The World Resources Institute has written an informative article about tips on how to remain in compliance of the Lacey Act.  The article discusses the Gibson Guitar raid, as well as other cases relating to the Lacey Act, and what you can do to make sure you are operating within the law. We urge you to read it, in order to stay informed on these issues.

[http://www.wri.org/stories/2010/10/declarations-and-due-care-insights-another-lacey-case]

Please take a moment to view the updated EIA Overview Video. This 3-minute video explains what the Environmental Investigation Agency does, and how our campaign successes have helped to positively impact the environment. Updated in this video is our Combined Federal Campaign number (if you are a federal worker, please consider donating to EIA, #26610!), as well as The New Yorker Magazine article featuring EIA.

Check out this interview with Toby Smith, a photographer that accompanied EIA on one of our Madagascar trips. He helped to get us amazing footage, as well as document illegal logging. EIA intends to use Toby’s pictures and video to prosecute those responsible for creating the international market outside of Madagascar.

[http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/interactive/2010/sep/10/toby-smith-logging-madagascar]

Our Lacey Act Animation has now been translated into Spanish! This short and simple video gives an easy to follow overview of the Lacey Act and illegal logging. It takes the viewer through the journey of how an ordinary wood coffee table gets from the forest, into your living room. You may be surprised by what you learn about illegal logging, and how it may affect the furniture in your home!

And, if you don’t speak Spanish, feel free to watch the English version!

EIA’s Forest Campaign Outreach Coordinator, Anne Middleton, has a guest column in The High Point Enterprise! This informative article details how worldwide illegal logging has declined as much as 25 percent over the past decade, with reductions as high as 50 percent to 75 percent in key producer countries. The report emphasized the role the U.S. Lacey Act plays in motivating importers of wood to ensure their product comes from viable sources. This is great news, since EIA played a key role in helping pass the Lacey Act!

The Switzer Network, a foundation that is dedicated and committed to supporting environmental leadership, recently did an interview with EIA’s Director of Forest Campaigns, Andrea Johnson. The video gives an insightful look at the work EIA does, and why and how we are working to fight illegal logging. Illegal logging decimates the world’s forests, releases massive carbon monoxide reserves, and destroys the lives of animals and communities. Please take the time to watch the video above, and to learn more about our Forests for the World Campaign, click here!

Click here to read EIA and Telapak’s new report that identifies kingpins in Indonesia’s illegal undercover timber trade.

Undercover investigations by EIA/Telapak in the past year followed the illicit merbau trade in China and Singapore, as well as Surabaya, Makassar and Papua in Indonesia. Merbau is a valuable hardwood used to make flooring, furniture and doors. Within Indonesia, almost all merbau trees are found in Papua in the east of the country. Papua’s forests form part of the last significant tract of intact tropical forests in the Asia-Pacific region. About a quarter of Papua’s forests have gone in the past 12 years. To learn more about these issues and to see what EIA uncovered during their undercover investigations, read the report, and read the press release.