Chart of the Week: Trends in Illegally Sourced Wood

In May 2008, amendments were passed to the US Lacey Act that banned timber and wood imports produced illegally in a foreign country. This was the first such legislation anywhere in the world. What impact did it have?

The available evidence suggest that, although other effects were also important, the revised Lacey Act did play a role in reducing illegally-sourced wood by somewhere between 32 and 44 percent. Illegal wood is still a problem though: check out the second chart above for an idea of how widespread it is. Get the whole story here >