Tropical Forest Trust News Feed

New Chatham House report out! Illegal Logging and Related Trade - Indicators of the Global Response

2010-07-19T00:00:00+01:00

The most thorough assessment to date of the global fight against illegal logging finds that a decade of international effort to tackle the problem is having a dramatic and beneficial effect both on forest dependent communities and on the global climate.

Download the report on the Chatham House website

Helping companies and communities deliver responsible products, TFT is pleased to see its work is part of the results reported here.

The report published by Chatham House on the 15 July measures extent to which illegal logging and associated trade has changed over time.

The study of twelve producer, processing and consumer countries demonstrates that actions taken by governments, civil society and the private sector over the last ten years have been extensive and had a considerable impact.

In particular the report mentions the role played by importer countries demanding legal timber imports; the Lacey Act is credited as having had a major role in the reduction as importers place pressure on timber producers and processors around the world to police their supply chains.

The impact of the response has been considerable. Globally, illegal logging has been reduced by 22%.

Illegal logging is estimated to have fallen by between 50 and 75 per cent during the last decade in Cameroon, the Brazilian Amazon and Indonesia, while imports of illegally sourced wood to the seven consumer and processing countries studied are down 30 per cent from their peak in 2004.

Still work to be done...

Despite the dramatic decline, the report says that illegal logging remains a major problem.

In 2008, companies in the United States, Japan, the UK, France and the Netherlands bought 17 million cubic meters of illegal timber and wood products worth around US$8.4 billion, most of it entering those nations in the form of processed products like plywood and furniture, mainly from China.

In 2009, a total of 100 million cubic metres of illegal timber were harvested in the timber producing countries studied.

'If laid end to end the illegal logs would encircle the globe more than ten times over,' according to Larry MacFaul, co-author of the report.

Reducing illegal logging further will require a comprehensive overhaul of government policy and regulation in producer countries. Japan and China need to follow in the footsteps of the US and EU and prohibit the import and sale of illegally sourced wood.

To ensure such prohibitions are effective and encourage broader improvements, importing countries also need to expand cooperation with source countries along the lines of the EU's voluntary partnership agreements.

Sam Lawson, co-author of the study, considers the overhaul of regulations in major importers outside the U.S. and Europe essential to preserving the gains of the past ten years:

"Remaining consumer countries such as China, Japan, and Australia must act aggressively to eliminate the trade from their markets. Illegal logging is still highly profitable, and those who benefit from it will be open for business as long as they can act with impunity."

What TFT does...

The reduction is very promising, and efforts continue.

Mentioned several times in the report for its efforts in reducing illegal logging, TFT continues to be active on the ground and all along the supply chains to help companies and communities deliver Responsible Products - products that respect the environment and improve people's lives.

Succès de la conférence du TFT sur l'huile de palme

2010-07-09T00:00:00+01:00

Juillet 2010 : Dans le cadre de ses travaux dans les chaines d'approvisionnement de l'huile de palme, The Forest Trust (TFT) a organisé ce mercredi 7 juillet à Paris, à l'Ecole Nationale du Génie Rural des Eaux et Forêts, un lieu symbolique au regard du thème traité, une conférence sur l'huile de palme et les thèmes s'y rattachant.

Couvrant des sujets tels que la problématique liée à sa production, les questions d'approvisionnement d'huile de palme responsable, la certification RSPO et des témoignages par des entreprises engagées entre autres, la conférence a offert aux acteurs et intéressés du sujet une conférence exhaustive et stimulante.

La conférence a attiré plus d'une centaine de participants venus de tous milieux de l'industrie de l'huile de palme: fournisseurs de la grande distribution, producteurs d'huile de palme, représentants de la RSPO (Round Table of Sustainable Palm Oil), ONG et chercheurs.
L'organisation de la conférence, le large éventail des sujets traités ainsi que les discussions animées qui s'en sont suivies ont été largement apprécies par les participants.

Trouvez ici le communiqué de presse.

Les présentations de tous les intervenants peuvent être téléchargées ci -dessous.

Emmanuelle Grundmann
L'huile de palme - Quels impacts sur la forêt, la biodiversité et les hommes? [PDF ]

Bastien Sachet - TFT
Présentation de TFT [PDF]

E.Leclerc
E.Leclerc renforce son action en faveur de la lutte contre la déforestation [PDF]

J.M Bluet - Nestlé
Collaboration entre Nestlé et TFT [PDF ]

Marieke Leegwater - MVO
Introduction to RSPO - margarine, fats and oils [PDF]

Bob Norman - GreenPalm
Presentation de GreenPalm [PDF]

Bas Geerts - UTZ
Traceability of palm oil - enabling RSPO - certified palm oil supply chains [PDF]

Julianne Eykelhoff - Unimills
Using the RSPO claims [PDF]

Luisa Gallo - Nutkao
Substitution de l'huile de palme - les alternatives dans la production de la pate à tartiner [PDF ]

United Biscuit
Sustainability Manifesto [PDF ]

Marcel Djama - CIRAD
Huile de palme responsable - les enjeux [PDF]

Les étudiants du CES au cœur des forêts de Bassin du Congo...

2010-06-29T00:00:00+01:00

Juin 2010: La formation théorique de la 2^ème promotion au CES, la promotion Moabi, s'est conclue par un terrain d'une dizaine de jours mi-mai 2010, dans l'Est du Cameroun, la principale région forestière du pays.

See below for the English version.

L'objectif primordial de cette mission était d'illustrer les notions vues au cours des quatre mois précédents et de se préparer au mieux aux réalités du terrain que chaque étudiant va devoir affronter durant la phase pratique de cinq mois en exploitation forestière débutée en mi-juin 2010.

Dans un premier temps, les sept promotionnaires ont visité trois sites d'exploitation : (1) Mindourou, l'un des sites de la société forestière Alpicam-Grumcam, (2) Ngolla 35, site de la Compagnie Forestière du Cameroun (Vicwood) et (3) Ndeng, site de la Société Forestière de la Lokoundjé du Groupe Decolvenaere Cameroun.

L'équipe du CES a pris soin d'organiser cette visite qui a permis aux étudiants de bénéficier d'un panel assez complet des sociétés forestières : à différents niveaux de gestion durable (TLTV, OLB, FSC) ; certifiées par différents bureaux d'études (SGS, Bureau Veritas, Smartwood) ; avec des profils variés (entreprises familiales, multinationales) ; ayant des niveaux de transformation et types de produits particuliers (grumes reconstituées, débités, alpilignum...) ; avec des cellules d'aménagement de taille différente...

Ces visites ont permis aux étudiants d'échanger et de recueillir des conseils et des expériences de la part de responsables sociaux, de responsables de l'Aménagement et autres personnes des cellules d'aménagement, de chefs de site et même de directeur général.

Lire les rapports de la visite à Vicwood ici, et à la visite à Decolvenaere ici.

Pour compléter ces visites, une deuxième phase de la mission a ciblé les partenaires des exploitants forestiers afin de savoir ce que ces organisations peuvent apporter à la gestion forestière durable en général, et aux opérateurs de la filière bois en particulier. Les organisations locales (CEFAID, AAFEBEN, ROSE) et internationales (WWF et GTZ) rencontrées ont ouvert leurs portes pour partager leurs expériences de terrain.

De manière générale, l'accueil et le soutien des opérateurs économiques et des autres partenaires ont été remarquables dans cette mission qui sera renouvelée pour la promotion 3 ! Cela traduit la volonté de tous de participer à la formation complète des étudiants du CES !

The CSE students at the heart of the Congo Basin forests ...

The theoretical training for the second promotion at the CSE, called Promotion Moabi, concluded with a 10-day field trip in mid-May 2010 in eastern Cameroon, the main forested region in the country.

The main objective of this field mission was to illustrate the concepts studied in the classroom over the past four months and to prepare the students for the realities that each will face during the five-month practical training which begins mid-June.

At first, the seven students visited three management sites: (1) Mindourou, one of Alpicam-Grumcam's sites, (2) Ngolla 35 of Compagnie Forestière du Cameroun (Vicwood) and (3) Ndeng of Société Forestière de la Lokoundjé of the Group Decolvenaere.

The CSE team took great care in organising this visit to allow the students to see a fairly diverse variety of forest company operations; for example, all three are currently at very different steps in terms of sustainable management (TLTV, VLO, FSC) and all have been certified by different certification bodies (SGS, Bureau Veritas, Smartwood). Each has a varied structural profile (family company, multinational), transformation practices and product types (reconstituted logs, sawn wood, alpilignum...) with forest management units of varied sizes.

These visits allowed the students to benefit from the first-hand advice and share the experience of social managers, forest managers and others from the different forest management units (FMUs) including one of the a site directors.

Find the reports from the visits to Vicwood here and Decolvenaere here (in French only).

To complete these visits, a second phase of the mission targeted partners of the forest operators and aimed to allow the students to discover what these organisations bring to sustainable forest management in general and to the operators in the timber sector in particular. Local (CEFAID, AAFEBEN, ROSE) and international (WWF and GTZ) organisations also graciously opened their doors during the visit to further share field experiences.

In general, the welcome and support received during the mission was remarkable and this same trip will be repeated for the third CSE promotion. This experience truly shows the motivation among all partners for participating in the complete education of the CSE students!

TFT in the media: we work to deliver responsible palm oil; we get cited in the Economist

2010-06-29T00:00:00+01:00

June 24th: In this week's issue, the Economist has published a comprehensive article on the palm oil issue, citing TFT, TFT CEO Scott Poynton and our recent partnership with Nestlé.

The article shows the complexity of the issue and how TFT's supply chain approach can be part of the solution.

Palm oil is currently a major driver of deforestation but also an important source of revenue for producing countries as well as a very versatile commodity used in a wide range of consumer products. At TFT, we are working to balance this dynamic and bring responsible palm oil to market. Partnering with Nestlé, TFT is guiding the global food company and its suppliers on the ground to secure responsible palm oil.

This is part of our broader effort to help companies deliver responsible products beyond the wood industry, tackling other major drivers of deforestation in the process. Beyond wood and palm oil, we already work with companies to deliver responsible leather & beef products.

Media are starting to realise the relevance of our approach and the importance of companies taking concrete steps to secure products which respect people and the environment all along the supply chain. The Nestlé partnership has already attracted a lot of media attention since it was announced, and the social media themselves have played a key role in raising the awareness that led to Nestlé's pioneering commitment.

Now we need more people to learn about the issue and more companies to take concrete actions about palm oil and other damaging commodities. This is why we encourage you to read and share the Economist article with your friends and contacts.

Read the article here and pass it on to spread the Responsible Product message.

Premier anniversaire à Biso na Biso! First anniversary for Biso na Biso!

2010-06-28T00:00:00+01:00

UNE SOIREE CULTURELLE POUR LE PREMIER ANNIVERSAIRE DE LA RADIO COMMUNAUTAIRE BISO NA BISO

(See below for the English version)

La radio communautaire Biso na Biso, un projet de TFT en collaboration avec la Congolaise Industrielle des Bois (CIB), bénéficiant actuellement de l'appui financier de la Fondation Chirac, a été inaugurée le 7 juin 2009 à Pokola. Lien à l'article ici. (seulement en français).

La radio Biso na Biso est dirigée par Privat Tiburce Massanga, journaliste de formation, et animée par dix présentateurs locaux (Bantous et Autochtones) formés par Privat. La radio diffuse ses émissions dans les langues locales (Pygmée et Bantou) et atteint des milliers de personnes vivant dans les profondeurs de la forêt à une centaine de kilomètres à la ronde.

La radio a célébré les 19 et 20 juin derniers son premier anniversaire par une grande fête à Ibamba, un village Pygmée dans le coeur de la forêt de la Likouala à près de 100 kilomètres de Pokola. L'équipe de la radio Biso na Biso, accompagnée par quelques employés de la CIB (Congolaise Industrielle des Bois) y a organisé une soirée culturelle.

La fête a été essentiellement axée sur les danses traditionnelles des semi-nomades et particulièrement celles liées au rituel très remarqué des Mbendjelés appelé « Edjengui ». Un rite initiatique et fétichiste dans le milieu pygmée. Dans un décor particulier fait de grands feux, de foule en liesse et du danseur principal emmailloté dans une tenue extraordinaire faite de pied en cap de longues lanières fabriquées à partir des feuilles de palmier dattier.

Edjengui lors de la soirée très animée et l'un des feux de bois allumés au milieu du village Ibamba pour agrémenter la soirée.

(de gauche à droite) L'animateur BNB et journaliste international, Mandero a démontré au public ses talents de grand danseur en plus du journalisme. Les animatrices et animateurs BNB ont fait des animations radio en direct et endiablé la foule par leurs pas de danse. Ici Lydie Koungou qui s'est révélée une grande DJ en animation directe couplée avec des pas de danse. Alossi, un des animateurs Mbendjélé de BNB qui nous a révélé ses talents de danseur infatigable tout au long de la soirée.

En plus de divertissement musical, la fête a intégré la projection des films sur les semi-nomades du Congo et sur la faune sauvage. Sans oublier des messages de santé. Au grand bonheur des habitants de ce village qui étaient émus de voir sur un écran leurs semblables. Peut être pour la première fois. Un film sur «la pêche à la digue» réalisé par Privat Massanga (à voir ici) et deux films sur la gestion durable des ressources naturelles réalisés par l'INCEF (The International Conservation and Education Fund).

Séance de film sur la gestion durable des ressources naturelles à Ibamba durant cette soirée

Le lendemain de la fête, le représentant de TFT au Congo, Norbert Gami, a présidé une cérémonie de remise de diplômes aux agents et bénévoles de la radio pour leur collaboration positive durant la première année de Biso na Biso.

Privat et les animateurs avec leurs diplômes

En dehors de la soirée culturelle, la radio a organisé pour cet anniversaire et grâce à la Fondation Chirac, des entretiens dans les villages et la ville de Ouesso pour avoir la température de ses programmes ainsi qu'une distribution des postes récepteurs de radio à autonomie énergétique (fonctionnant avec une dynamo actionnée par une manivelle) dans les communautés cibles et un jeu concours radiophonique pour permettre à ses auditeurs de participer à cette fête en gagnant divers prix.

Privat remet de postes de radios aux Mbendjélés de Ngatongo

Félicitations à tous les acteurs qui rendent possible ce projet, longue vie à Biso na Biso !

Photos PT Massanga

A cultural evening for the first anniversary of community radio Biso na Biso (BnB)

Community radio Biso na Biso, a TFT project made possible by collaboration with Congolaise Industrielle des Bois (CIB) and currently supported financially by Fondation Chirac, was inaugurated on 7 June 2009 in Pokola. See the article here.

Radio BnB is managed by Privat Tiburce Massanga, a journalist by training, and is run with the assistance of ten local coordinators all of whom have been trained by Privat. The radio broadcasts its programmes in local indigenous languages and reaches thousands of people living deep in the forest within a hundred kilometre radius of its base in Pokola, Republic of Congo.

On 19 and 20 June, the radio marked its first anniversary with a great celebration in Ibamba, a Pygmy village in the Likouala area almost 100 kilometres from Pokola. During the two-day event, the Biso na Biso radio team along with several CIB employees organised a cultural evening. The party was essentially centred on semi-nomad traditional dances and particularly those linked to the special Mbendjelé ritual called « Edjengui », an initiatory and fetishist rite for the Pygmies. The atmosphere was extraordinary with great fires, a jubilant crowd and the main dancer wrapped in an amazing outfit made fully of long strips of date palm leaves.

Edjengui during this animated evening and one of the fires lit in the middle of Ibamba to liven the evening.

BNB local coordinator and international journalist, Mandero, demonstrated to the audience his talents as a grand dancer in addition to his journalism skills. The BNB coordinators presented live radio programmes and enlivened the atmosphere by their dance steps; Lydie Koungou revealed not only to be a great live DJ but a terrific dancer as well. Alossi, one of the Mbendjélé BNB coordinators, revealed himself as an indefatigable dancer throughout the evening.

In addition to musical entertainment, the party included health messages and films on semi-nomad life and wild fauna. To their delight, some village residents saw other Pygmies on the screen for the first time in a film entitled « Fishing with the Mbendjele » produced by Privat (see it here) as well as two films on sustainable forest management produced by INCEF (The International Conservation and Education Fund).
Films on sustainable natural resource management in Ibamba

The next day, TFT's representative in the Congo, Norbert Gami, directed a diploma awards ceremony for the local coordinators and other volunteers at the radio, thanking them for their positive collaboration during the first year of Biso na Biso.

Privat and the coordinators holding their diplomas

In addition to the cultural evening, the radio also organised a survey in several villages and in the town of Ouesso designed to evaluate listener's interest in its programmes. With the support of Fondation Chirac, additional FM wind-up and solar powered radio receivers were distributed in target communities and a radio competition was organised to allow its listeners to take part in the celebrations and win prizes.

Privat gives out radios receivers to Mbendjélés in Ngatongo

Congratulations to everyone who has made this project possible; long live Biso na Biso!

Photos PT Massanga

CONFERENCE: Huile de palme responsable, quelles solutions concrètes pour les entreprises?

2010-06-22T00:00:00+01:00

THE FOREST TRUST (TFT) a le plaisir de vous inviter à sa conférence:
HUILE DE PALME RESPONSABLE: QUELLES SOLUTIONS CONCRÈTES POUR LES ENTREPRISES?

LE MERCREDI 7 JUILLET 2010 DE 9H30 À 16H
A l'amphithéâtre de l'ENGREF
19, Avenue Maine, 75015 Paris
(Métro Montparnasse)

Pour plus de détails: PDF

Liste des Intervenants:
Emmanuelle Grundmann, Primatologue et journaliste scientifique
Bastien Sachet, Business Development Director, TFT
Catherine Gomy, Directrice Qualité - Développement Durable, E.Leclerc
Nestlé France
Marieke Leegwater, MVO
Bob Norman, Greenpalm
Bas Geer, UTZ
Juliane Eykelhoff, Unimills / Sime Darby
Luisa Gallo, Nutkao
United Biscuit
Marcel Djama, CIRAD

Merci de confirmer votre présence auprès de Amaury Camerlo: a.camerlo@tft-forests.org

CAF, RA and TFT organized Wood Legality Assurance, Verification and CoC Systems workshop

2010-06-21T00:00:00+01:00

June 2010: The Wood Legality Assurance, Verification and CoC Systems Workshop was held on Friday, 11 June in Nanjing, China. The one day event was organized by the Chinese Academy of Forestry (CAF), the Rainforest Alliance (RA) and The Forest Trust (TFT).

The event provided an overview of the principal elements involved in systems needed to ensure a legal supply of wood, wood tracking systems for processing industry (Chain of Custody - CoC), legality verification requirements, and standards and legal requirements on international markets such as the EU and US.

The main objective of the workshop were to deliver a basic level of understanding about Chain of Custody certification (CoC), wood legality assurance and verification concepts, the current status of policy developments around wood legality, and underlying technical and methodological issues to inform the wood producing and wood processing industries about requirements and possibilities.

This event also served as a ceremony for Rainforest Alliance to hand over the first Verification Statement of Verified Legal Origin in China, which has been made possible by the support of The Forest Trust..

TFT support

Over 50 attendees participated in the workshop, including almost 30 companies, The Forest Trust, Rainforest Alliance, The Chinese Academy of Forestry, The Nature Conservancy and China Timber and Wood Products Distribution Association.

TFT China team leader Dr. Zhixin Deng presented TFT services. He explained how TFT works with companies to deliver responsible products to markets, TFT's strategy for ensuring supply chain legality & responsibility and how TFT model operates.

TFT Helps UK Firm Import First-Ever Legal Plywood from China

A Chinese factory, Sainty Bancom has for the first time produced plywood whose origins have been verified as 100 percent legal, the result of the non-profit TFT's partnership with a United Kingdom wood products company and the willing cooperation of a Chinese plywood maker, a group of Chinese poplar farmers, and a Malaysian timber producer and forest concession owner.

During the workshop in Nanjing, Sainty Bancom received a certificate of verification from the Rainforest Alliance in recognition of its compliance with the guidelines provided by TFT.

See article on the First-Ever Legal Plywood here.

The EU set to finally ban illegal timber in 2012

2010-06-21T00:00:00+01:00

On Wednesday16 June 2010, the European Parliament, the EU member states and the European Commission concluded negotiations after almost a decade of campaigning on the issue by environmentalists; the sale of illegal timber is to be banned in the EU from 2012.

Representatives of Commission, Council and Parliament have agreed the text for the EU Due Diligence Regulation. This will require all first placers of timber products to conduct a due diligence process (recycled products are exempt). Other actors within the supply chain will only need to know who they have bought or sold to so that if there is a case of allegedly illegal timber, the first placer can be identified.

Timber Trade Federation Head of Sustainability Rachel Butler said: "The Parliament put on the negotiating table some unworkable suggested amendments but ultimately it has always been clear from the start that one issue was the real point of debate - the inclusion of a prohibition. This has now been agreed and will only apply to the first placer and will mean that it is a criminal offence to place illegal timber on the EU market. However, the burden of proof will rest with the prosecution and illegality is defined by the country of harvest.

This is fantastic news for the industry and offers a great platform to build upon the environmental credentials of wood. It also represents a first in that the Government, NGO community and trade in the UK have all lobbied for the same position - a prohibition".

The law must still be officially endorsed by the member states at a full sitting of the parliament in July and the Council will consider the text in the autumn. It is likely it will be adopted.

The US is one step ahead with such a ban. Under an amendment of the Lacey Act in 2008, the US has made it illegal for companies to possess or sell illegal timber products.

TFT is welcoming this progress towards due diligence legislation. In addition, we encourage all companies to consider moving beyond legality towards sustainability, for example to FSC certification.

More on the issue:

See the Timber Trade Federation press release here.

And see the article here on EUobserver.com website, also copied below.

EU takes landmark stance against illegal timber

EUOBSERVER / BRUSSELS - Europe has gone from years of preaching against the evils of illegally harvested timber to coming just a few steps away from banning the trade in the world's biggest market for the product in a landmark move by EU institutions.

In a deal struck on Wednesday (16 June) between the European Parliament, the EU member states and the European Commission after almost a decade of campaigning on the issue by environmentalists, the sale of illegal timber will be banned in the EU from 2012.

Raw timber and products manufactured from wood such as furniture and floors are covered by the new legislation, with firms now required to perform due diligence and carry out risk assessments of wood products where illegal practices are suspected.

In a key move that goes beyond leaving the burden at the level of due diligence, as member states had initially preferred, companies will have to trace such products and raw timber all the way back to the country and place where the wood was originally harvested.

Most member states in the end backed the bill, with Sweden and Portugal - both major manufacturers of forestry products - mounting the stiffest opposition.

The bill also strengthens bilateral agreements with tropical countries through an EU programme to stop the entry of illegal timber into Europe.

The law must still be officially endorsed by the member states and a full sitting of the parliament.
"If this law is passed, illegal timber will be banned from Europe. The world's largest market is about to shut its gates to companies profiting from illegal trafficking and forest destruction," said, Sebastien Risso, a forests campaigner with Greenpeace.

"The black market for wood products is often run by criminals fuelling conflict, robbing governments of revenue and causing irreversible environmental destruction."

Campaigners did not win everything they had been seeking, however. Green groups lamented that no EU-wide sanction regime was imposed for flouting the law and printed materials including books are exempt for another five years.

Between 20 and 40 percent of global industrial wood production is thought to come from illegal sources, with up to 20 percent of this ending up on EU markets - worth some €1.2 billion.

"For years the EU has preached against illegal timber, a major driver of deforestation worldwide, but has hypocritically continued to provide one of the biggest markets for it," said Finnish Green MEP Satu Hassi, the lead deputy on the regulation, who added that she was "delighted" at the new rules.

"With deforestation accounting for nearly a fifth of the global total emissions causing climate change, tackling illegal logging as one of its drivers is an important step in the right direction."

Exporting Timber products from Vietnam: Workshop on 15 June in Ho Chi Minh City on new international requirements

2010-06-18T11:51:09+01:00

June 2010: TFT, in partnership with HAWA, VIFORES and the Ministry Agriculture & Rural Development (MARD) facilitated a workshop to provide Vietnamese wood businesses an update on export requirements for wood and wood products entering US and European markets and explore practical measures businesses can take to exclude illegal wood entering their supply chains.

With over 1 billion dollars of wood products exported to the US every year from Vietnam it is vital that Vietnamese businesses become familiar with new export requirements and establish measures to ensure that these requirements are met.

With 73 participants from 4 Government Organization (MARD, Ministry of Industry and Trade - MoIT, Vietnam Competition Authority, Vietnam Chamber of Commercial and Industry - VCCI), 25 Wood Processing Company,10 News Agencies and INGO (WWF, IUCN, Forest Trends, EFI).

Participants to the workshop and in front row Dr. Ha Cong Tuan Deputy Director General of DoF and co-chairman to the conference, Scott Poynton, TFT CEO and co-chairman tothe conference and Ms Felis Nguyen Hai Ly, FLEGT Advisor for Vietnam

Increasingly national Governments of key timber importing countries are strengthening existing laws and establishing new ones to ensure that wood and wood products are not harvested, transported, exported or imported illegally. This is having a major influence on timber supply chains and their actors around the world.

Knowledge of requirements under these new laws is scarce and is sending nervous vibrations throughout industry, especially with recent investigations into illegally sourced timber under the US Lacey Act and the possible prosecutions that could follow.

Meeting these new laws is further complicated by the complexity of timber supply chains. The chair at the dinner table may have come from the local furniture store but the wood and the manufacturing processes that made it may have happened thousands of miles away.

These new laws require businesses that extract, trade, produce and export wood and wood products to ensure that all appropriate legal requirements are met throughout the supply chain.

The workshop titled "Practical Measures for Vietnam Wood Business Targeting International Markets", brought together VIFORES, HAWA, TFT, EFI, WWF-GFTN, IUCN, Forest Trends and key industry representatives to actively discuss the changing requirements of US, European and Australian markets towards excluding illegal timber and timber products entering these supply chains.

Vietnam is one of Southeast Asia's largest exporters of finished wood products, in particular furniture. Amongst its main export markets are the United States and the European Union.

With a view to expanding sales to these markets, Vietnamese business leaders must rise to the challenge and take measures to ensure they are able to keep pace with the changing market requirement.

Dr Ho Van Cu, TFT representative in Vietnam

TFT has been working throughout the world for over 10 years to support businesses to exclude illegal timber in supply chains and bring a growing area under sustainable forest management. TFT's Chief Executive Scott Poynton presented practical business solutions that link the organization's operational experience in the field and factories with their extensive buyer connections.

Scott Poynton reminded participants that TFT was in fact conceived in 1999 out of a need to address the problem of illegal logs being cut in Cambodia and transformed into furniture by Vietnam producers bound for the European market. By tackling the challenge head on through a business driven solution TFT, its members and partners both Vietnamese and International were able to transform the Garden Furniture Industry.

Although significant actions have taken place by Vietnamese producers, illegal timber trade still remains a real concern to the sector as a whole. Buying countries have and continue to implement laws prohibiting the import of illegal wood and wood products. Vietnam, as a large producer country, must act swiftly to address the issues of illegal wood and wood product trade. Spearheaded action by Business, Government and key Stakeholders to exclude illegal wood and wood products will be pivotal if the Vietnam industry is to have a sustainable future.

Dr. Ho Van Cu - TFT Viet Nam Country Representative detailed that "with a lot of discussion and questions in order to help participant to better understand the legislation and what's need to do to comply with it, we believe that is a good workshop to help other stakeholders to understand clearly about TFT and TFT's support to our members about the changing of International market".

L-R: Nguyen Van VY - HAWA Office Manager ; Eberhard GOETZ - HAWA Business Development Advisor ; Scott Poynton, Boris Saraber TFT Asia North Manager, Chad OVEL - CEO of AA Corporation

All photos: Ho Van Cu

Workshop details
15^th June at the Liberty Hotel, Ho Chi Minh City

For more details, contact
Dr Ho Van Cu, TFT Vietnam Representative
h.vancu@tft-forests.org
T: +84862584796
M: +84912123772 D2 Street,
Binh Thanh Dist, Ho Chi Minh City

For information on the organizing organization visit their websites.

MARD See http://www.agroviet.gov.vn/

TFT See http://www.tft-forests.org/

HAWA See http://www.hawa.com.vn/

VIFORES See http://www.vietfores.org/index_e.php

New Vacancy: Member Program Manager, North America

2010-06-17T00:00:00+01:00

June 2010: The Forest Trust seeks an experienced and motivated professional to join its team as Member Program Manager for North America.

See our vacancy page.

CSE news: promotion 2 complete theory classes and promotion 3 starts!

2010-06-14T00:00:00+01:00

NOUVELLES DU CES: Valse des promotions au CES : promotion 2 termine sa formation théorique et promotion 3 la débute !

CSE NEWS: as promotion 2 complete their teoretical training, promotion 3 starts!

Juin 2010: La promotion 2 a terminé sa formation théorique par un terrain effectué dans quelques sociétés forestières et auprès de plusieurs partenaires (ONG, associations locales, coopération...) de l'Est du Cameroun.

June 2010: The Second Promotion completed their theoretical training with field visits in several forest companies and partners (NGOs, local associations, cooperation groups...) from Eastern Cameroon.

Photo 1. Arlette et Loïc, étudiants au CES, se préparant pour la visite d'une scierie /Arlette and Loïc, CSE students get ready to visit a sawmill.

Photo 2. Les étudiants de la promotion Moabi et leur Directeur des études en visite d'une unité de transformation / the students and their Study Director visiting a factory.

Photo 3. Julien, étudiant au CES, avec les hommes d'un village de Pygmées Baka, en train de cartographier à même le sol, une des zones de la forêt ayant une importance culturelle pour eux / Julien, a CSE student with Baka Pygmy men, drawing maps directly on the ground of forest areas of cultural important to them.

Photo 4. Un responsable social partageant son expérience avec les étudiants du CES/ a social affairs manager sharing his experience with CSE students.

Photo 5. Tatiana en plein entretien avec les femmes d'un village riverain d'une concession forestière / Tatiana interviewing women from a village neighbouring a forest concession.

Photo 6. Les étudiants de la promotion Moabi en discussion avec un DG d'une société forestière certifiée FSC / the students discussing with a Director in a FSC certified forest company.

Photo 7, 8 et 9. Les étudiants de la promotion Moabi sur un chantier d'exploitation forestière / the students on a forest management site.

Photo 10. Les étudiants de la promotion Moabi à la recherche d'une souche d'arbre, afin de comprendre le système de traçabilité du bois / the students looking for a stump to understand timber traceability systems.

Processus de séléction pour la promotion 3
Selection process for promotion 3

Les sélections ont eu lieu courant Mai 2010 pour la promotion 3. Sur 79 dossiers reçus cette fois-ci, 26 ont été présélectionné parmi lesquels 7 personnes ont été retenues, elles complètent la promotion 3 (Trois candidats retenus précédemment).
La nouvelle promotion sera composée de 10 étudiants (2 de RDC, 1 du Congo-Brazzaville, 1 de RCA, 2 du Gabon, 4 du Cameroun). Ils commencent les cours le 14 Juin 2010 avec Jérôme Lewis.

The selections took place during Mai 2010 for the third promotion. On the 79 applications received, 26 were pre-selected, and finally 7 people were selected. Along with three people selected previously, they make up promotion 3.
This new promotion is composed of ten students; 2 from DRC, 1 from Congo-Brazzaville, 1 from CAF, 2 from Gabon, 4 from Cameroon). They are starting classes on 14 June 2010 with Jérôme Lewis.

Le processus de sélection au CES se fait en 2 étapes:

Présélection sur dossiers
Sélection finale sur 2 jours (entretiens individuels, exercices terrains, tests informatiques...)

The selection process for the CSE is done in two steps:

Preselecting based on applications dossiers
Final selection over twos days (individual interviews, field exercises, IT tests ...)

Photo 1: Candidat en exercice d'enquêtes auprès d'un menuisier pour identifier les sources d'approvisionnement en bois à Yaoundé. L'étudiant fera un rapport en rentrant au CES et ce document fera partie de l'évaluation, comme son attitude durant l'enquête / a candidate practising interviewing a carpenter to identify his timber supply sources in Yaoundé. The student will then write a report back at the CSE, this document will be part of his evaluation, along with his approach during the survey.

Photo 2: Candidats en plein test informatique qui consiste à une mise en forme d'un document et à la rédaction d'une synthèse d'articles / Candidates in the middle of a computing exam ; formatting a document and writing a synthesis of articles

Photo 3: Candidate lors d'un entretien individuel, réalisé par deux anthropologues, Jérôme Lewis et Norbert Gami / a candidate during an individual interview conducted by two anthropologists, Jérôme Lewis and Norbert Gami.

Photos: Marianne Martinet

Le CSE est soutenu par la Fondation Prince Albert II de Monaco, Waterloo Foundation et Virgin Balloons / The project receives support from the Prince Albert II de Monaco Foundation and the Waterloo Foundation and Virgin Balloons.

Fueled by Concerns of Illegal Logging, Forest Trust Helps UK Firm Import First-Ever Legal Plywood from China

2010-06-11T00:00:00+01:00

Chinese Supplier Works with Local Poplar Farmers, Malaysian Forests, and Sawmills to Build Traceability System as EU, US Legislators Promise Tough Action to Stop Wood Imports that Contain Illegal Timber

Download PDF here

NANJING (11 June 2010) -The Forest Trust (TFT) announced today that a Chinese factory has for the first time produced plywood whose origins have been verified as 100 percent legal, the result of the non-profit TFT's partnership with a United Kingdom wood products company and the willing cooperation of a Chinese plywood maker, a group of Chinese poplar farmers, and a Malaysian timber producer and forest concession owner.

The sheets of poplar and hardwood veneer-which will roll off the factory floor at Jiangsu Sainty Bancom Co. Ltd. in Hongze County and be shipped to the UK this month-have been legally verified for the first time by Smartwood, part of the Rainforest Alliance, to be free of illegitimate timber. The historic moment was marked today, during a workshop in Nanjing on how to ensure the legality of wood used in products for export to the United States and Europe. Sainty Bancom received a certificate of verification from the Rainforest Alliance in recognition of its compliance with the guidelines provided by TFT.

"Prior to our partnership with the UK's Premier Forest Products Ltd., attempts to trace the legality of timber used in plywood had been able to guarantee the legitimacy of only some of the wood contained in the product," said TFT's Executive Director Scott Poynton. "The plywood produced here shows we can ensure the legality of even composite wood products like plywood-even when made with materials purchased from different countries and multiple sources."

A Chinese plywood supplier was chosen as the partnership's first target because China is the world's largest manufacturer of hardwood plywood and accounts for about 42 percent of the UK's imports of tropical plywood by volume. Tropical plywood has a wide variety of commercial uses such as paneling, container flooring, furniture backing and construction.

China's plywood exports have grown 20-fold since the late 1990s, part of an intensive expansion of China's wood products industry that has seen the country go from a net importer of wood products to the world's dominant exporter.

The availability of legally verified plywood comes as governments in Europe and the US are aggressively pushing the wood products industry to use its purchasing power to combat illegal logging, which simultaneously destroys forests and robs forest communities of valuable resources.

"With all these new laws and regulations coming on line, we've heard a lot of pessimism about the ability to ensure the legality of wood products, particularly of composite products like plywood," said Poynton. "But we've done it, and the model is now here for others to adopt."

The European Parliament is considering a regulation that would require EU importers to show they have used a system of "due diligence" to exclude illegal wood products from their purchases. And the new UK coalition government has promised to seek measures making the import or possession of illegal timber a criminal offense. The US has already adopted a tough amendment to a law known as the Lacey Act that bans any domestic commerce in wood or wood products that contain illegally harvested timber.

Today, China is the world's largest market for hardwood lumber, a large proportion of which comes from tropical species. But there is widespread concern that China's voracious appetite for tropical wood, coupled with its lack of a strong system for ensuring the legality of log and lumber imports, is fueling illegal and environmentally and socially destructive timber harvests in Southeast Asia, Africa and the Amazon Basin.

To help Premier obtain a supply of legally verified plywood from China, expected to arrive in the UK later this month, TFT created a system that permits regular, transparent monitoring of a complex supply chain that in China routinely includes both domestic and foreign wood.

Hardwood plywood is typically comprised of a lower quality wood core, like poplar or eucalyptus, which is sandwiched between a thin appearance grade veneer "face" and "back." In China, core material is typically obtained from domestic poplar or eucalyptus growers, while the face and back are usually manufactured with imported tropical hardwood like Bintangor and Red Canarium, which originates from Southeast Asia or Papua New Guinea with limited traceability and dubious origins.

The problem with the core materials, said Poynton, is that in China there are thousands of suppliers, but limited verifiable systems to prove that wood has been harvested legally. To deal with this, TFT set up a supply group consisting of farmers who sell their poplar trees to a peeling mill that verifies the legality of their timber and then processes the veneer for sale to the Sainty Bancom assembly mill.

Poynton said TFT used its extensive contacts around the world to identify a potential partner among hardwood suppliers. It found Sabah Forest Industries (SFI), Sdn Bhd, located in Sipitang, Sabah, Malaysia. The company agreed to work with TFT to adopt a stringent set of procedures to confirm that its logs have been harvested in compliance with local laws. With support from the EU-funded Timber Trade Action Plan, TFT worked with the Malaysian company, helping it achieve third-party Verified Legal Origin (VLO) for its factory and forest concession in Malaysia. TFT then linked SFI into Sainty Bancom's supply chain and helped Sainty demonstrate that its domestic and tropical feedstock material originates from legal sources and to achieve its own VLO certificate.

"These activities completed a global and legal supply chain from Malaysia to China that is going to allow the UK to import China's first-ever, third-party legally verified plywood," said Poynton.

In compliance with its agreement, the Chinese manufacturer segregated a section of the factory production line where only legally verified plywood will be produced. And both the suppliers and the manufacturer will be subject to regular audits from SmartWood, a program of the Rainforest Alliance that offers certification and verification services.

Staffed by experts with many years of experience in the timber trade, TFT acted as a ‘trust agent' throughout the process, said Poynton, helping the various partners understand each other's point of view in order to reach agreements and to solve issues that could have scuttled the effort.

"This is a brand new world for many of the people involved here," said Dejan Lewis, who coordinated TFT's work in Malaysia and China to achieve the VLO certificates. "While all the players are interested in providing legal products, there are market realities that they can't ignore and that impact their ability to deliver, and that is why it is critical for TFT to know as much about the timber business as it does forest conservation."

Poynton noted that challenges remain. "While there are even more complex and difficult to trace composite products like MDF and fibre-board, we've now proven that you can comply with the Lacey Act and the upcoming FLEGT regulations by going back to first principles and building supply chain solutions from the forest up. The collaboration we've seen from SFI, Sainty Bancom and Premier shows that when supply chain partners work together, really tough problems can be solved. We've put a man on the moon; surely we can work out where our wood products come from?"

Poynton noted that plywood suppliers in the UK have another reason to clean up how they source the plywood they import. The nation's Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) has promised to use only products made of legal and sustainable timber in the construction of the London 2012 Olympic and Paraolympic Games venues and infrastructure. Poynton said, however, that the hard-won success of the TFT-Premier partnership suggests much effort will have to be made if the UK's plywood suppliers and others are to meet the ODA's criteria with plywood imported from China.

Poynton explained, "It's taken us over 18 months to achieve this goal, and Sainty's product is the first third party legally verified plywood coming from China. There are vast volumes of Chinese plywood coming into the UK, across Europe and the US. Where is that ending up-what systems are in place to prove that illegal plywood isn't being used somewhere at some building site, even in small volumes? It's tough to prove a negative. The point is, if today only one Chinese factory can prove its plywood is legal, it makes you wonder about the legality of the rest. Is it legal? Good question, but one buyer had better answer soon, given Lacey and FLEGT."

The plywood project has been supported by funding from the Timber Trade Action Plan (TTAP), a consortium of European timber federations backed by the European Commission; the UK Timber Trade Federation, which represents the wood products industry; and the Rainforest Alliance SmartWood program. TFT made the announcement today during a workshop designed to provide advocates, policymakers and industry with basic information regarding the new policy climate in Europe and the US, and a sense of the process required to ensure access to legal wood and obtain third-party certification that demonstrates a clean supply chain.

###

About The Forest Trust (TFT)
Established in 1999, TFT is a global nonprofit that helps businesses bring Responsible Products to market. Responsible Products improve peoples' lives and respect the environment at all stages of the product lifecycle. TFT helps its more than 75 members worldwide to build responsible supply chains by identifying and addressing embedded social and environmental issues. Having established a strong record of achievement in the wood sector, TFT now provides its members with supply chain and communication support services in a diversity of product categories; alongside its foundation Wood Group, it has established Beef & Leather; Stone, Cotton, Palm Oil and Wool Groups. For more information, visit: http://www.tft-forests.org/

For further information, please contact:

Denise Young, M: +33 (6) 8591 8656 or dyoung@burnesscommunications.com

Scott Poynton, M: +41 794 45 6277 or s.poynton@tft-forests.org

Creative methods promote responsible Teak in Lao village

2010-05-26T00:00:00+01:00

Future generations cultivating: Artists explore connections between Teak and Life at Luang Prabang

On 25 May, the Provincial Forestry Section with support from the Lao Forest and Trade Platform celebrated the success of the Luang Prabang Teak Program by hosting an art competition for students and opening a teak and forest management section at My Library. My Library is a free public library and resource centre in Luang Prabang that encourages self-study through books, videos and computers.

The theme of the Art competition was "teak and life." Luang Prabang Teak Program office manager Bounthan said "we are looking for any type of art that reflects teak alleviating poverty by creating assets."

Bounchan Lattavongkot from Luang Prabang Teak Program hands over a variety of land management media to Carol Kresge from My Library (Photo: Lee Hue) & Three young teenagers proudly hold their art that represents "Teak and Life: Asset creation through Teak Plantations alleviating poverty" (Photo: Ya Chengly)

Students from all Luang Prabang schools had the opportunity to participate. The three prize winners were from the Orphanage and all said they would spend their prize money on books, pens and pencils. The winner was Kong Lee, 14 years old whose picture shows the stages of establishing a teak plantation with the last frame communicating the money and wood associated. In his comments he says "teak is very useful for all wood products so it is very easy to sell into the wood industry."

1st Prize: Kong Lee, 14 years old from the Luang Prabang Orphanage

Runner up: Khuasong, 13 years old from the Luang Prabang Orphanage

Runner up: Bounme, 14 years old from the Luang Prabang Orphanage

Other entries included electronic art and stories. Ka Xiong a student from My Library explained in his story about why he would plant teak: "It is not for me, but for my children."

The resources LPTP has handed over include five books on teak management and marketing and a dozen DVD's about environmental management.

TFT is supporting the LPTP working with communities to improve their teak management and marketing so that they get a greater share of income. This is done through building the capacity of the village to sell into international markets that demand transparent and accountable forest management and wood trade.

It is expected that the pilot village Ban Kok Ngiew will be FSC certified by the end of the year; proof of responsible management, allowing their wood to be sold at a price premium. Already market links provided by LPTP have connected the village directly to the processor in Vientiane, allowing the villagers to double their income per cubic metre of teak and reducing the processors cost by a third. LPTP will be expanding into villages around Ban Kok Ngiew to test the feasibility of developing the program by village cluster across the teak rich parts of the country.

The Luang Prabang Pilot Project is receiving support from the Luang Prabang Forestry Section and the Lao Forest and Trade Platform as Program implementers, with additional assistance from the Department of Forestry, WWF, Fondation Ensemble, Japanese International Cooperation Agency, Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency and USAID under the RAFT Program.

BBC Radio 2 interview with Scott Poynton

2010-05-19T00:00:00+01:00

Listen again to the interview given last night by TFT's CEO Scott Poynton on Radio 2 with Simon Mayo http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/b00sfw84 (starts at 1 hour 32 minutes into the recording). He talks about Responsible Products, the latest partnership with Nestlé and the power of consumers to bring change to the market place.

Nestlé becomes TFT's newest member.

2010-05-17T00:00:00+01:00

TFT to Follow Palm Oil Back to Source for Nestlé;

Swiss Giant Commits to Excluding Suppliers that Destroy Forests

Greenpeace Welcomes Agreement as "Very Positive"

17 May 2010. The Forest Trust (TFT) announced today that Swiss consumer goods company Nestlé has agreed to a plan that will rid its products of palm oil purchased from suppliers whose activities are destroying vulnerable tropical forests in the developing world.

Under the terms of their agreement, the Geneva-based nonprofit will work with Nestlé to transform its purchasing power into a force for forest conservation, according to TFT's executive director Scott Poynton. Auditors from the Geneva-based NGO will be in Southeast Asia before the end of May to start work on making Nestlé's supply chains in the region responsible.

"For the first time ever, a global company is saying that it doesn't want its products to have a deforestation footprint, and it is taking action to live up to its words," Poynton said. "This is the whole push behind TFT's model-to get one end of the supply chain to take responsibility for what happens at the other end. This is a game-changer."

In a statement today, Nestlé said its actions "will focus on the systematic identification and exclusion of companies owning or managing high risk plantations or farms linked to deforestation."

"Nestlé has entered into a partnership with The Forest Trust (TFT), a global non-profit organization that will help Nestlé to build responsible supply chains by identifying and addressing embedded social and environmental issues," the statement said. "The partnership (with TFT) starts with palm oil, and Nestlé is studying its supply chains to determine a similarly ambitious target for the pulp and paper it uses."

Greenpeace, which was instrumental in outlining the measures that would be seen as meaningful, called the agreement "a very positive step."

'Nestlé's new policy sends a very clear message to companies that are destroying forests and peatlands for new plantations," said Andy Tait, Senior Campaign Advisor for Greenpeace. "If you don't stop deforestation and protect peatlands, your days of supplying to global brands such as Nestle are over. This is a very positive step forward by Nestle, but delivery is critical, and we will be monitoring progress carefully."

The company has committed as well to ensure that suppliers act to safeguard the rights of forest communities in developing palm oil plantations, Poynton said.

"As part of the agreement, TFT will audit Nestlé's suppliers and will help identify and exclude those that are not doing the right thing," said Poynton, an Australian forester. "And if there are suppliers that want to change the way they operate, our team on the ground will help them to improve their practices in order to comply with Nestlé's purchasing requirements."

Potential impact of corporate giant's decision

With sales of CHF 107.6 billion in 2009, Nestlé is one of the world's top 50 companies. It employs 278,000 people and has 449 factories in 83 countries. Nestlé products are sold in almost every country in the world.

"The impact of Nestlé's announcement is huge because the company is so important globally," Poynton said. "Nestlé does not use a huge volume of palm oil or pulp and paper compared to other companies. The focus for the first time is on products, and if Nestlé's decision inspires other companies to engage in the same process, we can stop wringing our hands about carbon baselines and forest carbon markets. Demand for sustainable products can work its magic without them."

Nestlé has a policy that by 2015 the company will obtain 100 percent of the palm oil it uses from sustainable sources. This year, 18 percent of its palm oil purchases will come from sustainable sources, rising to 50 percent by the end of 2011, according to the company statement.

Nestlé says in its statement that the company has worked with TFT to come up with "a set of critical requirements" that will guide the Nestlé procurement process and ensure compliance with the Nestlé Supplier Code. "The partnership will focus on assessing suppliers' performance with respect to these guidelines and on providing technical support to those who currently do not meet the requirements, but who are committed to achieving sustainability."

The statement notes as well that Nestlé worked with TFT to come up with the following requirements for palm oil purchases. Such purchases will:

Be derived from plantations and farms operating in compliance with local laws and regulations;
Protect high conservation value forest areas;
Support the free prior and informed consent of indigenous and local communities to activities on their customary lands where plantations are developed;
Protect peatlands; and
Protect forest areas of ‘high carbon' value.

And to further implement the "Responsible Sourcing Guidelines," the two partners will:

Communicate these guidelines strongly and clearly to the global commodity industry, particularly the palm oil and pulp and paper sectors;
Continue to focus its procurement to already certified suppliers;
Conduct and ensure field audits of its existing suppliers to determine their performance against the guidelines;
Exclude all suppliers found to be in breach of the guidelines;
Implement technical assistance programs to support those willing to proceed to sustainability;
Identify new suppliers who comply, or could comply with technical assistance, with the guidelines; and
Provide regular and transparent feedback on its findings and its performance against these guidelines.

"We're getting going immediately, no delays, we're going for it," Poynton said. "Our guys are heading to Singapore in a less than two weeks to meet Nestlé's procurement staff and we're away. It's game on."