Recognising that trade drives illegal logging and that poor governance enables it, the European Union (EU) developed the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan. Effective participation of all actors — especially staff from governments, the private sector and civil society — is a must to strengthen forest governance. The EU therefore places participation at the heart of the FLEGT Voluntary Partnership Agreements (VPAs) it develops with timber-exporting countries to address illegal logging and associated trade.