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| Forest policy |
The policy section outlines WWF's position on key issues and includes policy documents, such as briefing papers and responses to government consultations.
WWF-UK policy reports | WWF International position papers
WWF-UK
Forest Footprint
Asia Pulp and Paper
Illegal Logging
Forest Footprint
It is estimated that in 2003 the UK imported a total of 73 million cubic metres of wood-based products (timber, furniture, pulp and paper). Approximately 33 million cubic metres of this was timber, a similar quantity of paper products and around 7 million cubic metres of pulp based on virgin fibre. The total value of these imports rose from £8.5 billion in 1997 to £10.4 billion in 2003.
For more information see the following reports:
Asia Pulp and Paper (APP)
One of the last havens of the endangered Sumatran tiger and Asian elephant was recently declared a national park by the Indonesian government, following tireless campaigning work by WWF for its protection.
The new Tesso Nilo National Park will cover nearly 40,000 hectares of Sumatra's last lowland forests - an area that the World Bank forecast would disappear by 2005 unless protected. Although this is just a quarter of the area proposed by WWF and the Sumatran authorities, it is a big first step in securing the future of many threatened species in Indonesia.
But Tesso Nilo is highly threatened by unlawful logging operations which supply illegal saw mills and a legal pulp and paper mill operation owned by Asia Pulp and Paper (APP). A Tesso Nilo forest and crime unit, set up by WWF, has documented a number of cases where APP's mill has accepted deliveries of wood illegally logged in the Tesso Nilo area. Some UK companies continue to buy paper produced by APP from high conservation value rainforests across Sumatra. WWF has challenged them to put pressure on APP to change their practices and, if this fails, to switch suppliers, but some continue to buy from this source.
WWF is now urging the region's local government, the provincial forestry department and the local police to clamp down and prosecute illegal loggers. We are negotiating with companies to relinquish more logging concessions in the area, and working to increase the size of the new park. We're also working with communities living around the larger proposed park area, to create alternative livelihoods for people who might otherwise participate in illegal logging.
Tesso Nilo is home to three per cent of the world's mammal species. And, with more than 4,000 plant species recorded, it contains some of the highest levels of lowland forest plant biodiversity known to science."
For more information on APP visit WWF Indonesia
Illegal logging
FLEGT Industry statement
May 2007
Common European rules for fair competition and sustainable markets.
October 2005: Download Joint NGO statement on FLEGT licensing scheme which "...may actually contribute to laundering illegally produced or illegally traded timber, hinder the drive towards sustainable forest management and undermine local and national campaigns for improved forest management"
WWF-UK has played a key role in bringing about the introduction of measures in the UK and EU that aim to address illegal logging and the trade in illegal timber.
WWF believes the UK government has made some steps in the right direction in recent years. In 2000, WWF welcomed the government's announcement to introduce a timber procurement policy to ensure the UK would purchase timber from "legal and sustainable" sources (DTLR press release). We are naturally disappointed that progress made in implementing this policy effectively has been unacceptably slow.
In 2002, the UK signed a memorandum of understanding with Indonesia - a joint agreement to improve forest law enforcement and governance in Indonesia to combat illegal logging and the international trade in illegally logged timber and wood products. This was the world's first forest agreement to combat illegal logging.
Last year saw the publication of an EU Action Plan on illegal logging, a package of measures through which the European Commission proposes to address the growing problem of illegal logging and related trade. Once the measures are agreed, they should have a significant effect on the devastation seen today in timber producing countries such as Indonesia. WWF-UK is advocating the introduction of legislation, through the Action Plan, that will see timber imports known to be from illegal sources banned from the EU.
WWF-UK will continue its efforts to make sure that the UK government fully implements an effective timber procurement policy which responds to the growing threat the illegal timber trade poses. WWF meets ministers regularly to express the concerns we share with our supporters and we are currently members of the government's Forest Partnership for Action Group (FPAG), set up to promote sustainable development in the forests sector in the UK and internationally.
The Government Barometer - Action against illegal logging:
WWF calls on European governments to take action against illegal logging. The Government Barometer is a WWF rating of EU governments' commitments and actions to combat illegal logging and trade. Originally launched on 6 April 2004, the new version launched on 16 September 2004 now covers 19 EU countries, including seven new member states.
View The Government Barometer
Further information:
Download the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) action plan or WWF's position paper on the FLEGT Action Plan
Download the report Facing Reality: How to halt the import of illegal timber in the EU
WWF International Forests for Life Programme
Position papers:
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WWF-UK > Research > Issues > Forests > Policy
