China’s Timber Demand Is Destroying Forests in Russia and Zambia

China’s One Belt, One Road investments into the timber industries in both countries—as well as rampant illegal logging—have created an environmental crisis.

A woman walks past snow-covered trees in a forest near the village of Mesherskoye, which is about 70 km (about 43 miles) outside Moscow, on Feb. 1, 2016. Yuri Kadobnov/AFP/Getty Images

Forests in Russia’s Siberia and the African nation of Zambia are being destroyed by Chinese logging—through legal and illegal means.  

Russian news site Sibir Realii, in an article titled “Black Loggers,” published on Sept. 30, detailed a “war” between locals trying to protect Siberian taiga from illegal loggers who were selling trees in China. Taiga, also known as snow forest, is an ecosystem characterized by coniferous trees such as spruces, larches, and pines.