Understanding corruption risks in the global trade in wild plants

The document examines how corruption—including bribery, collusion, nepotism, and favoritism—affects the trade of wild plants and fungi (NTFPs). It identifies key risk points from harvesting and permitting to international export and final product manufacturing. To address these, it recommends improved resource governance, the use of voluntary certification standards like FairWild, and the implementation of traceability technologies such as blockchain.

• The global annual income from Non-Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) is conservatively estimated at USD 88 billion, with 6090 percent of plant NTFP species in trade believed to be wild-harvested.
• Corruption in NTFP supply chains manifests as bribery, collusion, nepotism, and favoritism, often occurring where formal government regulations and customary norms overlap.
• Permitting processes are high-risk areas for corruption; in Cameroon, some NTFP harvesting permits were issued to politically connected individuals who resold them at prices up to 500 percent higher than the original cost.
• Corruption at checkpoints can significantly increase trade costs; for middlemen in Cameroon, bribes accounted for 34 percent of the costs of moving goods to the point of sale.
• Women in NTFP supply chains face specific corruption risks, including sexual extortion by border guards in Southern Africa in exchange for waiving permits for trading baobab and shea.
• High-value NTFPs are sometimes used as the objects of corruption themselves, such as the use of caterpillar fungus (Ophiocordyceps sinensis) as lavish gifts or bribes in China.
• Voluntary certification standards (VCS), such as the FairWild Standard, can reduce corruption by mapping supply chains and increasing transparency, though they may not address systemic corruption or be immune to bribery themselves.
• Blockchain technology is proposed as a tool to improve traceability and reduce corruption by using non-centralized data storage that prevents individuals from altering records of products.

APA

Timoshyna, A., & Drinkwater, E. (2021). Understanding corruption risks in the global trade in wild plants. WWF International. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/136/5ln4vhp6l5_Topic_Brief_Understanding_corruption_risks_in_the_global_trade_in_w_d7LLEQT.pdf

Chicago

Timoshyna, Anastasiya, and Eleanor Drinkwater. Understanding corruption risks in the global trade in wild plants. WWF International, 2021. https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/136/5ln4vhp6l5_Topic_Brief_Understanding_corruption_risks_in_the_global_trade_in_w_d7LLEQT.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Timoshyna |first1=Anastasiya |last2=Drinkwater |first2=Eleanor |title=Understanding corruption risks in the global trade in wild plants |publisher=WWF International |date=January 2021 |url=https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/136/5ln4vhp6l5_Topic_Brief_Understanding_corruption_risks_in_the_global_trade_in_w_d7LLEQT.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{timoshyna2021understanding, author = {Timoshyna, Anastasiya and Drinkwater, Eleanor}, title = {{Understanding corruption risks in the global trade in wild plants}}, institution = {WWF International}, year = {2021}, month = jan, url = {https://www.worldwildlife.org/documents/136/5ln4vhp6l5_Topic_Brief_Understanding_corruption_risks_in_the_global_trade_in_w_d7LLEQT.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }