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Government Relations and Policy
Forests
WWF combines fieldwork, policy advocacy and business partnerships to conserve the world's forests. Indonesia.
© WWF-Canon / Alain COMPOST
Illegal logging and unsustainable management of forests - driven by the demand for cheap timber and paper products - lead to the loss of nearly 36 million acres of natural forests each year, an area roughly the size of New York state. The world's poorest people often bear the brunt of forest loss, as forest resources sustain most of the world's people living in extreme poverty.
WWF's work with the U.S. government
Our work with the U.S. government includes supporting the reauthorization of the Tropical Forest Conservation Act (HR 2185 in the House of Representatives and S 2020 in the Senate ) that authorizes debt-for-nature swaps and other financial incentives to conserve tropical rainforests, such as the forests of the Amazon. The bill would further expand the program to include coral reefs and associated coastal marine ecosystems, such as those of the Coral Triangle. We are also working to support the Legal Timber Protection Act (HR 1497) which would prohibit imports of illegally harvested plants and timber products into the United States.
Lacey Act
The nation’s oldest wildlife protection statute, the Lacey Act was first enacted in 1900 to combat the impact of hunting to supply commercial markets, interstate shipment of unlawfully killed game, introduction of harmful exotic species, and killing of birds for feather trade. Significantly amended in 1981 and 1988, the Lacey Act has been a tool to combat trafficking in illegal wildlife, fish or plants. Passed on May 22nd 2008, the Act was expanded to protect a broader range of plants, extending the statute’s reach to encompass products, including timber, that derive from illegally harvested plants.
This will help the U.S. to support the efforts of other countries, and its own States, to combat illegal logging making it unlawful to import, export, transport, sell, receive, acquire, or purchase in interstate or foreign commerce any plant, with some limited exceptions, taken or traded in violation of the laws of a U.S. State, or most foreign laws. The Lacey Act also makes it unlawful to make or submit any false record, account or label for, or any false identification of, any plant. It will be unlawful as of December 15, 2008 to import any covered plant or plant product without a declaration.
The U.S. Lacey Act - Frequently Asked Questions About the World's First Ban on Trade in Illegal Wood
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