Timber trade
Working with business to stop the illegal timber trade
The illegal and unsustainable trade in timber and wood products drives aggressive deforestation of the world’s forest regions and costs the global economy billions of dollars every year. The UK is a major contributor to this problem – recent research has shown that the UK is the world’s third-largest importer of illegally harvested or traded timber and wood products. The bulk of imports into the UK comes from China, Russia, Scandinavia and Central Africa.
UK Forest & Trade Network
WWF-UK’s Forest & Trade Network (the WWF-UK FTN) is one of the key ways in which we are working to reduce UK imports of illegal and unsustainable timber.
The mission of the WWF-UK FTN is to improve forest management around the world by using the purchasing power and influence of UK businesses to bring about change. The FTN provides organisations (e.g. businesses, local authorities and non-governmental organisations) with a framework to identify and reject materials coming from unknown or unacceptable sources, and to purchase products from credibly certified forests.
Members of the WWF-UK FTN recognise their own potential to make a difference. This is generally through ensuring what they buy comes from sustainably managed forests. They may also highlight the problems of illegal logging with consumers, or lobby key stakeholders to tackle deforestation and illegal logging. Members also play an important role in driving credible certification in environmentally important forests around the world.
For more information, please visit the UK Forest & Trade Network’s website.
Credible certification and responsible forest management
Forest certification is a system of assessing forest management while also tracking timber and paper through a ‘chain of custody’, from the raw material to the finished product. This ensures that products have come from forests that are responsibly managed and where environmental, social and economic values have been judged against a series of agreed standards. WWF believes forest certification is a valuable tool that promotes responsible forest management and can be instrumental in helping to curb illegal logging.
We need credible certification if we are to manage forests so that they meet our current needs and safeguard forest habitats and resources for the future. Important elements of certification include:
- conserving biological diversity in managed forests and protecting threatened species and their habitats
- respecting the rights of local communities and workers
- minimising waste in forestry activities
- encouraging practices that provide sustainable economic benefits.
A number of certification systems for forest management have been developed. Credible certification must be based on:
- objective independent standards for both environmental and social values
- participation of a broad range of stakeholders
- a demonstration of commitment towards improving forest management
- a fully transparent system for parties involved and the public.
Forest Stewardship Council
Currently, WWF considers the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) to be the only forest certification system that can be considered as a credible system for responsibly managed forests.
For more information on certification visit WWF International’s section on forest certification.