The United States’ largest hardwood flooring retailer was sentenced on February 1, 2016 after pleading guilty in October to importing illegally harvested timber from areas including forests in the Russian Far East. Lumber Liquidators will pay $7.8 million in criminal fines, $1.23 million in community service payments and will forfeit nearly $1 million in assets for importing illegally sourced hardwood flooring.
Illegal logging is an enormous problem in Peru, as shown in recent studies and reports highlighting the phenomenon’s impact on the country’s forests, including an Al Jazeera documentary exploring the links between illegal logging and corruption.
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Visit us every Monday for recent news on deforestation, forest legality, and developments in forest technology!
“U.S. Customs in Houston blocks import of Amazon rainforest timber,” 7 December, Houston Chronicle
Visit us every Monday for recent news on deforestation, forest legality, and developments in forest technology!
"Forest destruction can be cut in half,” 30 November, Climate News Network
Visit us every Monday for recent news on deforestation, forest legality, and developments in forest technology!
"Illegal wood trade: 750 cubic meters of wood confiscated at the port of Brazzaville,” 23 November, Agence d’Information d’Afrique Centrale (in French)
Visit us every Monday for recent news on deforestation, forest legality, and developments in forest technology!
“Two Forest Rangers Pay the Ultimate Price for China's Demand for Rare Wood,” 17 November, TakePart
Visit us every Monday for recent news on deforestation, forest legality, and developments in forest technology!
"Democratic Republic Of Congo Taps Carbon Finance To Save Forests,” 9 November, Ecosystem Marketplace
Visit us every Monday for recent news on deforestation, forest legality, and developments in forest technology!
"Deforestation on the Rise: Illegally Cut Timber Being Used to Produce Fancy Furniture,” 2 November, Nature World News
A version of the post also appears on Mongabay's WildTech blog.
Forest defenders—from indigenous groups to government authorities—continue to struggle in stopping illegal logging. Faced with scant resources, rampant corruption and vast tracts of difficult terrain to monitor, being an effective forest manager is often an impossible task.
