A massive illegal logging operation spanning 5,000 hectares of pristine forest in Indigenous Territory in Brazil’s Pará state, the capital of COP30 host Belém, was uncovered, a new investigation found.
The report, released by the Environmental Investigation Agency, used satellite imagery and official records to track 25,000 cubic meters of timber, about 830 containers, from three Brazilian sites, often then exported to major US and European buyers, including suppliers for Marriott hotels, Hyatt resorts, and Formula One VIP stands.
In total, more than 78,000 cubic meters of illegal timber, equivalent to 31 Olympic swimming pools of logs, were identified in recent years.
Domestically, illegal logging decimates forests, destroys ecosystems, tramples Indigenous rights, and fuels organized crime. Abroad, the EU and US — Brazil’s largest timber export markets — have laws designed to block illegal wood: the European Union Timber Regulation, soon to be replaced by the stricter EU Deforestation Regulation, and the US Lacey Act.
The EIA’s findings, however, come amid recent efforts in the EU to weaken the EUTR and delay the tougher regulation, and significant reductions in resources for enforcing the Lacey Act by the Trump administration.