get back to us with further details.

'We're still waiting. However, they did tell us...'

"The exports are handled by a branch of the ministry of forests."

'Nevertheless, the forest monitors are concerned that

'the scale of Taman's illegality didn't trigger an investigation

'into the La Rochelle logs by the European authorities and importers.'

I think that enough information was out there to raise enough

doubt that, at the very, very least, more in-depth investigation

should have been done by the importer to assess the risk.

'So who was the importer of the La Rochelle logs?

'Under the new laws, it's their responsibility to ensure

'the timber has been sourced and imported legally.

'Back in France, I decided to track him down.

'Edwood is one of La Rochelle's biggest importers and is

'managed by Fabrice Gautier from a small office close to the port.'

Hi, I'm looking for Fabrice. Are you Fabrice Gautier?

'We had contacted him a number of times,

'but many questions remained unanswered.'

He's just getting into his car...

'So I paid him a visit.'

Mr Fabrice? Fabrice Gautier?

I wanted to ask you some questions about the wood you brought in

from Taman. And the due diligence that you did or didn't do.

Do you not think you should have done more due diligence?

'We asked Taman what checks Fabrice Gautier

'had made about the logs they supplied.

'They told us he was given proof of their licences to cut

'and export timber.

'But under the new regulations, he should have done much more.'

Under the new EU timber regulations, the import of this timber into France

should have raised a red flag.

This is at the very highest risk

of what these timber regulations

are about, and the operator who

was importing the timber should have been held to account.

The French timber industry is a major importer of tropical wood

in Europe.

The French connection is believed to have

brought in thousands of illegal logs in 2011.

But the government have not yet fully enforced

the timber regulations.

It's a huge breakdown in the governance of a system that's

only as strong as its weakest link.

It's absolutely urgent that France does set up a proper body

to deal with it, because if France or if other countries don't

participate properly

and effectively in the European Timber Regulation, then, of course,

it will weaken it and it won't work in the way that it was set up to do.

'But what about the ambition behind the new regulations -

'to end corruption and exploitation

'and create a sustainable rainforest-logging industry?'

COCKEREL CROWS

'Logging gangs work from remote camps in the forest.

'In the Taman camps,

'we found scores of tiny huts no bigger than a garden shed.

'Congolese families live here

'without proper sanitation or schools.'

TRANSLATION FROM FRENCH: Taman treats us badly.

Here is the only company.

It's the only means of earning a living.

We were obliged to do this, as we have children.

And the risks that we take? It's not easy in the forest.

There is no equipment, there are no boots, waterproof jackets,

there is no medication - nothing.

We are marginalised by the company, we have nothing.

'Our logger was Congolese, but Taman also bring in Malaysian workers.

'They live in another part of the camp that holds a dirty secret.'

Ah.

In this hole, I can see bits of machinery, plastic,

car batteries, metal - you name it, it's in this pit,

including gallons and gallons of oil.

The environmental damage being caused by logging companies

in tropical forests goes beyond just the chopping of trees.

'Taman says it pays the minimum wage and will investigate the pollution.

'It says the logging gangs are subcontractors

'and responsible for

'their own safety equipment and working conditions.'

It's difficult to believe that, once the logging company have

finished what they're doing here,

and they've moved on to the next bit of forest that they're going

to log, that this will ever be a forest again.

'Concessions like Banda Nord are so remote,

'the true picture of what happens in the forest stays in the forest.

'It's why Ibassa wants to see more of the rainforest certified

'and managed to European standards.'

TRANSLATED FROM FRENCH: If the forest is exploited

without rules, without good practices,

if they carry on chopping as they

are doing without supervision,

it's a serious problem.

The forest heritage is a resource that, if we're not careful,

could be exhausted.

'The Okoume rainforest trees are very profitable.

'It's estimated that, locally, they're valued at £300 each, but

'by the time they reach the dock in Europe, they're worth over 1,000.

'And it wasn't long after the ship we tracked for two weeks had docked

'that we saw its cargo of Taman's logs on the move.

'They've been sold and picked up by new owners.

'We followed them for days as they travelled cross-country.'

And this is where the Taman logs, imported by Edwood, have ended up -

this processing mill, ETS Burguet in rural France.

'By the time Burguet have finished with these hardwood logs,

'they won't be grand furniture or exotic kitchen work surfaces.

'They will be sliced, peeled and glued with other wood

'into sheets of high-quality marine plywood.

'Under the new law,

'manufacturers like Burguet don't need to check their word is legal -

'that's the importer's job.

'However, there is a requirement to keep records of suppliers

'and buyers.

'The company initially told us

'they did not supply Okoume marine plywood to the UK.

'We later discovered that was wrong.

'Company owner Jean-Pascal Burguet

'was not pleased to see us filming outside his mill.'

I understand that. No, I do understand.

'After this angry exchange, we decided to leave.

'Mr Burguet told us Edwood is seeking to retrospectively verify

'the legality of the logs.

'He's recently approached a forestry auditing company called

'Bureau Veritas.

'Veritas has told Panorama it doesn't currently certify

'any wood from the Republic of Congo.

'Meanwhile, the people who live in the rainforest are paying

'a different price for our desire for tropical hardwood.

'This is Banda village, where Taman's concession gets its name.

'So what happened when a huge multinational logging company

'moved in next door?

'Papa, one of the village elders,

'says his people have seen no benefit.'

TRANSLATION FROM FRENCH: They are just here to ruin the forests

that our ancestors left us,

that give us so much.

We give a lot of riches to Taman.

Taman gives us nothing back, and the state should think about that.

We say to those who buy the wood that they should

think about the forest where it comes from.

They should come and help us.

'We've tracked tropical wood chopped by Taman from the heart

'of the rainforest,

'watched it imported to La Rochelle by Edwood, transported

'through France to Burguet's mill to be processed into plywood.

'Here in the UK, all the plywood traded is manufactured abroad,

'and despite Burguet's denial,

'marine plywood from its mill has found its way onto the UK market.

'Robbins Timber Merchants, based in Bristol,

'has sourced some of its marine plywood from Burguet.

'It's done so in good faith,

'unaware of any potential illegality in its supply chain.'

So this is Okoume decking, from Burguet,

supplied to Robbins Timber Merchants here in Bristol.

'This Okoume plywood with a teak veneer sells for over £500 a sheet.

'Robbins' website promises a responsible purchasing policy,

'which means they are committed to buying legal timber.'

We're naturally concerned that, potentially, there is illegal

material in the plywood that we buy from Burguet,

and if we find that any material coming into our yard is illegal,

then obviously it will be taken off sale and returned to the supplier.

'Burguet supplier Edwood was checked out by Robbins,

'but the company took it on trust Edwood was a responsible importer.'

Have you ever seen a document to show that

Edwood are audited by Veritas, or is this just...?

No, I've just seen a statement to that effect.

You've seen a statement

but you've not seen a document that supports that fact?

No, not to my knowledge.

There is always an argument that we could have done more investigation,

but the company that first brings them into the European Union is the

company that has responsibility for making sure it's legal.

'Robbins has since told us

'they received their last Burguet plywood in February and won't

'take any more unless guaranteed as independently verified.'

There are many companies that talk about sustainability and how green

they are, but what we want to see is what a company is actually doing

in practice, and I think one guarantee

that you can have of that is,

for example, to have a certification certificate that comes with

some kind of guarantee that this is from a legal and sustainable source.

'There is only one forest company in the Republic of Congo

'who exports to the UK under the Forest Stewardship Council label -

'it's the most rigorous guarantee of sustainability

'and governance of the production process.

'Elsewhere in the market, the timber industry is a chain of good

'intentions with very weak links.'

Until something is done about it,

thousands of trees will be plundered illegally and exported from ports

like this, processed into the many wooden products we see in our homes.

Next week, Panorama investigates

the online dating industry,

worth millions of pounds a year,

and uncovers the unscrupulous preying on those looking for love.

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