G8 targets illegal log trade from Africa

G8 targets illegal log trade from Africa    The Group of Eight countries will start tackling illegally logged timber from Africa.
   The G8, whose members are Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom, United States and Russia, met in Derby, England, March 17-18.
   The ministers of these countries agreed to target the supply and demand for illegal timber by taking steps to stop the import and marketing of illegally logged timber, and do more to help developing countries enforce their own conservation laws. The ministers agreed to review these commitments again next year.
   “Illegal logging is a problem shared by those producing and exporting timber and timber products and those that import them,” said U.K. Secretary of State for International Development Hillary Benn said in a March 18 statement. “It does not make sense to give development assistance on the one hand while importing cheap illegal timber on the other.”