Brazil and Cameroon's timber trade scandal exposed, with over $400 million "evaporating" annually!

According to the latest report, "The Financial Secrets of Forests," released by the Financial Transparency Coalition, billions of dollars linked to illegal deforestation are flowing through global supply chains. Due to opaque land and corporate ownership records, commodities such as timber, soybeans, and beef evade regulation and enter international markets. 

The report, focusing on forest loss and illegal financial flows in Brazil and Cameroon, was jointly released on May 26 with the Center for Latin American Economic and Financial Studies. 

The report indicates that between 2013 and 2023, Cameroon lost approximately $289 million annually due to distorted pricing in its timber export trade. In Brazil, the unexplained trade deficit amounted to about $214 million; in 2024, around $1.28 billion of the country's timber exports could be traced back to illegally logged forests. 

At the time of this report's release, data from Global Forest Watch shows that in 2025, global tropical primary forest loss reached 4.3 million hectares—equivalent to the size of Denmark—with agricultural expansion and fires being the main drivers. 

Brazil was the hardest hit, with deforestation reaching 1.6 million hectares; Cameroon ranked sixth globally and, as Africa's largest timber exporter, its forest loss also warrants close attention. 

Although both Brazil and Cameroon have enacted anti-deforestation laws, and Cameroon has raised its log export tax from 17.5% to 75% since 2017 and plans to ban the export of 76 timber species starting in 2028, researchers point out that illegal profiteers remain able to conceal their identities due to limited public access to corporate ownership records. Investigations show that timber, soybeans, and beef linked to illegal deforestation continue to enter markets in Asia, Europe, and North America. 

Matti Kohonin, Executive Director of the Financial Transparency Alliance, told Inter Press Service that even with the most advanced satellite remote sensing and GIS data, his team still cannot identify the actual beneficiaries behind deforestation. He believes the core issue lies in enforcement gaps between producing and importing countries. 

"Initiatives such as the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) are fundamentally unfeasible if they are to be effective," he said. 

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