ENVIRONMENTAL REPORT
stolen every year from both public and private lands in the State of Washington.
Timber theft and illegal trade affects a large proportion of the world’s trade in forest products. In the case of bigleaf maple, limitations on being able to definitively match seized timber back to suspected theft sites have made previous prosecutions difficult. Back In 2013, the USFS believed they had evidence of illegal logging activity and they enlisted the help of Double Helix Tracking Technologies to build a DNA profiling reference database that would enable experts to match seized logs to the stumps of illegally harvested bigleaf maple trees in the Gifford Pinchot National Forest. Professor Andrew Lowe of the University of Adelaide and chief scientific advisor to DoubleHelix told me about this case some time ago, as he could see that while DNA forensics was originally developed to identify humans and link people to crime scenes, it holds tremendous promise to help control illegal logging and can identify species, geographic origin, as well as individual trees. Using these techniques for the first time in 2016, Prof Lowe said a map of genetic variation was generated for bigleaf maple around the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in Washington State, the main crime scene, and extending up to Canada and down to northern California. The analysis included recently felled stumps in national parks and pieces of timber seized from a local timber yard that was suspected to have been trading in illegally sourced timber. DoubleHelix and the University of Adelaide, with help from the World Resources Institute (WRI), teamed up to develop the first genetic reference database for bigleaf maple, which mapped out genetic variations across a subset of this species' natural range in the Pacific Northwest. In the end, said Prof Lowe, a total of 394 individuals were DNA fingerprinted using 128 single nucleotide polymorphisms, or independent DNA fingerprinting gene regions. DNA fingerprinting matched several of the pieces of wood seized from the sawmill back to one of the felled stumps in Gifford Pinchot National Forest. This evidence led to four
Three hand-crafted Kalimba instruments made from local wood by Roger & Sons
has an estimated value of between US$51- 152bn annually, representing a major loss in tax revenues. Illegal logging is responsible for deforestation, habitat loss, species extinction, and contributes to global warming. Furthermore, Illicit proceeds from forestry crime may be used to fund conflicts. So hopefully the highly-quality polished maple guitars — and all other wooden musical instruments that give us so much listening pleasure — have been lawfully sourced and produced. Long may musicians on stages and recording studies over the world continue to make music and make the best use of wood at the same time. P REFERENCES 1. Panels & Furniture Asia. Innovative recycling and upcycling for furniture and furnishings: Giving plastic waste a new life. <https:// www.yumpu.com/en/document/read/67364812/panels-furniture- asia-november-december-2022/22> 2. Panels & Furniture Asia. Zero waste: Furnishing homes with recycled materials. <https://www.yumpu.com/en/ document/read/65953815/panels-furniture-asia-november- december-2021/58>
defendants in the case pleading guilty and being sentenced to fines and/or jail terms.
The prosecutions were made under the US Lacey Act, a law specifically designed to stop the illegal trade of wildlife and timber. This was the first time that the Lacey Act had been applied to a case of domestic illegal logging, and the first case in the world where DNA forensics was used to trace the origin of illegally logged timber. And this pioneering crime detection work was done because DoubleHelix had mastered the art of DNA fingerprinting when they first set up in Singapore and Australia all those years ago. While DoubleHelix continues to work with industry and the authorities the world over to help cut forest crime, Interpol tells us that illegal logging and the international trade in illicitly harvested timber still has serious economic, social and environmental impacts. It is estimated that such international crimes account for 15-30% of all timber traded globally. The trade of illegally logged timber
24 PANELS & FURNITURE ASIA | SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2024
Made with FlippingBook flipbook maker