Illegal activities can generally fall into two broad categories: illegal origin (ownership, title or origin), and lack of compliance in harvesting, processing, and trade. The following are examples of activities that have been identified and/or included in some definitions of illegal logging (Contreras-Hermosilla, 2002; Miller et al., 2006; GFTN, 2005).

Illegal origin (ownership, title, or origin)

• Harvesting of wood in protected areas without proper permission (e.g., in national parks and preserves). This may include instances where authorities allocate harvesting rights without properly compensating local people.
• Logging protected species.
• Logging in prohibited areas such as steep slopes, riverbanks and water catchments.
• Harvesting wood volumes below or above the limits of the concession permit as well as before or after the logging period stated in the harvesting license.
• Harvesting wood of a size or species not covered by the concession permit.
• Trespass or theft, i.e., logging in forests without the legal right to do so.
• Violations, bribes and deception in the bidding process to acquire rights to a forest concession.
• Illegal documentation (including trade documents).

Lack of compliance throughout the supply chain (harvesting, manufacturing, and trade)

• Violations of workers’ rights (e.g., illegal labor, underpaying workers, etc.), labor laws and international standards, and violation of traditional rights of local populations and indigenous groups.
• Violation of international human rights treaties.
• Wood transported or processed in defiance of local and national laws.
• Violations of international trade agreements (e.g., CITES species – Box 5).
• Failure to pay legally prescribed taxes, fees and royalties.
• Illegal transfer pricing (e.g., when it is to avoid duties and taxes), timber theft, smuggling.
• Money laundering.
• Failure to fully report volumes harvested or reporting different species for tax evasion purposes.

Different definitions of illegal logging can lead to different estimates, which makes addressing the problem more difficult (Contreras-Hermosilla et al., 2007; Rosembaum, 2004). Defining illegal logging is not only a technical issue, but one with potentially far-reaching political implications (Contreras-Hermosilla et al., 2007).