Forests are not like other resources: people live in and depend upon them; the poorer the people, the greater the dependence. Forests are of immense ecological importance and are a bastion against climate change.

Despite decades of initiatives surrounding forest law enforcement, timber certification, chain of custody tracking and attempts to ban the trade in illegal timber, deforestation continues at an alarming rate; a new approach is clearly necessary.

Global Witness is working to change international thinking on forest use. We aim to ensure that forests are not simply exploited as any another asset but regarded and protected for their immense local and global benefit as healthy and diverse ecosystems.

Our forest campaign breaks down into five areas: industrial forest use,  illegal logging, forests and climate change, independent monitoring and forest transparency. Use the navigation on the left to find out more.