Video: Fighting Deforestation With the Lacey Act

Could recent changes to the century-old Lacey Act in the U.S. affect global timber supply chains?

Before this year, the Lacey Act banned the importation of illegally sourced animal products. But a recent amendment to the law has widened the scope of the statue to include plants, trees and lumber products.

This video from Jonathan Lash’s Environmental Stories to Watch in 2009 presentation shows an example of how satellite technology could be used to identify illegal logging down to individual trees, along with the illegal roads used to transport the logs to nearby mills. Under the Lacey Act, this information could instigate legal prosecution against imports into the United States.

WRI and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) have partnered together to ensure proper enforcement of the law and to help private companies adhere to the new requirements. The partnership will ensure the updated Lacey Act becomes a potent weapon in the fight to reduce global deforestation.