Illegal logging and legality verification - the FLEGT / VPA as new modes of governance

In 2003 the EU adopted its Action Plan on Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT). In order to promote the import to Europe of legal timber, the EU proceeded in 2005 to introduce Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) with countries that export tropical timber. As of March 2013, timber placed on the European market must be documented legal, and traders will be required to exercise due diligence to ensure that the timber they deal with is from legal sources. At this backdrop, this international academic conference will discuss a number of theoretical and empirical issues related to the practice of illegal logging and trade in illegal tropical timber as well as measures to counteract such practices. Although main focus will be on the EU modalities, presentations on other related initiatives are welcome as well.
 
Topics of conference
Abstracts are expected to address one or more of the topics below:

• Definitions, types, causes and consequences of illegal logging and the implications of legality verification
• Combining market based and legal instruments – a new mode of governance?
• Legality and sustainability – are they necessarily linked?
• Domestic markets and exports – how may legality verification influence domestic forest governance
• Social, economic and environmental impact of FLEGT/VPA and other regulatory initiatives against illegal logging
• FLEGT/VPA, REDD+ and certification – prospects of synergies?

Conference organisers
The conference is organised by the Institute of Resource Economics, the University of Copenhagen in collaboration with the European Forest Institute (EFI), and the Yale program on Forest Policy and Governance. Funding is provided by the collaborating institutions as well as by Danida and FSE (the Danish Research Council for Social Science Research, research project on Multilevel Governance and sustainable forestry).