This term was first coined in 2001 by a UN panel of experts investigating the illegal exploitation of natural resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo. Since 1998, timber there has helped fund a conflict that has killed around 4 million people. The volume of wood removed by rebel factions, companies and government-armed forces of neighbouring countries is so great that in neighbouring Uganda the market price halved. The UN panel found that the conflict was self-perpetuating: each party had interests in its continuation. It uncovered extensive networks established and maintained by Ugandan, Rwandan, Zimbabwean and Congolese nationals and listed 85 companies judged violating the Organisation of Economic Co-operation and Development's guidelines for multinational enterprises.

In the past, Cambodia's Khmer Rogue depended on forest revenues. So does Burma's current military regime.