The Sierra Club continues to play multiple roles in planet stewardship as both an advocacy network and when necessary a full fledged watchdog. Recently, they succeeded in bringing Lumber Liquidators to task for harvesting unsustainable old growth forests. The largest hardwood supplier in the US is reportedly facing criminal charges from the U.S. Department of Justice — and for good reason. They have allegedly imported illegally harvested wood from critical habitats including forests in the Russian Far East.
The Sierra Club reports that The Lacey Act, passed in 1900 to combat the illegal wildlife trade, was strengthened to fight illegal logging in 2008 –and it’s these forests’ best defense. If adequately enforced, the law would ensure that wood products have been sourced legally and violators like Lumber Liquidators would face fines or jail time. Taking criminal action against Lumber Liquidators sends a strong message that corporations will be punished for profiting from the illegal destruction of critical habitat.
This potentially powerful law can only be successful if enforcement is taken seriously and corporations are put on notice that violations will not be tolerated. Multi-stakeholder efforts like the Sierra Club, AddUp and many others are taking action to engage citizens and governments in GSN solutions that can result in real impact.
The GSNs at Work blog series highlights the important work of GSNs across all our hub topics. The posts in this series are featured on the AT WORK page.