Illegal logging is perceived to pose significant obstacles to the achievement of sustainable management of forests in the tropics. Equally importantly, it gives rise to or supports other undesirable outcomes - networks of corruption, generating significant volumes of "black" money and fuelling speculation, crime, or trafficking. However, illegal logging of tropical timber is not homogeneous and its characteristics depend, among others, on the supplying markets, at the national or the international scales. Available approaches to reduce illegal logging, at different levels of governance, in the producing and consuming countries are reviewed and their potential contribution is assessed.