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The report argues that global ecological disruption is a critical, underappreciated security threat. It details how the collapse of ecosystem services, biodiversity loss, and environmental crime create systemic risks including pandemics, political instability, and economic harm. The authors advocate for a fundamental reboot of U.S. national security architecture to integrate scientific expertise and prioritize ecological security alongside climate change.

The document examines the role of community-based natural resource management (CBNRM) in combating corruption. While these efforts can reduce local-level bribery and increase transparency, they often fail to address 'institutional capture'—where elite interests manipulate state policies for private gain. Using a case study of rosewood logging in Madagascar's Makira Natural Park, the authors demonstrate that high-value resources can drive national-level corruption that overrides local conservation efforts. The briefing recommends a multi-level approach that integrates local social accountability with national-level democratic reforms and political economy analysis.

The document examines the role of whistleblowers in combating natural resource corruption, identifying retaliation as a primary barrier to reporting. It outlines the three essential components of effective protection regimes—confidentiality, financial rewards, and independent reporting channels—and analyzes the failures of laws in the UK and Ghana. The briefing highlights how specific U.S. laws, such as the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the Lacey Act, can be utilized globally to target environmental crimes, and provides recommendations for conservation practitioners to support whistleblower protections.

The document argues that corruption in the forest sector leads to significant environmental degradation and financial loss, costing governments approximately US$29 billion annually. It recommends that companies implement robust anti-corruption compliance programs and engage in collective action initiatives to mitigate these risks. The brief highlights the role of international laws like the US Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the UK Bribery Act in incentivizing corporate integrity, while noting that transparency alone is insufficient without strong monitoring and civil society oversight.

The document outlines a comprehensive framework for CITES Management Authorities to establish and issue Legal Acquisition Findings (LAF). It details the necessary legal preparations, the step-by-step verification process for the chain of custody, and specific documentary requirements for various taxa, including wildlife, plants, and timber. The guide emphasizes a risk-based approach to verification and the importance of transparent, public-facing national guidelines to prevent fraudulent trade.

The document outlines a comprehensive framework for CITES Management Authorities to verify the legal acquisition of fauna and flora. It details the preparation of national guidelines, the assessment of chain of custody documentation, and the application of risk-based verification techniques to prevent illegal wildlife trade.

The document serves as a technical guide for CITES Management Authorities to implement Legal Acquisition Findings (LAF). It details the process of verifying the 'chain of custody'—the chronological documentation of a specimen from extraction to export—to ensure compliance with national and international laws. The manual outlines steps for preparing national guidelines, evaluating legal frameworks, and applying risk-based assessment methods to determine if a specimen was acquired legally (positive LAF) or illegally (negative LAF). It provides specific documentation requirements for different taxa, including timber, marine species, and captive-bred animals, and emphasizes the importance of transparency and public accessibility of these guidelines to prevent fraud and illegal trade.

ClientEarth identifies key legal and policy goals for 2017, including ending fossil fuel subsidies in the EU, implementing a new Clean Air Act in the UK, and pricing climate risk into financial markets.

ClientEarth argues that while the EUTR and FLEGT Regulation have improved transparency in timber supply chains, significant gaps in enforcement, funding, and scope persist. The organization highlights a critical lack of staff and financial resources in EU Member States, uneven implementation that disrupts the market, and a low volume of compliance checks relative to the number of operators. It recommends expanding the EUTR's product scope, introducing stricter responsibilities for traders, and harmonizing penalties to ensure they are 'effective, proportionate and dissuasive'. Regarding FLEGT, ClientEarth notes its success in driving systemic law reform and civil society participation in producer countries but warns that the EU's reduced market weight and the technical complexity of Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) may hinder progress. Finally, it calls for new mandatory due diligence legislation to address forest conversion driven by commodities like soy, cocoa, palm oil, and beef.

The 2020 assessment of Goal 10 of the New York Declaration on Forests (NYDF) finds that global progress in forest governance remains slow, with weak legal frameworks and limited enforcement continuing to drive deforestation. While some countries have implemented positive measures—such as Indonesia's permanent Forest and Peatland Moratorium and the regional Pacto de Leticia in the Amazon—these are offset by deregulation in countries like Brazil, Bolivia, and Peru. The report highlights a critical gap in land tenure, noting that only about half of the lands customarily held by Indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) are legally recognized. Furthermore, violence against environmental defenders reached a record high in 2019, with 212 killings reported globally.

The EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), effective since March 2013, prohibits the placement of illegally logged timber on the EU market. It requires economic operators who first place timber on the market to implement a Due Diligence System (DDS) to assess and mitigate the risk of illegal logging, ensuring that timber with non-negligible risk cannot be sold.

The briefing advocates for mainstreaming anti-corruption objectives into financial investigations of natural resource crimes. It argues that while 'follow the money' (FTM) techniques are emerging, they often focus on the proceeds of crime rather than the corruption that facilitates it. The authors suggest that integrating anti-corruption efforts can help identify high-level criminal actors and disrupt the supply chains of illegal wildlife, timber, and fisheries trade. The document highlights barriers such as inter-agency silos and political disincentives, and provides policy recommendations for public agencies, private financial institutions, and donors to enhance detection and enforcement through multi-agency taskforces and tailored risk assessments.

The statement condemns the Ministry of Agriculture's dismissal of Luis Alberto Gonzales-Zúñiga, the Executive Director of SERFOR, citing a lack of transparency and a breach of established procedures. The signatories argue that the removal occurred as SERFOR was improving timber traceability, which threatened stakeholders benefiting from illegal timber trade. They highlight that approximately 60% of Peruvian timber is of illegal origin and warn that this institutional crisis jeopardizes international agreements, including the Norway-Germany-Peru Agreement and the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement.

The report alleges that Maxland (PNG) Limited is using a rubber plantation project on Manus Island, Papua New Guinea, as a cover for illegal logging. Global Witness claims the company has bypassed provincial approvals, ignored landowner consent, and failed to plant the promised rubber trees while exporting millions of dollars in timber to China and Japan. The investigation links the operation to the Joinland Group and identifies several international financial institutions in Malaysia, Singapore, Norway, and the US that provide funding or investment to the entities involved.

The document details a legal complaint against the Romanian government for large-scale illegal logging in primary and old-growth forests, specifically within Natura 2000 protected sites. It argues that Romania has failed to implement the EU Timber Regulation, the Habitats Directive, and the Birds Directive, leading to the loss of half of the country's identified intact virgin forests over the last 15 years. Evidence from the Făgăraș Mountains, Maramures Mountains, and Domogled shows significant habitat deterioration and threats to protected species, including the capercaille.

The document details how logging activities in the Făgăraș, Maramureș, and Domogled Natura 2000 sites in Romania are causing severe biodiversity loss, including the disappearance of priority species and the destruction of old-growth forests through clear-cuts and progressive logging.

The document examines the global issue of CITES document abuse, where permits and certificates are falsified or obtained corruptly to legalize the trade of endangered species. It identifies key methods of abuse, such as counterfeiting and mis-declaration, and highlights the role of corrupt officials as gatekeepers. To mitigate these risks, the brief recommends a combination of prosecuting corrupt officials, implementing e-permitting systems (eCITES), enhancing technical capacity for inspectors, and improving the security of paper documents.

The document examines the symbiotic relationship between corruption and environmental crime, arguing that corruption acts as a 'door-opener' for illegal activities and renders law enforcement an unreliable tool for conservation. It highlights how corrupt incentives lead to biased enforcement targeting low-level offenders while protecting powerful actors, and suggests that practitioners use risk analysis and extra-territorial legislation to mitigate these effects.

The 2019 assessment of Goal 10 finds that global progress in forest governance remains slow, with illegality continuing to drive deforestation. While some countries like Indonesia have improved policy efforts, others have weakened protections through legislative amendments. The report highlights a critical gap between formal laws and their implementation, particularly regarding the land rights of indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs), who manage significant carbon stores but face high levels of violence and criminalization. Demand-side measures in the EU and France are strengthening, but private sector commitments to eliminate deforestation are largely not on track for 2020 targets.

The document evaluates forest governance in nine tropical countries, noting improvements in legal frameworks and multi-stakeholder engagement driven by Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) and REDD+. However, it highlights critical failures in cross-sectoral policy coherence, the rule of law, and the implementation of free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC). While transparency has increased through digital tools, accountability remains limited by corruption and insufficient resources for law enforcement.