Globally, forests are being logged for timber and pulp, cleared for commercial agriculture, and negatively impacted by climate change. Although the causes of deforestation and forest degradation vary from region to region, they all have one thing in common: human activity. Human activity is wiping out forests – and the life that depends upon them – at an alarming rate.

Widespread illegal logging and forest conversion provide a growing need to strengthen implementation and enforcement of legal standards that can limit market access for illegal goods. CIEL works to reduce the demand for illegal and unsustainable timber using legal tools like the Lacey Act, EU Timber Regulation, and CITES.

More broadly, we engage in REDD+, FLEGT, and different forums aimed at stopping deforestation, protecting forest ecosystems and land, working to ensure that they do in fact protect the environment and the people dependent upon them.