Blog Posts: logging

DNA evidence often implicates violent criminals. Now it can do the same for poachers harvesting wood from protected forests.

The new Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for the Trans-Pacific Partnership, signed by 11 nations last week, made changes to the 2016 text. The deletion of a few words is the difference between cracking down on illegal logging and letting it flourish—and it’s a direct response to U.S. withdrawal from the TPP.

Despite recent policies, Indonesia is still losing billions from unreported and illegally sourced timber. Tougher law enforcement could help.

Scientific advances in wood identification are improving chances of catching illegal loggers endangering the world’s most threatened rainforests.

A critical way to protect forests is to determine how well companies are complying with concessions agreements that allow them to work on forested government land. Finding this out can be a challenge. A new WRI study shows Freedom of Information laws can help.

Our podcast team sat down with Chip Barber and Austin Clowes of the Forest Legality Initiative to learn how to build a sustainable guitar.

The best guitar necks are made of mahogany, and the most sustainable guitar companies are finding innovative ways to source the wood without destroying its stock.

Before the Flood explores how human activities, such as deforestation in Indonesia's Leuser ecosystem, are fueling global climate change. WRI Forest Legality Initiative Chip Barber reflects on his experience in the Leuser 30 years ago, and how the landscape has changed.

The illegal logging trade steals valuable natural resources and undercuts companies' profitability. That's why businesses and governments are turning to new technology applications to expose illicitly harvested lumber.

China's overseas investment grew from $1 billion in 2004 to more than $30 billion in 2014. In many cases, it's come at a cost to Africa's forests and the people who rely on them.