Archive - Month: November 2020

Illegal timber trade from Brazil and the need for robust due diligence

At the 12th BRICS Summit, held via video conference on the 17th November 2020, the Brazilian government “threatened to disclose” that “Europeans have purchased illegal timber from Brazil during 2017”.
Indeed, this is true.
Recent analysis by BVRio concluded that a high percentage of Brazilian hardwoods, exported to EU member states and the USA in 2016-2017, had a very high risk of illegality. The study was based on BVRio’s Timber Due Diligence systems, that uses big data analysis and satellite imagery and is able to able to identify the risk of irregularities in 99% of cases.

WEBINAR: LESSER KNOWN SPECIES – Utilising Ghana’s Sustainable Timber Resources

While Ghana has nearly 90 species that are regularly exploited and traded as timber, its diverse forests contain many other species that can be commercialised. Many of these under-utilised species have similar and sometimes even better performance capabilities than well-known species. Others have a distinctive and unique appearance that makes them ideal for creating attractive timber products. Using a more diverse selection of species is not only a good business decision but also has the potential to improve livelihoods, protect biodiversity and promote sustainable forest management.

Pocket Guide to Gender Equality under the UNFCCC (2020)