Cecil the lion may be getting all the attention, but the same law that was supposed to provide him legal protection has been an unsung hero of corporate social responsibility.
Outrage has descended on Bloomington, Minnesota, home of Walter Palmer, who is accused of illegally killing beloved Zimbabwe safari icon Cecil the lion. If there is a silver lining to this story it may be that the same law Palmer might have violated has quietly been protecting vast swaths of vital forest resources for the past seven years — and pushing multinational firms to pay closer attention to their supply chains.
The Lacey Act, first enacted in 1900 to crack down on wildlife trafficking, was, in 2008, significantly amended to include plants as subject to the same kinds of protections. Conservationists consider the Lacey Act a linchpin in the global effort to stem deforestation and reduce the massive carbon emissions that result from unsustainable logging. It has also driven much greater attention to issues of corporate accountability, diligence and social responsibility.
About the author
Michael Igoe@AlterIgoe
Michael Igoe is a Senior Reporter with Devex, based in Washington, D.C. He covers U.S. foreign aid, global health, climate change, and development finance. Prior to joining Devex, Michael researched water management and climate change adaptation in post-Soviet Central Asia, where he also wrote for EurasiaNet. Michael earned his bachelor's degree from Bowdoin College, where he majored in Russian, and his master’s degree from the University of Montana, where he studied international conservation and development.