The WWF released a report stating that the European Union imported 30 million cubic meters of illegal wood in 2006.

From the AFP (via Google News):

The World Wildlife Fund on Tuesday criticised the European Union’s illegal wood imports, singling out Finland as the top offender and calling for EU-wide legislation to tackle the issue.

“Illegal logging destroys the protective function of forests, increasing risk of natural disasters such as floods and landslides and leads to deforestation, one of the main causes for climate change,” WWF forest policy officer Anke Schulmeister said in a statement.

Illegal tree cutting also pushes timber prices lower, hurting companies, countries and local economies, she added.

In 2006, the EU imported some 30 million cubic metres of wood or wood products that were of illegal origin, mainly from Russia, China and Indonesia, according to the WWF report “Illegal Wood for the European Market.”

Read the press release from the WWF and access the report here.

Illegal logging is a $15 billion market.