Source: Cool Earth
Ancient forests around the globe are being cut down at "an alarming rate", environment secretary Hilary Benn has warned.
Speaking at the Copenhagen climate change conference in Denmark, he said that through illegal logging activity and the associated international trade of timber unlawfully cleared around the world, governments are losing cash and corruption is being fuelled.
As well as this, funds made from illegal deforestation are often put towards financing armed conflict, which can have an impact on indigenous communities living in areas such as the Amazon rainforest.
Furthermore, forest clearing has a large impact on climate change and global warming.
"The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change tells us that land conversion and deforestation causes nearly two billion tonnes of carbon to be emitted each year. That's around a fifth of all global emissions. And as each tree falls so does the earth's ability to heal itself and to adapt to the effects of our changing change," Mr Benn warned.