A report on illegal logging in various countries around the world has been published by Chatham House, the London-based international affairs institute.

It estimates that unauthorised logging in the Brazilian Amazon has decreased by between 54% and 75% in the last decade.

The report attributes the decrease to improved government policy and intensified enforcement operations. Satellite monitoring has also played a part.

However, the report also says that illegal logging in Brazil remains a serious problem, and points to specific areas in which progress needs to be made – such as the very low percentage of fines for illegal logging that are successfully collected.

Overall (i.e. legal and illegal) deforestation in the Amazon between August 2008 and July 2009, the last 12-month period for which figures are available, was the lowest for 20 years.

Brazil is formally committed to reducing overall deforestation by 80% (in comparison with the average between 1996 and 2005) by 2020 as part of its wider commitment to decreasing its carbon emissions by between 36% and 39% (in comparison with projected emissions in 2020 if no action were taken).

Source: Chatham House and Embassy of Brazil in London