Equipment strengthens Ibama’s enforcement against illegal timber trafficking in Brazilian ports
Brasilia, March 2025 - In an important step towards strengthening actions against illegal deforestation and timber trafficking in Brazilian ports, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Brazil has donated equipment to the Brazilian Institute for the Environment and Renewable Natural Resources (IBAMA) that will enable it to expand its timber inspection and identification activities in the country.
The action was made possible by the Forest Crime and Illicit Timber Market Programme (LEAP), implemented with support from the Norwegian International Climate and Forest Initiative (NICFI), in partnership with INTERPOL and reinforces UNODC's efforts to tackle organised crime and crimes affecting the environment, in line with its global mandate and the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime (Palermo Convention/UNTOC). Illegal timber trafficking is often linked to criminal networks, many of them with transnational activities, resulting in violence, exploitation and degradation of biomes.
Among the items delivered to Ibama were steel tape measures, laser tape measures, styluses and microscope lenses, which will be used to identify wood. Protective equipment was also donated, such as respirators with filters for fumigated cargo, PFF2 masks, gloves, helmets and signalling waistcoats, as well as safety boots and multifunctional ladders, which are essential to guarantee the integrity of the agents carrying out the inspections. The materials will be distributed to the ports covered by the LEAP programme, including Itajaí (SC), Paranaguá (PR), Porto Velho (RO), Santos (SP), Manaus (AM) and Barcarena (PA).
Investing in equipment and tools is one of LEAP's activities aimed at expanding actions to tackle forest crime. In 2024, the programme also trained 206 agents from Brazil and other countries, such as Paraguay and Peru, in timber identification, port security and detecting fraud in the timber chain of custody. Among them are IBAMA inspectors stationed in port cities who will receive the donated materials to increase and improve timber inspections in ports.
LEAP - The programme operates in Latin American and Southeast Asian countries with the aim of preventing, detecting and dismantling global criminal networks involved in forest crimes. Its actions include transnational operations and investigations, theoretical and practical training, study visits and exchanges, mentoring of officers working in ports, inter-agency cooperation and technical expertise in law enforcement.
To find out more about UNODC's work on crimes affecting the environment, click here. To access UNODC publications on the subject, click here.
