Illegal logging is logging in national parks and other "protected areas" without government authorization, or where such authorization was obtained by bribery. Illegally logged timber is often transhipped through other countries to avoid checks and controls.
The term is sometimes used by environmentalists to describe logging operations that government agencies have authorized, on the grounds that the decision-making officials represent industry interests above all else. The tree species has often been misrepresented and the source incorrectly documented in the knowledge that it is usually very difficult for those in authority to successfully challenge and ascertain the facts.
The following pictures are examples of illegal logging in Belize:
