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The wood underneath a guitar’s strings is called the fretboard. To function properly, it has to be perfectly constructed from wood that is hard, dense and warp-resistant. It must hold metal frets for years without any movement, since even a microscopic amount of fret movement can throw a guitar out of tune. One material is synonymous with fine fretboards: ebony.

In May 2016, Japan adopted a new piece of legislation, called the “Law Concerning the Promotion of Distribution and Use of Legally-Harvested Timber, etc.” This law takes a different approach from other demand-side regulations for illegal timber imports, such as the U.S. Lacey Act, the EU Timber Regulation and Australian Illegal Logging Prohibition Act, in the sense that it is designed to promote the trade of legal timber, rather than attempting to eliminate illegal timber on the market.

Since 2010, WRI’s Forest Legality Alliance (FLA) has been at the forefront of efforts to combat illegal logging and associated trade. Together with co-founders the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA), as well as over 100 partner organizations from governments, civil society, and the private sector, FLA has been a prime convener and technical resource on this crucial issue.

The illegal timber trade creates problems for everyone. Governments lose valuable revenue and natural resources. So governments and businesses are starting to do more to improve timber traceability, including adopting new and existing technologies that can help track timber, manage information, and eventually, help combat illegal logging.

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. A recent government audit found evidence of timber laundering, where exporters make illegally logged wood appear to be legitimately harvested.

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.

On October 7, Lumber Liquidators agreed to plead guilty to several violations of the Lacey Act, among other charges. The largest hardwood flooring retailer in the United States will have to pay a combined $13.2 million for importing illegally harvested timber from areas including forests in far eastern Russia and other compliance issues.

Illegal logging and trade in illegal wood is often hard to detect. Illicit loggers and traders will cut legally protected trees at night or in remote areas, disguise or mislabel wood, falsify documents, or work with corrupt law enforcement officers and smugglers in timber markets. Despite recent advances in laws to crack down on illegally sourced wood, for law enforcement agencies with limited resources and companies with complex, global supply chains, identifying illicit activity can be like trying to catch a shadow.

More than 1,700 leaders from governments, civil society, business and academia will gather next week in Durban, South Africa for the 14th World Forestry Congress (WFC). Hosted by the UN’s Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) just once every six years, the Congress is considered the most prominent gathering for discussions about challenges and opportunities facing the world’s forests.

A wood buyer from Washington State and his lumber mill, J&L Tonewoods, were indicted last week on charges of purchasing illegally harvested big leaf maples from the Gifford Pinchot National Forest in violation of the Lacey Act. The act bans illegal wildlife and timber trafficking, and the seven counts of the indictment are the first alleging violations within the United States. J&L Tonewoods processes and supplies big leaf maple for the custom musical instrument industry