Download the toolkit here.
Tropical forests continue to disappear and degrade at an alarming rate. Unsustainable timber production and harvesting practices pose threats to the ecosystem and lead to further degradation and forest land conversion.
The IDH Tropical Timber program promotes the use of sustainable tropical timber. IDH focuses on 3 main targets: to increase the uptake of Sustainable Forest Management timber products by 150.000 m3, to support the development of economically viable and sustainably managed forests via effective public private platforms, and to develop a direct sourcing connection between end-buyers and producing regions.
The European Sustainable Tropical Timber conference on November 19
Can the tropical timber sector contribute to a post-pandemic reboot of the global economy on cleaner, greener value chains under a circular bioeconomic model?
In this virtual event, open for all interested in hearing, learning and discussing sustainable tropical timber, we will hear from keynote speaker Lee White, Minister of Water and Forestry in Gabon, and from circular economy specialists, urban authorities and bioeconomic business innovators.
The IDH Timber market program
The IDH Timber market program aims to drive EU sustainable tropical timber import to 40% by 2020. To this end, IDH convened the European Sustainable Tropical Timber Coalition (STTC), and supports market monitoring studies to make the EU tropical timber market more transparent and to create accountability. Moreover, IDH works on mobilizing investments (e.g. via the LDN Fund) and convening policy frameworks to reach market change, which is scalable.
Driving market transformation in Timber
Understanding sustainable secondary tropical wood products through data
Our latest data report explores Europe’s impact on tropical forests as a result of secondary tropical wood imports (doors, moldings, other joinery, and windows). It builds on our 2019 report that analyzed the primary tropical wood sector, and reveals the way that these two aspects of the tropical timber trade impact tropical forests. Volumes of secondary tropical wood product imports (187,500 tonnes in 2019) are significantly less than primary tropical wood (2,300,000 tonnes in 2018), but the impacts are still meaningful.
Forest in landscapes
We have come to realize that forests and forest management do not exist in isolation from other land uses. The main driver of deforestation is actually not timber felling at all; it is rather agricultural expansion into the forest. And that has a lot to do with that the financial value of one hectare of forest can never supersede the financial value of one hectare of palm oil, soy plantation, or cattle breeding. However, harvesting trees in a sustainable way in well managed forests directly reduces the opportunity costs of not converting forests to plantations. Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) safeguards the preservation of forests better than any other mechanism we have at our disposal.
Since 2008, IDH has invested in promoting sustainable forest management, by supporting producers and mobilizing markets. It started with certification programs in the Amazon (Amazon Alternative program) and Indonesia (Borneo Initiative), and later the Congo Basin region, making the IDH Tropical Timber program the biggest forest certification program worldwide. By early 2016, over 8 million hectares of tropical forests in the three regions have been certified with the support of IDH, amounting to 50% of all current FSC certifications of forests in the tropics.
Sustainable Forest Management Toolkit
A business case toolkit was created for concession holders and forest owners managing forests throughout the tropics. The toolkit aims to motivate concession holders and forest owners to (further) engage with SFM and certification by providing best practice information and tools which show possibilities to run sustainable businesses in managed tropical forests.
Facts and Figures
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Private-sector (sustainability) investments in the program (in million euro)
Target 2018 0Results 2018 0Cumulative target 2020 0Cumulative result 2016-2018 4 -
Uptake rate of sustainable production in EU (percentage)
Target 2018 22Result 2018 30Cumulative target 2020 40Cumulative result 2016-2018 30 -
Number of hectares where sustainable production/ farm rehabilitation/sustainable intensification are implemented (million hectares)
Target 2018 0Result 2018 1Cumulative target 2020 2Cumulative result 2016-2018 2
Publications
Title | Type | Year | Regions | TAF |
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Report: Europe’s sourcing of verified tropical timber and its impact on forests: What Next? | Report | 2021 | - | - |
Understanding sustainable secondary tropical wood products through data | Report | 2020 | - | - |
SDM Case Report: Miro Forestry, Ghana | Case Study | 2020 | Africa | Landscapes Program |
Carbon footprint of tropical timber | Report | 2020 | - | - |
Webinar Slides: COVID19 On-Site Measures for Agriculture and Forestry companies | Presentation | 2020 | - | - |
SDM Case Study: New Forests Company (NFC), Uganda | Case Study | 2020 | Africa | Landscapes Program |
No publications found.
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