Inspector who tried to rein in Peru illegal logging was fired

[Judi Lynn]

Published on April 19, 2017 | Updated 9:27 a. m.


By FRANK BAJAK Associated Press

HOUSTON (AP) — Rolando Navarro, still in his 30s, had no illusions when he took the top job in Peru's forest inspection agency in 2012. The country's timber industry had long been notoriously corrupt, with a World Bank report that year putting wood exports at 80 percent illegal.

In more than a decade crisscrossing the vast Amazon interior, Navarro had seen officials ignore the scourge and the exploitation of indigenous communities. His team of young, like-minded fellow Amazon natives thought they had the U.S. on their side.

Three years later, Navarro's scrappy inspectors scored a rare victory in the global battle to preserve tropical forests. Customs agents at the Port of Houston used evidence from Navarro's team to impound 1,770 metric tons of Peruvian Amazon wood from a rusty freighter. That's enough to cover three football fields.

But the triumph was short-lived. Navarro was later fired and quickly fled to the United States, hoping his team's work could continue if he kept a low profile.

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http://www.chroniclet.com/national-news/2017/04/19/Inspector-who-tried-to-rein-in-Peru-illegal-logging-was-fired.html