Topic: lacey act

Tuning In: Tracking Wood from Honduran Forests to U.S. Guitars

Sarah Parsons — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 13:30:14 -0500

Executive Summary

This study focuses on two supply chains for mahogany that originate in remote biodiversity-rich forests in Honduras. These supply chains were selected because they involve small forest community cooperatives that, compared with industrial operations, have a lower capacity to respond to market requirements for legal wood, including the U.S. Lacey Act.

The study describes two approaches used to minimize the risk of sourcing illegal wood. The first approach was to establish strong relationships with the suppliers and the second was to prefer certified wood. The main lessons from this study are:

The Lacey Act requirements had little or no impact on the way the buyers managed risk for these specific supply chains, because the buyers established supply chain control systems prior to 2008 to (a) secure a long-term supply of the product, and (b) implement corporate environmental/ social responsibility policies.
Supply-chain control systems, such as barcode tracking and chain-of-custody certification, are useful tools for enhancing assurances of legality. Long-term relationships with suppliers and commitments from buyers have been important for the successful implementation of these approaches, and critical to minimizing the risk of illegal wood.
Intermediaries and facilitators play a key role in building and strengthening the technical and administrative capacity of the cooperatives to harvest and process timber.
The community cooperatives in these supply chains face various challenges: inadequate law enforcement, competing land-use pressures, drug trafficking, and competition with illegal logging. Yet the sustained demand for high-value species such as mahogany provides a powerful incentive to maintain and strengthen forest community operations.
The supply-chain control approaches highlighted in this study work, in part, because of the high value of the end product, and, because of the financial assistance of external donors that have invested in building the technical capacity and social development of the community cooperatives. In-depth analysis to understand the financial viability of the operations without such support is needed.
Although the long-term financial sustainability of the community cooperatives is unclear, the perceived community and biodiversity benefits, along with the buyers’ interest in securing a long-term supply of legal wood, are strong incentives for all stakeholders to ensure their continued viability.

This issue brief is based on a review of relevant documents, visits to the field sites and processing facilities, and a series of interviews with stakeholders. A complementary video is available at the Forest Legality Alliance website.

Case Study: IKEA's Response to the Lacey Act--Due Care Systems for Composite Materials in China

Sarah Parsons — Tue, 15 Jan 2013 17:05:57 -0500

Executive Summary

This study focuses on IKEA and the company’s production of composite products (board materials such as particleboard, Medium Density Fiber Board (MDF), etc.) in China. The study describes the internal systems of IKEA and how they work to ensure that the material sourced can be shown to have been purchased with an adequate level of due care to help ensure legality. Specifically, the study looks at how composite products made up of a large percentage of waste material supplied by diverse small producers within a weak governance context can be imported into the USA while showing that a high level of due care was attained.

The study shows how IKEA is adapting its operations to meet the requirements of a challenging procurement situation and the company’s understanding of how they can show adequate levels of due care.

Four main lessons have been identified and are explored in this paper:

Lesson 1: The implementation of the Lacey Act means that responsible procurement is no longer voluntary but is now mandatory.
Lesson 2: Each company must understand the supplying country’s laws and associated risks so that it can define its own level of appropriate traceability.
Lesson 3: A risk assessment can help determine the level of traceability required to ensure confidence in any forest product supply and ensure that a reasonable level of due care can be shown.
Lesson 4: To be able to complete the declaration form, a company needs to understand its supply chain fully. Good information management is key, and a proactive approach to the management of the supply chains is required. It is no longer enough to just rely on trust: a company must now ask questions and back this up with on-the-ground audits.

RELEASE: Guide for Business Drives Better Decisions on Forest Products

James Anderson — Sun, 09 Dec 2012 23:06:40 -0500

The World Resources Institute (WRI) and World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) today released the third edition of Sustainable Procurement of Wood and Paper-based Products to help businesses buy products from sustainably managed forests and improve forest management.

The full guide resource kit is available online here or at www.SustainableForestProducts.org.

With the third edition of the sustainable procurement guide, WRI and WBCSD continue to support better business decisions by providing information to help them understand the origin, legality, ecological and social dimensions of the wood and paper-based products they purchase and use. The new edition incorporates the most up-to-date developments on the legality of forest products and new technological developments to control wood and paper supply chains and increase their transparency. It includes an expanded chapter on the social implications of forest products.

The guide provides an overview of the 10 key issues underpinning procurement, including forest management; provides an overview of a selection of tools, initiatives and additional resources; and clarifies and explains the maze of terminology around sustainable forest products.

James Griffiths, Managing Director, Forest Solutions at the WBCSD said: “Every single business uses wood and paper-based products on a daily basis, be that paper for printing and packaging or wood in construction, or as office furniture. As demand for wood increases, and the competition for forest-based products intensifies, business needs to make better decisions on sourcing in order to support and incentivize sustainable forest- management. Our guide will help them do just that.”

Ruth Noguerón, Associate with the World Resources Institute, said, “Forests are important for the global environment, the economy, and the estimated 500 million people that depend on them for their livelihoods. We need to maintain forests for the future, and a key element of that is ensuring that forest products are sustainably produced. If we increase the demand for sustainable forest products, producers are encouraged to improve their management practices to meet that demand.”

José Luciano Penido, Chairman, Fibria and Co-Chair of the WBCSD Forest Solutions Group, said: “Decisions about the purchase and use of wood and paper-based products can have extensive and long-term consequences on ecological, social and economic values of forests and forest plantations. Being able to make informed choices is imperative for all businesses in building and retaining consumer confidence in their product offerings, including the use of paper packaging or timber components.”

Joseph Lawson, Global Director of Sustainable Forests and Forest Products for MWV said: “Since its first release in 2008, the guide has been used by a diverse group of stakeholders and together with them we have been revising and enhancing it on a regular basis. For this edition, the focus was on updating the content, including government procurement and legality verification developments and improving ease of navigation, design and format.”

Riikka Joukio, Senior Vice President, Sustainability and Corporate Affairs at Metsä Group and Co-Chair of the WBCSD Forest Solutions Group, said: “Sustainable forest management means managing our forest resources to meet society’s needs today, without interfering with our future generations’ needs. Forests need to be managed in a way that they retain their growth and vitality, ecological functions and biodiversity. The WBCSD and WRI guide cuts through any confusion about how all business can contribute to using sustainable forest products and maintaining this crucial natural resource.”

To access the guide Sustainable Procurement of Wood and Paper-based Products, please visit www.SustainableForestProducts.org.

For more information please contact:

James Anderson, Press Officer
World Resources Institute
Janderson@wri.org
t: +1 202-729-7608
m: +1 507-301-2385

STATEMENT: Settlement of Gibson Guitar Logging Case

Michael Oko — Tue, 07 Aug 2012 11:28:17 -0400

The U.S. Department of Justice announced yesterday that it reached a criminal enforcement agreement with Gibson Guitar Corporation, resolving two widely-publicized investigations into allegations that Gibson had violated the U.S. Lacey Act by illegally purchasing and importing wood products from Madagascar and India. The U.S. government agreed to decline charging Gibson in the two cases, while Gibson agreed to pay $300,000 in penalties; provide a community service payment of $50,000 to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation; forfeit the seized Madagascar wood valued at $261,844; and implement a compliance program to ensure the legality of its wood supplies.

Following is a statement by Adam Grant, Senior Associate, World Resources Institute:

“This agreement closes an important chapter on the first major investigation and by far the most publicized cases under the 2008 amendments to the U.S. Lacey Act. The decision demonstrates that the Lacey Act has teeth. It shows that the law can be enacted with serious, but balanced penalties for violations.

“Fair enforcement of the Lacey Act, the world’s first ban on the importation of illegally sourced wood, is important to ensure that the wood comes into the U.S. from legal sources. We are hopeful that this case will provide incentive to other wood product providers– and their suppliers– to engage in legal purchasing of wood and help protect endangered forests.”

The World Resources Institute is one of the founding members of the Forest Legality Alliance, a project funded by USAID, that works with a wide range of stakeholders to achieve better forest governance and biodiversity conservation by increasing the capacity of supply chains to deliver legal wood products.

For more background on the Lacey Act, visit www.forestlegality.org.

Are Your Wood Products Really Certified?

Caitlin Clarke — Wed, 04 May 2011 16:09:26 -0400

WRI experts answer questions on forest certification and the Lacey Act.

In November 2009, federal agents raided a Gibson Guitar manufacturing facility in Tennessee as part of an investigation under the Lacey Act. Agents were investigating the alleged use of illegally sourced wood from Madagascar in some of Gibson’s well-known musical instruments. If proven, import or use of such wood can constitute a serious felony punishable with large fines for the company and possible jail terms for any executives involved.

Before the raid, Gibson had a reputation as a progressive company and a proponent of forest certification. The company had taken steps to make its business more sustainable through the use of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification system, yet is alleged to have bought valuable wood stolen from Madagascar’s national parks. How could this happen, and what does it have to do with the certification process?

Members of the Forest Legality Alliance, which WRI helped to found, have asked the following questions:

What is forest certification?

Forest certification emerged in the early 1990s as a way to promote and/or guarantee responsible management of forests. Certification is intended as a “seal of approval” to notify consumers that certified wood products came from well-managed forests and were tracked through documented supply chains, independently monitored by credible third parties. Certification offers a powerful means to encourage companies to improve forest management practices, harnessing the power of markets and consumers to support environmental and social standards.

Is it possible for companies holding FSC certification to potentially trade in illegal products?

It is possible. A company can hold FSC certificates, but that does not mean that all of its products are necessarily FSC certified. Companies can choose which product lines to certify. These may include all the products they sell, or just a small percentage. An FSC certificate for one product line guarantees nothing about other non-certified product lines manufactured and sold by the same company.

Who is in charge of forest certification programs?

Forest certification schemes are managed by NGOs, industry associations, and forest owners’ federations. They are voluntary, market-based programs. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is among the best-known of these standards. Others include the Europe-led Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) and the U.S.-based Sustainable Forestry Initiative, among many.

How does certification work?

Under the FSC system, two steps in the forest product supply chain can be certified: forest management (FM) and chain of custody (CoC). Forest management certification means that the forest itself from which the trees were harvested has been managed in accordance with the FSC Forest Management Standard. Chain of custody certification means that the manufacturing, processing, and distribution of forest products can be documented and traced through the supply chain, and that these steps conform to the FSC Chain of Custody Standard.

The Forest Stewardship Council only sets standards (forest management and chain of custody) and accredits other bodies to assess and audit against these standards. These other bodies are called certification bodies and are the organizations a company needs to contact in order to attain an FSC FM or CoC certificate. A full list of the current CBs is below.

If a company says it is certified, could I still be inadvertently buying wood of suspicious origin?

It is possible. When the certification process works as it is intended to work, illegally sourced wood is screened out of the certified supply chain.¹ Buyers then tend to think that the company itself, along with everything it sells, is therefore certified. In reality, companies may only have just a small percentage or their production certified. Certification normally only applies to a very specific set of products that probably comprise only a small percentage of the company’s overall product line.

A company holding only one CoC certificate may promote itself as a “certified” company, but such a claim is often misleading. It is entirely possible for a company to sell only one certified product, while at the same time selling hundreds of other products that are not certified.

In the Gibson case, the wood from Madagascar that was of interest to the U.S. government in its Lacey investigation was never covered by any type of certification, and so would not have been allowed to be used in any product labeled or sold as FSC-certified. Gibson only holds FSC certificates that apply to certain woods used in a specific line of guitars, none of which would apply to protected species purchased from Madagascar.

How can I tell what is actually certified?

In the case of FSC products, the Forest Stewardship Council requires that every company holding an FSC CoC certificate maintain a list of products sold as FSC certified. This list, called a product group schedule, must detail for each product the species make-up and the percent of the wood content that is FSC certified.²

If you are buying from a company that holds an FSC certificate and you want to buy an FSC product, be sure to check the specific product you want to buy against the company’s product group schedule. If the product is not listed, it is not FSC certified, regardless of whether the company holds a certificate for other products. Buyers must be aware that certification applies only to specific products, and so not necessarily to all the products the company sells.

As a buyer of FSC certified forest products, what do I need to do?

Check the certificate of the supply. What, specifically, is being claimed as certified? You can do this by checking the FSC certificate database (http://info.fsc.org/) or by going directly to the certification body that issued the certificate – see the table below for contact details. To find out which certification body issued the certificate, refer to the certification code on the product or documents. The code will show the certification body’s initials. See How to Read A Certification Code below, along with a table of abbreviations and certification bodies.
Once you have checked the validity of the certificate, check to see that the product you are buying is part of the company’s FSC product group schedule, if applicable. (All such product group schedules are available as a matter of public record at http://info.fsc.org/.)
Ask your supplier questions such as: What is the supply chain for this product? If the product is not certified, can you trace the products all the way back to the forest? What is the degree of illegal activity in that forest or region? What processes do you have in place to prevent illegally harvested material from entering your supply? It is always helpful to document this process in writing.
Determine the relative risks associated with the forest of origin. Is the region suspected by credible sources of having high levels of illegal logging? Are you aware of serious concerns about governance in the country or region? Are civil society campaigns currently underway that indicate that this is a forest of concern? If so, compare the risk of inadvertently sourcing illegal wood products to your degree of risk aversion. If responses from your supplier to the questions you ask do not meet your risk tolerance levels, consider sourcing from a different supplier or region. Remember that simply knowing that you are taking a risk could impact your level of responsibility under the Lacey Act when determining whether you exercised due care. The UK think tank Chatham House maintains a good aggregation of recent illegal logging news, which can be a good place to begin your search. You can also visit www.forestlegality.org.
Establish a forest products purchasing policy that reflects company values and risk thresholds and incorporates environmental and social safeguards. Such policies can be a good foundation for practicing due care. Training employees on the policy and putting in place systems and performance incentives for policy implementation can be a way to reduce risk effectively.

There are legal and responsible ways to harvest nearly all species, even from typically “high-risk” areas of the world. Just ensure that you’ve taken the steps necessary to ascertain the legality of your product, whether the company you are dealing with is certified or not.

How to Read A Certification Code

**Table 1. Forest Certification Bodies**
Certification Body Code	Certification Body	Type of Certification Offered	Website
TT	BM TRADA Certification Ltd	Worldwide for Chain of Custody (CoC) certification	www.bmtrada.com
BV	Bureau Veritas Certification	Worldwide for Forest Management (FM) and Chain of Custody certification	www.certification.bureauveritas.fr
RR	Certification Association “Russian Register”	Chain of Custody certification in the CIS* countries, Bulgaria, Georgia, Latvia and Lithuania excluding the certification of SLIMF operations	www.rusregister.ru
CQ	Certiquality	Worldwide for Chain of Custody certification	www.certiquality.it
CU	Control Union Certifications B.V.	Worldwide for Forest Management and Chain of Custody certification	www.controlunion.com
CTIB	CTIB-TCHN Belgian Institute for Wood Technology	Chain of Custody certification to include all countries in the EU and the European Fair Trade Association (EFTA)	www.ctib-tchn.be
DNV	Det Norske Veritas Certification AB	Worldwide for Chain of Custody certification and FSC accreditation for Forest Management limited to Sweden	www.detnorskeveritas.se
FC	Forest Certification LLC	FSC Forest Management and Chain of Custody certification in the CIS* countries excluding the certification of SLIMF operations	www.fcert.ru
FCBA	Technological Institute (earlier called CTBA)	Chain of Custody certification, limited to 32 countries with French as official	www.fcba.fr
GFA	GFA Consulting Group GmbH	Worldwide for Forest Management and Chain of Custody certification	www.gfa-certification.de
HCA	HolzCert Austria	Worldwide for Chain of Custody certification	www.holzcert.at
ICILA	ICILA Srl.	Worldwide for Chain of Custody certification and FSC accreditation for Forest Management limited to Italy	www.icila.org
IMO	Institut für Marktökologie	Worldwide for Forest Management, FSC Controlled Wood and Chain of Custody certification. Note: Terminated for FSC Forest Management certification in Chile, as of 16th May 2008.	www.imo.ch
KF	KPMG Forest Certification Services Inc.	Worldwide for Forest Management and Chain of Custody certification	www.kpmg.ca
IC	LGA InterCert GmbH	Worldwide for Forest Management and Chain of Custody certification	www.lga-intercert.com
QMI	QMI-SAI Global Assurance Services	Worldwide for Forest Management, FSC Controlled Wood and Chain of Custody certification	www.qmi.com
SCS	Scientific Certification Systems	Worldwide for Forest Management, FSC Controlled Wood and Chain of Custody certification	www.scscertified.com
SGS	SGS South Africa (Pty) Ltd.	Worldwide for Forest Management, FSC Controlled Wood and Chain of Custody certification. Note: Suspended for FSC Forest Management certification in Brazil, as of 17th February 2011.	www.qualifor.sgs.com
SGS NA	SGS Systems & Services Certification, North America	Chain of Custody certification for USA, Canada and Mexico	N/A
SW	SmartWood, Rainforest Alliance	Worldwide for Forest Management, FSC Controlled Wood and Chain of Custody certification	www.rainforest-alliance.org
SA	Soil Association Woodmark	Worldwide for Forest Management, FSC Controlled Wood and Chain of Custody certification	www.soilassociation.org/forestry
SKH	Stichting Keuringsbureau Hout	Chain of Custody certification for The Netherlands	www.skh.org
SQS	Swiss Association for Quality and Management Systems	Worldwide for Forest Management and Chain of Custody certification	www.sqs.ch
TUV	TÜV Nord Cert GmbH	Worldwide for Chain of Custody certification	www.tuev-nord-cert.com

Reference: ASI – Accreditation Services International GmbH, Accredited Certification Bodies for the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) Program, 18 February 2011.

[Top]

For more information, visit www.forestlegality.org.

Disclaimer: This document is for informational purposes only. Persons and companies seeking legal advice on compliance with the Lacey Act statute should consult with a legal professional.

This report is made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). The contents are the responsibility of the Forest Legality Alliance and do not necessarily reflect the views of USAID or the United States Government.

While certification can be used as a tool to demonstrate that a company has attempted to source legally produced wood, it is important to note that the Lacey Act is a fact-based, not a document-based, statute. This means that there are no “get out of jail free” cards. Neither certification nor verification can be used to exempt a company from the underlying requirement that the products it sells must be legally produced. ↩
The subject of mixed products can complicate efforts to understand what is certified and what is not. Mixed-source products are comprised of certified and non-certified components, with the non-certified components controlled by a lower standard of compliance to sustainable and/or legal standards. These standards will vary depending on the certification system used. A full discussion of mixed sources is beyond the scope of this article. To learn more about this important subject, visit the certification schemes’ websites at http://www.fsc.org/ and http://www.pefc.org/. ↩

Q&A: Fiber Testing, Paper, and the Lacey Act

Ruth Nogueron — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 14:33:36 -0500

Answers to frequently asked questions about fiber testing, a technology that can help find potentially illegal wood in the paper supply chain.

In November 2010, WRI posted “Risk Free? Paper and the Lacey Act” in which we discussed using paper fiber testing to find potentially illegally harvested wood in paper products purchased in the United States. The article received a lot of interest from companies in the forest product supply chain and from civil society organizations working to reduce illegal logging. Here, we respond to some frequently asked questions about fiber testing and how one might use the technology to manage risk in the paper supply chain.

1. What is fiber testing?

A Rhizophora vessel. Source: Ghose and Das. 2001.

Fiber testing is a technology that is used to identify and quantify the mix of tree fibers contained in a sample of paper. Using high-power microscopes, specialized labs identify the composition of a sample of paper by observing the reactions of fibers when treated with various chemicals (e.g., change in color) and by identifying unique anatomical features in softwood fibers and hardwood vessels (e.g., shape, size, pit pattern). Vessels are structures that transport nutrients and water in plants and can be identified in paper. Depending on the quality of the fibers, experts can determine the pulp type (softwood vs. hardwood), pulping process (e.g., mechanical, chemical), the genus, and sometimes the species of the tree fibers contained in a paper sample.

2. Who uses fiber testing?

Fiber testing is an established technology used by the paper and pulp industry, mostly to confirm the fiber composition of products, which can have implications for product quality and equipment operation. Fiber testing has also been used to resolve disputes between paper mills and customers regarding paper composition. It has been used in court cases, and it has been used to confirm the authenticity of old documents.

Fiber testing is emerging as one of several resources available to buyers of paper products for conducting the “due care” or “due diligence” encouraged by policies such as the amended Lacey Act.

3. Who conducts fiber testing?

A number of companies conduct fiber analyses for the forest products industry, including:

4. My company wants to use fiber testing. What should I do?

Define your purpose. Knowing why you want to conduct fiber testing will help you determine what samples to test and what to look for in the lab results. For example, if you want to verify your supplier’s claim that 100 percent of the paper supplied comes from plantation-grown trees, test samples of the paper and check the lab results for types of trees not commonly used in plantations.
Select a lab. Lab technicians can help you better understand the testing process and can provide guidance.
Select your sample. Because it is not feasible to test your whole supply, you will need to choose a representative sample of the product for testing.
Submit samples to the lab. Each test usually requires a small portion of product, and the costs are relatively low per test. The lab can send the results back within a few weeks.
Assess the results.

5. What types of questions can fiber testing help answer?

Question	Results
Does the content of my paper match what I thought I purchased?	Results showing a fiber composition that is different in terms of genus/species or percentage content from the product description (e.g., “made with 100 percent plantation fiber”) indicate that the product and its description do not match.
Is the paper made from plantation-grown trees?	Results showing a high concentration of fibers from acacia, eucalyptus, or certain types of pines would suggest that the paper product was made from trees grown on plantations. Note that fiber testing cannot be used to distinguish between fibers from “well managed” versus “poorly managed” plantations.
Is the paper made from recycled material?	Results showing a very wide range of tree types or a mix of species not normally found in the paper product’s region of origin are an indication that the paper may be made from recycled content.
Is the paper made from natural forests?	Results showing a high concentration of “mixed tropical hardwood” fibers would suggest that the paper product was made from trees harvested from natural tropical forests. Results showing a high concentration of either mixed temperate (e.g., oaks, maples) or mixed boreal (e.g., spruces, pines, firs) types of trees would suggest that the paper product was made from trees harvested from natural forests of the mid-latitude (temperate) or northern (boreal) regions of the world, respectively.
Does the paper contain illegally harvested species?	Results would suggest that the paper product includes illegal fiber if the fiber’s genus or species is protected from being harvested or exported according to the laws of the country of origin, or if the type of tree is subject to trade restrictions or controls under international agreements such as the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Once you know the country of origin of the fiber (see below), you can check that country’s laws to determine whether or not the presence of a particular genus/species is in violation of any of these laws. For CITES-listed trees, see the United Nations Environment Programme/World Conservation Monitoring Centre’s page of trees listed in CITES.

6. Does fiber testing identify the country of origin?

No. Fiber testing in itself cannot determine the country of origin of a paper product—unless the tree type only grows in one country. For tree types with a limited distribution, the identification of genus and species can help narrow the possible region of ultimate origin.

Country of origin can be found by other means. One approach is to ask your supplier questions such as, “In which country were the trees harvested?” A complementary approach for identifying and verifying the country of origin for a paper product is to look at additional documentation including:

The product itself. Many paper products include labels identifying the country where it was manufactured. Note that in some cases the manufacturing country is not necessarily the country where the trees were harvested due to cross-border trade of timber and pulp.
Transport documentation such as transportation permits and shipping contracts.
Trade documents such as plant health certificates and declaration forms, commercial contracts, and bills of lading. There are commercial databases that compile and track this type of information.
Brand names and product typology can also be linked to specific companies that may have a defined geographic area from where they purchase their raw material. There are commercial databases that compile and can help track this type of information.

7. Does fiber testing work on recycled paper?

Yes. Depending on the quality of the fibers, labs can identify and quantify the composition of the fiber in a paper sample, even if the fibers are recycled. However, it is not possible to definitively identify whether or not specific fibers have been recycled.

8. Can one identify tree species in paper products using DNA analysis?

No. Based on today’s technical capabilities, it is currently not possible to determine the tree species used to make refined, white paper products using DNA analysis. The DNA from the paper fibers is mostly destroyed due to the chemical treatment—such as chemical pulping and bleaching—involved in papermaking. But cellular structures, such as vessels and fibers, remain sufficiently intact to allow for fiber testing.

DNA analysis is already commercially viable for solid wood products and is rapidly developing, so capabilities might change in the future. DNA analysis may still be possible for mechanically pulped and non-bleached paper, making it feasible to test for both the species and the country of origin of the wood used in the paper within a few years.

The Year in Illegal Logging: A Look Back

Craig Hanson — Fri, 07 Jan 2011 11:13:09 -0500

2010 was a significant year for global efforts to tackle illegal logging. Here’s a look back on some of that progress.

Long a problem in many of the world’s forests, illegal logging has unsustainable impacts. It deprives governments of tax revenue. It puts law-abiding companies at a competitive disadvantage. And it negatively impacts forest-dependent peoples, not to mention the world’s biodiversity and climate.

But 2010 brought encouraging news on the illegal logging front, and from both ends of the supply chain.

Let’s start with wood-producing countries. In July, the world learned from a Chatham House report that illegal logging fell by 50-75 percent during the past decade in Indonesia, Cameroon, and the Brazilian Amazon, three forest-rich nations. Better law enforcement, improved forest monitoring and increased focus on the issue all contributed to these improvements. More recently, Indonesia announced that it will deliberate a bill to toughen penalties for those involved in illegal logging, while Malaysia revised its Forest Act to stiffen penalties for illegal logging.

These are significant reductions and actions. Governments, many in the private sector, and civil society should be congratulated for their respective roles in these accomplishments.

2010 brought good news from wood-consuming countries, too. The United States indicated that it is serious about using the amended Lacey Act to curtail trade in illegal wood. For instance, reports came to light of a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service seizure of tropical hardwoods from Peru and of movement on the investigation into Gibson’s alleged purchase of illegal wood from Madagascar.

Likewise, the European Union (EU) approved the EU Illegal Timber Regulation in 2010. Similar to Lacey, the law prohibits the sale in Europe of timber logged illegally under the rules of the country of origin. Furthermore, the Australian government recently announced plans to introduce a Lacey-like ban on illegal timber products.

Climate agreements regarding “Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation in developing countries” (REDD+) have the potential to reinforce existing efforts to curtail illegal logging. The same is true for the visionary forest-climate bilateral agreements between forest-rich countries such as Indonesia or Brazil and nations such as Norway.

The groundwork, therefore, appears to be laid for another year of progress. If so, 2011 would take a further cut out of the illegal cut.

Risk Free? Paper and the Lacey Act

Ruth Nogueron — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 07:47:14 -0500

En Español | Chinese/中文

Tests detect potentially illegal wood in paper. Here are some tips to manage risk.

Download PDF of this post (PDF, 169 Kb)
English | Chinese/中文 | En Español

The amended U.S. Lacey Act has already impacted the wood industry, from the investigation of Gibson Guitars to a recently-reported seizure of Peruvian hardwood. Both of these cases involved solid wood products. But what about paper?

Paper poses the challenge of linking an illegally harvested tree in a faraway forest to a piece of paper purchased in the United States—after all the mixing and bleaching. Companies in the Forest Legality Alliance and others asked whether or not it is even possible to find Lacey violations in paper products.

Working with others, WRI decided to check it out.

We sent samples from 32 imported paper products to an independent fiber analysis laboratory. Samples we had tested came from stationery, paper bags, cardboard boxes, toilet paper, facial tissue paper, wrapping paper, and books—including pages, glossy cover sleeves, and cardboard from hardback covers. All products were purchased from stores and outlets in the United States.

With fiber analysis, scientists use high powered microscopes to look at plant fibers and vessels in a snippet of paper to identify what types of trees were used to make it. Vessels are structures that transport nutrients and water in plants, and they have distinct anatomical features that allow for identification of its genus and, in some cases, species.

A Rhizophora vessel. Source: Ghose and Das. 2001.

What we found is telling.

The tests identified vessels with anatomical features consistent with those of ramin (Gonystylus spp) in a page of a coffee table book and in the cover paper of a children’s book. These books were purchased from a U.S. retailer and published by U.S. firms but were manufactured in and imported directly from Indonesia. Increasingly rare, ramin trees have been protected internationally since 2003 under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Likewise, the Indonesian government has imposed an export ban on all ramin products. In other words, ramin fibers should not be found in paper.

In the cover of another children’s book, the tests found vessels consistent with those of mangrove trees (Rhizophora spp). Import/export trade databases indicated that this book, too, was manufactured in Indonesia. Mangrove trees are protected from harvest under Indonesian coastal protection, conservation, and forest management laws.

Consequently, all three of these books potentially violate the 2008 amendments to the U.S. Lacey Act, which prohibit trade within the United States of products made from plants that are harvested in contrary to international law or the law of their countries of origin. Since 2008, it has been illegal to import, export, transport, sell, receive, or purchase such plant products – including pulp and paper – in the United States. All actors in the supply chain, including importers, publishers, and retailers can be liable under Lacey. Penalties can include forfeiture of goods and fines of up to $500,000 and jail time.

The Amended Lacey Act

The 2008 amendments to the U.S. Lacey Act:

Prohibit trade into and within U.S. borders of any product made from trees or other plants that were logged or traded in violation of a law in the country of harvest. Products include paper, lumber, and furniture;
Require importers of plant products to declare the country of harvest, the genus and species of the plant, as well as the product’s volume and value (this is the “declaration requirement”); and
Establish penalties for violations, including forfeiture of goods and vessels, fines of up to $500,000, and prison terms of up to five years.

Even though the declaration requirement does not yet apply to paper, the prohibition of trade in illegally harvested forest products has applied to paper since May 2008.

These results demonstrate that it is possible to detect potential Lacey violations for paper, thanks to modern technology. In addition, they suggest that the prevalence of illegally harvested fiber in paper products may be more common than assumed— 3 of just 32 products had suspicious fibers.

Furthermore, they portend the possible use of this technology by third parties to uncover Lacey violations. Some NGOs have already used fiber analysis to determine whether books were made from plantation wood or from natural tropical rainforests. Now we know they can find potentially illegal species in paper, too.

So what can companies in the paper supply chain do to avert the risk of purchasing paper with illegal fiber in it?

First and foremost, exercise due care. “Due care” lies at the core of the amended Lacey Act. It is the legal term for exercising the level of appropriate action that would be taken by a reasonably prudent person under the same circumstances to minimize the risk of purchasing plant products that were harvested or traded illegally.

Examples of due care in the context of purchasing paper products include:

Ask questions. Ask your paper supplier questions such as: What is your supply chain? Can you trace the paper all the way back to the forest? What is the degree of illegal activity in that forest or region? What processes do you have in place to prevent illegally harvested fiber from entering your supply?
Assess risk and respond accordingly. Determine the relative risks associated with the forest of origin. Is the region suspected by credible sources of having high levels of illegal logging? Are civil society campaigns currently underway that indicate that this is a forest of concern? If so, compare the risk of inadvertently sourcing illegal paper to your degree of risk aversion. If responses from your supplier to the questions you ask do not meet your risk tolerance levels, consider sourcing paper from a different supplier or region.
Adopt a comprehensive forest products purchasing policy. Establish a forest products purchasing policy that reflects company values and incorporates environmental and social safeguards. Such policies can be a good foundation for practicing due care. Training employees on the policy and putting in place systems and performance incentives for policy implementation can effectively reduce risk.
Purchase certified paper. Harvesting trees legally is a common feature of third-party forest certification programs. Therefore, purchasing certified paper can be a means of demonstrating due care. But note that certification per se does not necessarily mean that the paper is legal, especially if the verification systems of the certification program are not robust and in countries with weak governance. In such circumstances, illegally harvested fibers can still find their way into certified paper.
Conduct periodic fiber analysis tests. Periodically test samples of paper products you purchase. Periodic testing can reveal what’s in your paper and might uncover suspicious fibers and sources. Fiber analysis testing is not expensive, and there are a number of independent fiber testing labs, including:

Integrated Paper Services, Inc. (United States)
Institute for Paper Science and Technology, Darmstadt Technical University (Germany)
INNVENTIA (Sweden)
Econotech (Canada)

As we discovered, paper is not risk free when it comes to the amended U.S. Lacey Act. But there are steps one can take to reduce these risks and demonstrate due care…and not just on paper.

For more information about how you can conduct due care when purchasing forest products, visit www.forestlegality.org.

En Español

¿Sin Riesgos? Productos de Papel y el Acta Lacey

Análisis de laboratorio detectan posible madera ilegal en productos de papel. A continuación se presentan algunas sugerencias para manejar riesgos.

La enmienda de la Ley Lacey de los Estados Unidos ha impactado las industrias madereras, como lo demuestra la investigación a la empresa Guitarras Gibson y la incautación de maderas duras provenientes de Perú reportada recientemente. Ambos casos involucran productos de madera sólida. Pero, ¿Qué pasa con los productos de papel?

Debido al proceso de fabricación ―la mezcla de pulpa y el blanqueamiento― del papel, es difícil ligar a un producto de papel comprado en los Estados Unidos con un árbol talado ilegalmente en un bosque remoto. Miembros de la Alianza para la Legalidad Forestal y otros preguntan si es posible o no detectar violaciones a la Ley Lacey en productos de papel.

En colaboración con otros, WRI decidió echarle un vistazo a la situación.

La enmienda de la Ley Lacey en 2008:

Prohíbe la comercialización con los Estados Unidos, y dentro de sus límites territoriales, de cualquier producto fabricado con árboles y otras plantas que fueron extraídas en violación con las leyes del país de origen. Este tipo de productos abarcan productos de papel, madera y muebles;
Requiere que los importadores de productos vegetales declaren el país de origen de la materia prima del producto, el género y la especie de la planta, así como también el volumen y valor del producto (estos son los “requisitos de declaración”), y;
Establece penalidades por infracción, que abarcan el embargo de bienes y vehículos, multas de hasta US$500,000, y encarcelamiento por hasta cinco años.

Aunque los requisitos de declaración no aplican a productos de papel en este momento, la prohibición en la comercialización de productos de bosque de origen ilegal incluye productos de papel desde Mayo del 2008

Enviamos muestras de papel de 32 productos a un laboratorio independiente para analizar la fibra de los papeles. Las muestras que analizadas fueron de productos de papel tales como papelería de escritorio, bolsas de papel, cajas de cartón, papel higiénico, pañuelos de papel, papel para envolver, y libros–incluyendo páginas, cubiertas de papel brilloso, y cartón usado en las cubiertas duras. Todos los productos fueron comprados en tiendas y vendedores en los Estados Unidos.

Usando técnicas para analizar las fibras, los científicos usan microscópicos de alto poder para analizar las fibras y los vasos de xilema de un pedazo pequeño de papel para identificar qué tipo de árboles fueron usados para fabricar el papel. Los vasos en el xilema son estructuras vegetales que transportan nutrientes y agua en las plantas, y tienen rasgos anatómicos únicos que permiten identificar el género, y algunas veces la especie, de los árboles.

Los resultados son reveladores.

Los análisis de laboratorio identificaron vasos con rasgos anatómicos que son consistentes con los vasos de ramin (Gonystylus spp) en la página de un libro ilustrado, y en la cubierta de un libro para niños. Ambos libros fueron comprados de una entidad de venta en los Estados Unidos, publicados por una editorial de los Estados Unidos, pero fueron fabricados e importados directamente de Indonesia. Cada vez más escaso, ramin es un tipo de árbol que está protegido por la comunidad internacional desde 2003 a través de la Convención sobre el Comercio Internacional de Especies Amenazadas de Silvestres de Fauna y Flora (CITES por sus siglas en inglés). El gobierno de Indonesia ha impuesto una prohibición en la exportación de productos de ramin. En otras palabras, no debería de encontrarse ramin en productos de papel.

Los análisis de laboratorio también encontraron vasos consistentes con vasos de manglar (Rhizophora spp) en la cubierta de otro libro para niños. De acuerdo con bases de datos de importaciones/exportaciones este libro también fue fabricado en Indonesia. De acuerdo a leyes de protección costera, conservación, y de manejo de bosque de Indonesia, los árboles de mangle están protegidos y no se pueden cortar para usos industriales.

En base a estos resultados, la comercialización de estos tres libros podrían representar infracciones a la enmienda de la Ley Lacey de 2008. Esta enmienda prohíbe la comercialización en, y con, los Estados Unidos de productos fabricados con plantas que fueron extraídas en violación leyes internacionales o las leyes del país de origen. De acuerdo a la Ley Lacey, desde 2008 es ilegal importar, exportar, transportar, vender, recibir, o comprar este tipo de productos –incluyendo productos de celulosa y de papel—en los Estados Unidos. De acuerdo con la Ley Lacey, todas las entidades en la cadena de suministro de estos productos, abarcando importadores, casas editoriales, y vendedores, tienen una responsabilidad legal. Las penalidades por infracción a la Ley Lacey pueden abarcan la incautación de bienes, y multas de hasta US $500,000 dólares, y encarcelamiento.

Los resultados de los análisis demuestran que, gracias a la tecnología moderna, es posible detector posibles infracciones a la Ley Lacey en los productos de papel. Los resultados también podrían indicar que la prevalencia de madera talada ilegalmente en los productos de papel puede ser más común de lo que se piensa puesto que se detectó material sospechoso en 3 de los 32 productos analizados.

Los resultados también apuntan al posible uso de tecnología, por parte de terceros, para descubrir infracciones a la Ley Lacey. Algunas ONGs ya han empleado el análisis de fibras para determinar si los libros fueron fabricados usando madera proveniente de plantaciones, o de bosques tropicales naturales. Ahora sabemos que es estas organizaciones también pueden identificar especies ilegales.

En vista de lo anterior, ¿Qué pueden hacer las empresas en las cadenas de suministro de productos de papel para evitar el riesgo de comprar papel fabricado con materia prima ilegal?

Primero, y antes que nada, practique el cuidado debido. El “Cuidado Debido” es un aspecto central de la enmienda de la Ley Lacey. Es un concepto legal que implica el practicar un nivel de acción apropiado que una persona razonablemente prudente practicaría bajo las mismas circunstancias para minimizar el riesgo de comprar productos fabricados con materia prima obtenida o comercializada ilegalmente.

Algunos ejemplos de cuidado debido en términos de abastecimiento de productos de papel abarcan:

Haga preguntas. Haga preguntas a sus proveedores de productos de papel como: ¿Cómo es la cadena de suministro? ¿Puede rastrear el papel hasta los bisques donde se originó la materia prima?¿Cuál es el nivel de actividad ilegal en los bosques de la región de origen?¿Qué procesos existen para prevenir que materia prima de origen ilegal se incorpore en la cadena de suministro?
Evalúe el riesgo y responda apropiadamente. Determine el riesgo relativo asociado con el bosque donde se originó la materia prima. ¿Fuentes confiables sospechan que existen altos niveles de tala ilegal en la región? ¿Existen campañas, por parte de sectores de la sociedad civil, que indican una preocupación por los bosques de la región? Si es así, compare el riesgo de comprar, inadvertidamente, productos de papel ilegales con el nivel de aversión al riesgo que tiene su empresa. Si las respuestas de sus proveedores no son suficientes de acuerdo al nivel de tolerancia de riesgo que tiene su empresa, considere el cambiar de proveedores, o de abastecerse de productos que se originan en otra región.
Adopte una política de abastecimiento de productos de bosque exhaustiva. Implemente una política de abastecimiento de productos de bosque que refleje los valores y salvaguardas ambientales y sociales de su empresa. Estas políticas pueden convertirse en una base sólida para ejercer el cuidado debido. El entrenar a los empleados en relación a la política de abastecimiento, y el establecer sistemas e incentivos para el buen desempeño en la implementación de la política pueden reducir el riesgo de manera eficaz.
Compre productos de papel certificados. La tala legal de árboles es un requisito común de los programas de certificación por terceros. Por lo tanto, el comprar productos de papel certificado puede ser una forma de demostrar el ejercicio del cuidado debido. Sin embargo, nótese que la certificación per se no necesariamente significa que el papel fue fabricado con material prima de origen legal, especialmente si el sistema de verificación del programa de certificación no es sólido, y/o ocurre en países donde la gobernabilidad es débil. Bajo estas circunstancias, es posible que existan fibras de árboles talados ilegalmente en productos de papel que están certificados.
Haga periódicamente análisis de laboratorio. Envíe muestras de papel de los productos que compra para ser analizadas periódicamente. El hacer análisis periódicos puede ser útil para determinar que contienen los productos de papel que compra, y pueden descubrir fibras y materia prima de origen sospechoso. El análisis de laboratorio no es caro, y existen varios laboratorios independientes que proporcionan este tipo de servicio, por ejemplo:

Integrated Paper Services, Inc. (United States)
Institute for Paper Science and Technology, Darmstadt Technical University (Germany)
INNVENTIA (Sweden)
Econotech (Canada)

Como lo demuestran los análisis que ordenamos, los productos de papel no están libres de riesgo en términos de una infracción de la Ley Lacey de los Estados Unidos. Sin embargo, hay cosas que se pueden hacer para reducir estos riesgos y demostrar que se practicó el cuidado debido… y no solamente en el papel.

Para mayor información sobre como ejercitar el cuidado debido en el abastecimiento de productos de bosque, por favor visite www.forestlegality.org.

Declarations and Due Care: Insights from Another Lacey Case

Craig Hanson — Tue, 05 Oct 2010 09:11:37 -0400

En Español

Enforcement of the amended Lacey Act has begun, both on and off the public radar. Here are tips on how to remain in compliance.

In November 2009, U.S. federal agents raided Gibson Guitar Corporation’s manufacturing facility in Nashville, Tennessee as part of an investigation into the illegal trade of a rare wood species allegedly used in some of Gibson’s musical instruments. Although the seizure made headlines, few people are aware that this was not the first enforcement of the 2008 amendments to the U.S. Lacey Act which banned commerce in illegal timber and paper products in the United States. There was one before it that has received little attention, until now.

A plank of tigrillo (Swartzia arborescens) on the left and of tigre caspi (Zygia cataractae) on the right. Photos: www.woodworkerssource.com

Five months earlier, agents of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service seized three pallets of tropical hardwood as they entered the Port of Tampa, Florida from Iquitos, Peru. Originating deep in the Amazon, the pallets contained numerous species of decorative woods, including tigrillo (Swartzia arborescens), palisangre (Brosimum rubescens), and tigre caspi (Zygia cataractae). Unlike the Gibson case, agents confiscated the wood on grounds that the shipment violated Lacey’s declaration requirements. The seizure was supported by substantial evidence that the exporter was using stolen and forged documents. [Details of the U.S. Department of Interior Decision are available here (PDF)]

It appears that the amended Lacey Act has teeth. Enforcement has begun, both on and off the public radar. This is a good development for the world’s forests and for all law-abiding businesses.

The century-old U.S. law has been an effective means of curtailing illegal wildlife trade. It was amended in 2008 to cover products made from trees and other plants. In effect since May 22, 2008, the law:

Learn More in our Lacey Act Fact Sheet

Prohibits trade into and within U.S. borders of any product made from trees or other plants that were logged or traded in violation of a law in the country of harvest. Products include paper, lumber, and furniture;
Requires importers of plant products to declare the country of harvest, the genus and species of the plant, as well as the product’s volume and value (this is the “declaration requirement”); and
Establishes penalties for violations, including forfeiture of goods and vessels, fines of up to $500,000, and prison terms of up to five years.

The seizure of Peruvian tropical hardwood provides several insights into enforcement of the amended Lacey Act and what one needs to do to remain in compliance, namely:

1. Take the declaration requirement seriously—the U.S. government does. Declarations are the first line of defense against the import of illegally harvested wood and other plant products. Because of this focus, it is important to correctly fill out your declaration forms.

2. Heed red flags. Peculiarities that arise in the course of a business transaction should trigger an importer or buyer to ask more questions about the product’s origin and legality and, if necessary, step away from the transaction. The Peru case had at least four peculiarities. First, this was the first time the buyer had imported from Peru, thus it was purchasing from an unfamiliar source market. Second, an exporter in Peru contacted the buyer out of the blue with wood to sell; the buyer did not initiate the deal. Third, prior to the transaction, the buyer had received an email indicating that the company supplying the material had suspended its business operations. Fourth, the supplier in Peru requested receiving payment via money order made directly to an individual, not a company. Red flags, anyone?

3. Demonstrate due care. At the core of the amended Lacey Act is the responsibility of each buyer—no matter where in the supply chain—to conduct “due care.” Due care is the legal term for exercising the level of appropriate action that would be taken by a reasonably prudent person under the same circumstances to minimize the risk of purchasing plant products that were harvested or traded illegally. The Office of the Solicitor stated that the buyer of the Peruvian wood “did not do all he could within his power to comply with regulations and ensure that the shipment was authorized by an export permit that properly documented the required information and was declared appropriately under the Lacey Act upon arrival to the United States.”

What could someone in the buyer’s position have done? Well, is this the first time you are buying wood or paper from a particular country? Then learn about the degree to which illegal logging is prevalent there and assess your comfort level with assuming this risk. Is this a new supplier? Then do your homework on it. Did you learn of problems affecting the supplier? Then probe further to understand the nature of the problems and the level of risk they pose to you. If this and other research still leaves you suspicious, find another supplier. Document your efforts in writing.

4. Be aware that there are many ways to detect Lacey violations. False declaration statements, satellite imagery of logging in protected areas, fiber testing to identify protected species in a sheet of paper, random wood inspections, and undercover investigations of illicit transactions are but a few of the ways people can detect violations of the Lacey Act. Two played an important role in the Peru case. First, on the declaration form, the buyer’s import broker classified the three pallets as containing finished wood products when, in fact, the pallets contained raw wood. This incorrect classification enabled the importer to avoid having to fill out more detail about the shipment since, at the time, full declarations for finished wood products had not been phased in. But a visual inspection can detect the difference. Second, the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service received a tip in May 2009, based on substantial evidence, that a shipment of wood from Iquitos, Peru with stolen and forged documents was on its way to Tampa on the ship Yacu Puma. The “tipster” had become aware of the cargo when he received a bill from the shipper for a shipment that was not his. There are many “eyes and ears” out there, some from unsuspected places.

5. Manage your supply chain. Lacey Act violations can occur anywhere along the forest product supply chain. Thus the well worn adage “a chain is only as good as its weakest link” applies here too. In the Peru case, actions by the broker had ramifications for the buyer.

6. Ignorance is no excuse. In the words of the U.S. Department of Interior’s Office of the Solicitor involved in this case, “a company that specializes in international shipments should be well versed in the applicable laws that govern such transactions and should also be up to date on any amendments to the laws. The Lacey Act amendments were passed in 2008, giving the industry time to adjust and become familiar with the changes before enforcement began.”

One concluding insight is that there is a lot going on behind the scenes. This wood seizure occurred in June, 2009 but is now just coming into public light. How many more actions have occurred and how many investigations are currently underway that are still confidential for legal reasons? Nobody knows.

But what we do know is that the U.S. government has given the amended Lacey Act teeth.

For more information about how you can conduct due care when purchasing forest products, visit www.forestlegality.org.

En Español

Declaraciones y el Concepto de “Debido Cuidado”: Lecciones de Otro Caso Lacey

En noviembre del 2009, agentes del gobierno federal de los Estados Unidos hicieron una redada en la planta de fabricación de la empresa Gibson Guitar (Gibson Guitar Corporation) en Nashville, Tennessee. La redada formó parte de una investigación sobre el tráfico ilegal de una especie de madera rara que se alega fue usada en la fabricación de instrumentos musicales de la marca Gibson. Aunque este evento se convirtió en una noticia de primera plana, pocos saben que esta no fue la primera acción de aplicación de la Ley Lacey que, gracias a una enmienda en 2008, prohíbe la comercialización en los Estados Unidos de productos de madera y papel de origen ilegal. Hubo otra acción de aplicación que, hasta ahora, no ha recibido suficiente atención.

Tabla de tigrillo (Swartzia arborescens) (izquierda) y de tigre caspi (Zygia cataractae) (derecha). Fuente: www.woodworkerssource.com

Cinco meses antes de la redada en la fábrica de Gibson, agentes del Servicio de Pesca y Vida Silvestre de los Estados Unidos (U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) confiscaron tres palés de madera tropical dura cuando arribaron al puerto de Tampa, Florida, procedentes de Iquitos, Perú. Los palés contenían numerosas especies madereras ornamentales de árboles que viven en el corazón del Amazonas; estas especies abarcaban tigrillo (Swartzia arborescens), palisangre (Brosimum rubescens), y tigre caspi (Zygia cataractae). A diferencia del caso Gibson, los agentes del gobierno federal confiscaron la madera porque se encontró que la documentación del embarque violaba los requisitos de declaración que estipula la Ley Lacey. También había evidencia sólida de que el exportador estaba usando documentos robados y falsificados.

Parece ser que la enmienda de la Ley Lacey tiene garra. La aplicación de la Ley está ocurriendo tras bambalinas y en la escena pública. Estos acontecimientos son positivos para los bosques del mundo, y para los negocios que operan en cumplimiento con la ley.

La centenaria Ley Lacey de los Estados Unidos ha sido una herramienta eficaz para combatir el tráfico ilegal de vida silvestre. En el 2008 la Ley fue modificada para abarcar productos fabricados con árboles y plantas. La Ley entró en efecto el 22 de mayo de 2008 y:

Prohíbe la importación y comercialización en los Estados Unidos de cualquier producto que haya sido fabricado con árboles y otras plantas que hayan sido talados o comercializados infringiendo las leyes del país de origen. Los productos abarcan papel, madera, y muebles;
Requiere que los importadores de productos de origen vegetal declaren el país de donde la materia prima fue obtenida, el género y especie de la planta, y el volumen y valor del producto (estos son los “requisitos de declaración”); y
Establece penalidades por violaciones, abarcando embargo de bienes y vehículos de transporte, multas de hasta $500,000 dólares, y encarcelamiento de hasta cinco años.

El embargo de la madera dura tropical proveniente de Perú proporciona varias lecciones sobre la aplicación de la enmienda de la Ley Lacey, y acciones clave que son necesarias para cumplir con la ley, en especial:

Tomar en serio los requisitos de declaración, tal como lo hace el gobierno de los Estados Unidos. Las declaraciones de aduana constituyen la línea primordial de defensa para prevenir la importación de madera de origen ilegal, y de otros productos vegetales de origen ilegal. Debido a esto, es importante llenar correctamente los formularios de declaración.
Prestar atención a las señales de alerta o “red flags”. Hay una serie de hechos singulares que, si emergen durante el curso de una transacción de negocios, deberían de hacer que el importador o comprador haga más preguntas sobre el origen y la legalidad del producto y, si es necesario, suspenda la compra. En el caso de Perú hubo, por lo menos, cuatro rasgos. Para empezar, esta era la primera vez que el comprador importaba productos de Perú, y estaba comprando en un mercado con el que no estaba familiarizado. Segundo, un exportador en Perú contactó al comprador con la mercancía de manera inesperada; el comprador no inició la transacción de compra. Tercero, antes de la transacción, el comprador recibió un correo electrónico indicando que la empresa que estaba proporcionado la mercancía había suspendido sus operaciones. Cuarto, el proveedor en Perú solicitó que el pago se hicieran a través de giro postal, pago directo a un individuo, no a una empresa. ¿Se necesita más alertas?
Demostrar que se ejerció el cuidado debido. El aspecto central de la enmienda de la Ley Lacey es la responsabilidad que tiene cada uno de los compradores―sin importar a qué nivel se encuentren en la cadena de suministro―de ejercer el “cuidado debido.” El cuidado debido es un concepto legal que significa el tomar la(s) acción(es) apropiada(s) que una persona razonablemente prudente ejercitaría en circunstancias similares para minimizar el riesgo de compra de productos vegetales que fueron extraídos o comercializados ilegalmente. La Oficina del Abogado del Departamento del Interior que investigó el caso indicó que el comprador de la madera proveniente de Perú “no hizo todo lo que podía haber hecho para cumplir con las regulaciones y asegurarse de que el envío estaba autorizado por un permiso de exportación que documentaba apropiadamente la información requerida, y que contenía la declaración apropiada requerida por la Ley Lacey una vez que llegó a los Estados Unidos.”

¿Qué puede hacer alguien que se encuentra en una situación como esta? ¿Es la primera vez que está comprando productos de madera o papel en un país? Entonces infórmese sobre la prevalencia de la tala ilegal en el país, evalúe el riesgo y determine su nivel de confianza con dicho riesgo. ¿Está negociando con un proveedor nuevo? Averigüe más sobre el proveedor. ¿Está enterado de los problemas que tiene su proveedor? Entonces haga preguntas para entender mejor los problemas y evaluar el nivel de riesgo que puede representar para su negocio. Si después de todas estas averiguaciones existen sospechas, busque otro proveedor. Documente por escrito todos estos esfuerzos.

Sepa que existen muchas maneras de detectar violaciones de la Ley Lacey. Declaraciones falsas, uso de imágenes de satélite para detectar tala de árboles en áreas protegidas, análisis de papel para identificar el uso de fibras de especies protegidas, inspecciones aleatorias de la madera, e investigaciones con operaciones encubiertas son algunas de las muchas maneras que pueden ser usadas para detectar violaciones a la Ley Lacey. Hubo dos elementos de este tipo que fueron importantes en el caso de Perú. Primero, en la clasificación de tipo de producto en el formulario de la declaración, el agente de importaciones del comprador declaró que los palés contenían productos de madera terminados cuando en realidad contenían madera en bruto. Con esta clasificación incorrecta, el importador se evitó agregar más detalles sobre el embarque porque, en ese tiempo, el requisito de declaración de la Ley Lacey para productos terminados no había entrado en efecto. Sin embargo, la inspección visual puede detectar estas diferencias. Segundo, en mayo 2009 el Servicio de Pesca y Vida Silvestre de los Estados Unidos recibió un aviso, basado en evidencia sólida, de un envío de madera en la embarcación Yacu Puma, proveniente de Iquitos, Perú, y con destino a Tampa, que tenía documentación robada y falsificada. La persona que dio el aviso se enteró de la existencia del envío porque recibió una factura de la compañía naviera por un envío que su empresa no había hecho. Hay “muchos ojos y oídos,” y algunos están en lugares inesperados.
Gestione su cadena de suministro. Las violaciones a la Ley Lacey pueden ocurrir en cualquier punto a lo largo de la cadena de suministro de los productos de bosque. El dicho “la fortaleza de una cadena depende del eslabón más débil” (“a chain is only as strong as its weakest link”) se aplica en este caso. En el caso de Perú, las acciones del agente de importaciones tuvieron ramificaciones para el comprador.
La ignorancia no es una excusa. Usando las palabras de la Oficina del Abogado del Departamento del Interior de los Estados Unidos, para este caso, “una empresa que se especializa en hacer envíos internacionales debería conocer bien las leyes relevantes que gobiernan este tipo de transacciones, y debería estar actualizada con cualquier enmienda que se haga a dichas leyes. La enmienda de la Ley Lacey se aprobó en 2008, dándole a la industria el tiempo suficiente para ajustarse y familiarizarse con los cambios antes de que comenzara el cumplimiento.”

Una conclusión final es que hay muchas cosas ocurriendo tras bambalinas. El embargo de esta madera ocurrió en Junio 2009, pero apenas está saliendo a la luz pública. ¿Qué otras acciones han ocurrido? y ¿Cuántas otras investigaciones hay en curso que todavía son confidenciales por razones legales? Nadie lo sabe.

Lo que sí sabemos es que el Gobierno de los Estados Unidos le ha dado garra a la enmienda de la Ley Lacey.

Para mayor información sobre cómo se puede conducir el cuidado debido en la compra de productos forestales, visite el sitio de Internet www.forestlegality.org.

NEWS RELEASE: Global Alliance Launched to Curb Trade in Illegal Wood

Jessica Forres — Wed, 26 May 2010 10:19:37 -0400

The Forest Legality Alliance was launched today to support private sector efforts and policies to reduce trade in illegally harvested wood. The Alliance is a global public-private initiative open to businesses, industry associations, financial institutions and civil society organizations with a stake in legal forest product supply chains.

Joining the World Resources Institute (WRI), the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA-U.S.) and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in the Alliance are the American Forest & Paper Association, the Hardwood Federation, IKEA, the International Wood Products Association, NewPage Corporation, the Retail Industry Leaders’ Association, Staples Inc., and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development.

“Some companies are not aware of the need to ask questions about the wood they are buying or the consequences of letting illegal wood enter their supply chains,” said Craig Hanson, director of WRI’s People and Ecosystems Program. “The Alliance seeks to build confidence that imported wood and paper products are legal. Done right, trade supports environmental protection and the Alliance recognizes the role trade plays in protecting our world’s great forests.”

Responsible forest management delivers renewable raw material for a wide range of products, such as timber and paper. It also provides livelihoods for millions of people and contributes to preserving biodiversity.

In many regions, however, illegal logging is having unsustainable impacts. Much of the illegal logging taking place is directly connected to land conversion activities, for instance, when forests are cleared to make room for agriculture and ranching activities. This illegal logging contributes to deforestation, biodiversity loss and greenhouse gas emissions, deprives nations of much needed public revenue, and can lead to social conflict and human rights violations.

Any illegal wood from these activities that makes its way into international trade creates an unlevel playing field for the private sector, allowing a few bad actors to put companies with legal operations at an unfair disadvantage. It also affects poor, rural residents in developing countries who rely on forests for food, fuel, and other benefits.

In response, major wood importing regions are enacting policies to reduce demand for illegal wood. In 2008, the U.S. government amended the Lacey Act to prohibit trade within the United States of products made from illegally harvested wood. With this amendment, the United States became the first country to ban imports of illegal wood and related products.

The European Union is in the final stages of approving a “due diligence” regulation to curb illegal timber entering the European market, and Australia is also considering legislation to prohibit trade in illegal wood.

“From musical instruments to textbooks, legislation in the United States and abroad is fundamentally changing how wood and everything that is made from wood is traded and produced,” said Sascha von Bismarck, executive director of EIA in Washington, D.C. “Suppliers unaware of these emerging policies could face financial repercussions in addition to reputational risk. The Alliance will work to provide businesses and civil society groups the information they need to avoid risks and create change in the world’s forests.”

The Alliance will ensure that importers and supply chains know and understand the emerging new trade policies. It will develop new online resources that help companies assess the risk of encountering illegal wood, conduct due care, and complete import declarations. It will work with suppliers to document best practices and unforeseen challenges associated with purchasing legal wood and complying with import regulations. It will focus on the capacity for legal trade in the sector as a whole, rather than on the performance of individual companies, and complement existing initiatives that certify legality and sustainability.

“USAID is pleased to be a central partner in the Forest Legality Alliance,” said James Hester, director of the USAID’s Office of Natural Resources Management. “Eliminating illegal wood from supply chains will help developing country producers compete in developed country markets while maintaining biodiversity in their forests and strengthening forest governance.”

USAID helped catalyze the formation of this new partnership under its Global Development Alliance initiative which seeks to leverage the resources, expertise, creativity and market access of corporations, industry associations, civil society organizations and others to jointly address pressing development challenges around the world.

For more information on the Alliance, please visit www.forestlegality.org.

Former Swedish Prime Minister Göran Persson Joins WRI Board

Paul Mackie — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:25:45 -0500

Also available in Swedish.

Former Prime Minister of Sweden Göran Persson has been elected to the Board of Directors of the World Resources Institute (WRI).

“Prime Minister Persson’s record of building long-term and ambitious environmental policies is exceptional,” said Jonathan Lash, WRI president. “Facing the most important challenge of our time – climate change – he has led by example and helped Sweden go further than required by the Kyoto Protocol.”

Persson served as prime minister from 1996 to 2006. He led the reduction in Sweden’s greenhouse gas emissions by 13.5 percent between 1996 and 2005, and set a national target to reduce emissions to 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020. In 2007, he was awarded the Sophie Prize for his leadership on climate policy. Prior to serving as Prime Minister, he served as finance and education minister, as a member of parliament, and was a local politician.

Persson serves as chairman of three other boards: Scandinavian Air Ambulance Holding, Scandinavian Biogas, and Sveaskog, which is Sweden’s largest forest owner and leading supplier of timber, pulpwood, and biofuel. The company is government-owned and uses sustainable management methods in which forest lands are grown faster than they are felled. It is also one of the largest forest owners in all of Europe. Further, he is a member of the European Council on Tolerance and Reconciliation and, in 2007, released his memoirs, Min Väg, Mina Val (My Path, My Choices).

Persson joins WRI’s current board members: Chairman James A. Harmon, Vice Chair Harriet (Hattie) Babbitt, Chairman Emeritus William D. Ruckelshaus, Vice-Chair Emeritus Alice (Tish) F. Emerson, Roberto Artavia, Frances Beinecke, Afsaneh Beschloss, Antony Burgmans, Fernando Henrique Carsdoso, Robin Chase, Leslie Dach, Daniel L. Doctoroff, Jamshyd N. Godrej, Al Gore, Chen Jining, Jonathan Lash, Kathleen McGinty, Douglas R. Oberhelman, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Michael Polsky, C.K. Prahalad, Theodore Roosevelt IV, Stephen M. Ross, Alison Sander, James Gustave Speth, Lee M. Thomas, Todd S. Thomson, Dr. Susan Tierney, Diana H. Wall, and Daniel Weiss.

Göran Persson tar plats i styrelsen för World Resources Institute

WASHINGTON DC, 9 mars, 2010 – Förre statsministern Göran Persson har i dag blivit invald i styrelsen för World Resources Institute (WRI), en miljöpolitisk tankesmedja i Washington DC.

“Göran Perssons arbete för att skapa en långsiktig och ambitiös miljöpolitik är exeptionellt”, säger Jonathan Lash, WRIs generalsekreterare. “Under hans ledning har Sverige svarat på vår tids största miljöpolitiska utmaning – klimatfrågan – genom att gå före och överträffa Kyotoprotokollets krav.”

Sverige hade år 2005 minskat sina utsläpp av växthusgaser med 13,5 procent jämfört med 1996 och lagt fast ett nationellt mål om en utsläppsminskning på åtminstone 25 procent från 1990 till 2020. Göran Persson, som var statsminister från 1996 till 2006, tilldelades år 2007 Sofie-priset för sitt klimatpolitiska ledarskap.

I styrelsen blir Göran Persson kollega med bland andra USAs förre vicepresident Al Gore, Unilevers förre ordförande Antony Burgmans och Brasiliens förre president Fernando Henrique Cardoso. WRI har 200 medarbetare i Washington DC och samarbetar aktivt med myndigheter, företag och miljöorganisationer över hela världen för att omsätta kunskap i handling. WRI har nyligen utnämnts till en av världens bästa miljöpolitiska tankesmedjor av University of Pennsylvania. Bland välkända företagspartners märks IKEA, General Electric, General Motors och Apple.

Save the Date for WRI's Environmental Stories to Watch 2010 Press Briefing

Paul Mackie — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 14:58:54 -0500

Jonathan Lash, president of the World Resources Institute (WRI), will brief journalists on January 7 at the National Press Club in Washington D.C. on upcoming environmental issues in 2010, including climate, business action, water, forests and more.

Look for a full media advisory with more details, including Webcast information, to be sent the week of the event.

Please RSVP: Paul Mackie, WRI director of media relations, +1(202) 729-7684, pmackie@wri.org or Jessica Forres, WRI media officer, +1(202) 729-7736, jforres@wri.org

Transcripts, slidedecks and Webcasts from previous years

Is Your Company Prepared for the Lacey Act?

Adam Grant — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 11:59:07 -0500

A recent U.S. government raid on illegally sourced wood is a wake-up call to businesses.

On November 17, 2009, U.S. federal agents raided Gibson Guitar Corporation’s manufacturing facility in Nashville, Tennessee. The raid was part of an investigation into the illegal trade of a rare wood species allegedly used in some of Gibson’s renowned musical instruments.

According to press reports, agents purportedly seized wood, guitars, and documents in the first known enforcement action under the recently amended Lacey Act. Widely covered in the media, the raid is a wake-up call to businesses that are part of forest product supply chains that they need to heed the Lacey Act and avoid illegally sourced wood and paper.

Illegal logging – timber harvesting that breaks a country’s national laws - squanders approximately US $15 billion of assets and revenue for developing nations each year and is a driver of deforestation. As the single largest consumer and importer of forest products, the United States has the capacity to reduce illegal logging practices on a global scale.

On May 22, 2008, the U.S. Congress passed a landmark amendment to the 100 year-old Lacey Act, originally enacted to prohibit the transportation of illegally captured animals or wildlife products across state lines. The new law extended this protection to plants - including timber, paper, and other forest products - thereby giving the U.S. government a powerful tool to eliminate illegally sourced wood and increase transparency in the global forest product supply chain.

The November Gibson raid is the first high profile amended Lacey Act investigation, demonstrating that the U.S. government is taking illegal logging seriously - and that companies in both the United States and abroad need to already be in compliance.

In partnership with the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), the World Resources Institute (WRI) has released a Lacey Act fact sheet designed to answer some frequently asked questions about the Lacey Act.

The four-page fact sheet, Are You Ready for the Lacey Act?, provides companies with answers and counsel on a suite of issues, including:

What does the Lacey Act entail?
What is considered “illegal” under the amended Lacey Act?
What risks do buyers, traders, and sellers of wood, paper, and other forest products face if they violate the Lacey Act?
What can companies do to avoid becoming the subject of a Lacey Act investigation?
Does certification mean that a forest product is exempt or already in compliance with the amended Lacey Act?

For more information, download the fact sheet, or contact:

Adam Grant, Senior Associate, WRI, agrant@wri.org, (202) 729-7623
Lars Laestadius, Senior Associate, WRI, larsl@wri.org, (202) 729-7633
Anne Middleton, Outreach Coordinator, EIA, anne@eia-international.org, (202) 483-6621

Fact Sheet: Are You Ready for the Lacey Act?

Tue, 22 Dec 2009 11:58:43 -0500

What is the Lacey Act and how can companies comply? This fact sheet provides answers to frequently asked questions.

Download Fact Sheet:
English | Chinese | Español | Português

On November 17, 2009, U.S. federal agents raided Gibson Guitar Corp.’s Nashville, Tennessee manufacturing facility. The raid was part of an investigation into the illegal trade of a rare wood species allegedly used in some of Gibson’s renowned musical instruments. According to press reports, agents seized wood, guitars, and documents in the first known enforcement action under the recently amended Lacey Act. Widely covered in the media, the raid is a wake-up call to all businesses that are part of forest product supply chains that they need to heed the Lacey Act. What is the Lacey Act? What risks do buyers, traders, and sellers of wood, paper, and other forest products face if they violate it? What can companies do to avoid becoming the subject of a Lacey Act investigation? This fact sheet provides some answers to these and related questions.

1. What is the U.S. Lacey Act and why is it important?

On May 22, 2008, the U.S. Congress passed a groundbreaking law banning commerce in illegally sourced plants and their products—including timber, wood, and paper products. The new law is an amendment to the Lacey Act of 1900, named after the congressman who first championed it. While the Lacey Act has long been one of the most powerful tools for U.S. agencies fighting wildlife crime, its potential to combat illegal logging remained untapped. Now the Lacey Act sets a precedent for the global trade in plants and plant products, acknowledging and supporting the efforts of other countries to govern their own natural resources and putting in place powerful incentives for companies trading in these commodities to do the same.

2. What does the law do to address illegal logging?

To address illegal logging and other illegal plant trade, the amended Lacey Act does three main things:

Prohibits all trade in plants and plant products—including furniture, paper, and lumber—that are illegally sourced from any U.S. state or foreign country;
Requires importers to declare the country of origin of harvest and species name of all plants contained in their products (a provision that is currently being phased in); and
Establishes penalties for violations of the law, including forfeiture of goods and vessels, fines, and jail time.

3. When does the amended Lacey Act go into effect?

The amended Lacey Act has been in effect since May 22, 2008. Companies or persons caught with illegally sourced wood or plant products can now be prosecuted and have their goods confiscated. The declaration requirement of the Lacey Act is being phased in by product type. Throughout this phase-in process, enforcement of the act’s prohibition on trade in illegally sourced plant and plant products is already in effect for all types of products, whether or not they are on the phase-in schedule.

4. What is “illegal” under the amended Lacey Act?

There are two components to a violation of the Lacey Act. First, a plant must be taken, harvested, possessed, transported, sold, or exported in violation of a relevant underlying law in any foreign country or the United States. This constitutes an illegally sourced plant. Second, a person or company must trade this illegally sourced plant in U.S. interstate or foreign commerce—in the act’s words, one must “import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase.” It is only this second transaction that triggers a violation of the Lacey Act. The Lacey Act does not impose U.S. law on other countries. “Illegally sourced” is defined by the content of a sovereign nation’s own laws. The law applies equally to plants taken, harvested, transported, or exported in violation of the relevant laws of any U.S. state, territory, or tribal government, as well.

5. What are some examples of an amended Lacey Act violation?

Examples of Lacey Act violations include, but are not limited to:

A company in the United States imports a shipment of wood fl ooring from country X made from timber that had been harvested without valid permits in country Y;
A company in the United States purchases paper made from pulp sourced via illegal logging practices in country Y;
An exporter purposefully mislabels a shipment to the United States as a less valuable species in order to avoid higher tariffs; and
A veneer importer does not identify the correct country (or potential countries) of harvest origin for the species used.

6. How pervasive is illegal logging?

Illegal logging occurs in all regions of the world. Examples include timber theft; logging in a national park or protected area; logging CITES-listed species (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) without a permit; failure to pay taxes or tariffs on a shipment of logs; and taking logs without proper authorization. The extent of illegal logging varies dramatically by exporting country and species; in some countries, it is as high as 60–80 percent of harvested wood. An estimated 10 percent of annual wood imports into the United States is of illegal origin.

7. What are the penalties under the amended Lacey Act?

Lacey Act civil and criminal penalties vary according to how much the company or individual knew about the crime, as well as the value of the good or shipment in question. Figure 1 describes the general categories and potential penalties.

8. What can a company do to comply with the amended Lacey Act?

It is each company’s responsibility to exercise “due care” and understand the origin of its forest products, keeping in mind that a Lacey violation can occur at almost any point in a forest product supply chain. To help improve compliance, a company could:

Ask its suppliers questions, such as: What are your supply chains? Can you trace them all the way back to the forest? What is the degree of illegal activity in that forest or region? Do you have proper documentation?
Institute internal policies and procedures to track forest products. Available options may include barcode or other tracing systems, legality verification, third-party certification, stepwise programs offered by various organizations, or other public-private partnership models designed to help companies manage procurement of forest products.
Use a robust risk management system to assess risk of illegality. Exercise extra care when procuring forest products from regions with known or suspected high rates of illegal logging. The Lacey Act is a fact-based rather than a document-based statute. If imported products turn out to be of illegal origin de facto, this fact will override any statement or document to the contrary. Illegal products are often accompanied by forged documents. Therefore, evaluating your suppliers and developing trust in them and the forest products they provide is as important as obtaining physical papers. Means of evaluation can include:
Conducting independent research on suppliers via on-line sources and your business contacts;
Establishing long-term relationships rather than buying on spot markets;
Consistently questioning your suppliers about the origin of their products and documenting their answers; and
Making supplier and forest site visits if possible.

9. Does certification mean that a forest product is exempt or already in compliance with the amended Lacey Act?

Third-party sustainable forestry certification and legality verification systems are very good approaches for demonstrating “due care.” They help demonstrate to both governments and customers that you have taken proactive steps to eliminate illegal wood or plant material from your supply chain. However, certification and verification are not required by the Lacey Act, do not serve as “get-out-of-jail free” cards, and do not relieve importers of the requirement to submit appropriate import declaration information to APHIS (Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service of USDA) or U.S. Customs and Border Patrol.

10. Of what value is the scientific name (genus and species) of plant products in the declaration requirement?

Scientific names of plant species are a means of obtaining precise information about the forest product being purchased. Relying on common species names is imprecise, as a single species may have a wide variety of commercial or country-specific common names. Conversely, many distinct species may share the same common name. Buyers who do not know the scientific name cannot be sure whether or not they are violating CITES or other laws that protect endangered species.

11. Is the best strategy simply to stop sourcing from high risk countries?

Not necessarily. Examples of good and bad logging practices exist in every country. Certain high-value species and countries with long track records of illegal logging clearly warrant particular vigilance, but that means “do your homework,” not necessarily “stay away.” Businesses with good practices in such countries should be rewarded. The U.S. government will not be creating an official list of “high-risk” countries. No matter from which country you source, including the United States or Canada, you should know as much as possible about the wood material’s origin.

12. Where can I learn more?

For more information, visit www.eia-global.org/lacey or www.sustainableforestprods.org. Or contact:

Anne Middleton, Forest Campaign Outreach Coordinator, Environmental Investigation Agency, anne@eia-international.org, +1 202 483 6621
Adam Grant, Senior Associate, World Resources Institute, adam.grant@wri.org, +1 202 729 7623

Download Fact Sheet: English | Chinese | Español | Português

Bridging the Information Gap: Combating Illegal Logging in Indonesia

Tim Herzog — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 00:00:00 -0400

Spanning around 100 million hectares, the forests of Indonesia constitute 10 percent of the world’s remaining tropical forests and provide people with a variety of benefits or “ecosystem services.” For instance, local communities rely on the forests for food, medicine, fresh water, and building material. The global community relies on them for carbon sequestration, timber, and tourism. In addition, the forests of Indonesia are a biodiversity “hotspot,” with new species discovered every year.

In view of the importance of its forests, Indonesia—both on its own and in partnership with donor countries and world experts—has incorporated themes of “sustainable forest management” and “combating illegal logging” into its forest governance since the mid-1990s. Despite these efforts, during the first half decade of the new millennium, deforestation rates increased year on year (from 0.2 million hectares in 2000/2001 to 1.2 million hectares in 2004/2005, the last year such data were reported).

The causes of Indonesia’s forest loss are diverse, but it is widely recognized that illegal logging is a major contributor. Estimates of the scale of this illegal activity vary widely. One study found that three quarters or 40 million out of the 53 million cubic meters of logs consumed by Indonesia’s mills (and mostly exported in the form of moldings, sawn timber, plywood, pulp, and paper) in 2003, came from unknown and/ or illegal sources. This equated to $1.4 billion in lost revenue to the government in 2003 alone. Moreover, this estimate did not include the additional volume of logs illegally exported from Indonesia, which another study estimated at 10 million cubic meters per year.

In order to pinpoint the identity of the actors perpetrating these crimes, and thereby reduce illegal trade, better information is needed in areas such as: changes in forest cover; timber concession and plantation boundaries; administrative boundaries; and sources of raw material for timber mills. Many stakeholders have recognized the importance of such information and several experts and policymakers have tried to develop such databases. However, forest data continues to be scattered throughout the archipelago and across different government departments and non-government organizations. Where information exists, much of it needs to be updated and improved.

Closing the Information Gap

The core purpose of this Forest Note is to put forward a systematic approach to analyzing the Indonesian forestry sector in order to identify which forest laws and regulations are being disobeyed and where. We introduce a matrix that provides simple step-by-step guidance on how to use existing data to understand the physical status of and changes in the nation’s forests, in the forest production (logging) sector, and in the forest products manufacturing (milling) sector. Armed with this information, experts, policymakers, and citizens can have a more informed dialogue on the precise sources of threats to Indonesia’s forests and what can be done to remove them.

This note builds on a gap analysis of forest information carried out in 2006 by WRI as part of the East Asia and Pacific Forest Law Enforcement and Governance (EAP-FLEG) initiative led by the World Bank and the Indonesian Ministry of Forestry. At the end of this note is an extended glossary, which explains the important terms and concepts utilized in the matrix and their importance for law enforcement.