A booming trade in illegal Russian timber stretching throughout Europe and breaching war sanctions has been uncovered. Posing as buyers over a 9 month period, the investigative non-profit Earthsight recorded traders arranging a steady flow of Russian plywood into the EU. They admitted the practice is illegal, called it a “gold mine” and suggested techniques to avoid detection. Read the press release here.
As usual, Earthsight produced an impressive package sure to interest journalists. My challenge was in pitching such in-depth and legally challenging material in a short period of time. Not an obvious environment story, I also had to cut through to new contacts on business and foreign desks during the hectic period during and after Trump’s taking office. Despite this, the work gained around 200 media hits around Europe, notably an in-depth piece in Süddeutsche Zeitung and original reporting in Corriere della Sera, RFI, Tijd, Delo, Publico, Trouw, Le Vif, Antenna TV and Gazeta Prawna. A highlight was working with one of Greece’s best known investigative journalists who arranged drone footage of a cargo ship carrying Russian timber into a Greek port following an Earthsight tip off to customs officials, as shown in the TV news piece below.
