Other technical reports

Advancing Forest Landscape Restoration in the Tropics: Experiences and Lessons for Socio-Ecological Resilience and Empowerment of Women in ITTO Projects

This report by ITTO and the United Nations University aims at making forest landscape restoration (FLR) more effective in improving ecosystems and livelihoods and increasing resilience to climate change by providing valuable lessons for both practitioners and policymakers seeking solutions to global environmental problems. The report analyzed 14 ITTO-funded projects in Africa, Asia and the Pacific and Latin America and the Caribbean to identify common challenges and lessons learned, including engaging stakeholders, empowering women and mainstreaming restoration principles in government policies.

VPA partner timber trade and market perceptions update No. 3/2022

This report of the FLEGT Independent Market Monitor (IMM) provides an update on the trade of timber and wood products between the European Union and voluntary partnership agreement (VPA) countries in the first half of 2022, with a specific focus on Indonesia. It also presents an outlook for the rest of 2022 and the results of the 2022 IMM European Union trade survey and an IMM stakeholder consultation in Ghana.
The IMM is a multi-year project implemented by ITTO and financed by the European Union to support the implementation of bilateral VPAs between the European Union and timber-supplying countries. This was the IMM’s third modular report published in 2022.

Modular Report II - VPA partner timber trade and market perceptions UPDATE

Between 2017 and 2021, the Independent Market Monitor (IMM) distributed annual market overviews and summaries of the previous year’s survey results in the form of IMM annual reports. To allow the timelier distribution of this information, the IMM decided to switch to shorter, more frequent reports in 2022. These reports cover the latest market trends combined with either survey results or updated analysis against specific IMM indicators. The IMM will publish three short reports in 2022 and a final report in early 2023, when the IMM project will complete its activities.

This second modular report includes a trade update for the first quarter of 2022, with a focus on trade between the European Union and Indonesia and trade commentary on market trends from the European Union 2022 trade survey. It also covers the first two IMM stakeholder consultations in Jakarta and Nantes.

Modular Report I - VPA partner country timber trade and market perceptions update

Between 2017 and 2021, the Independent Market Monitor (IMM) distributed annual market overviews and summaries of the previous year’s survey results in the form of IMM annual reports. To allow the timelier distribution of this information, the IMM decided to switch to shorter, more frequent reports in 2022. These reports cover the latest market trends combined with either survey results or updated analysis against specific IMM indicators. The IMM will publish three short reports in 2022 and a final report in early 2023, when the IMM project will complete its activities.

This first modular report includes a trade update for 2021, with a specific focus on trade between the European Union and Indonesia and Indonesia’s efforts to rebrand SVLK as the Forest Legality and Sustainability Assurance System. It also presents results from the 2021 IMM European Union trade survey.

Global Assessment of Forest Education

This joint assessment by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, the International Union of Forest Research Organizations and ITTO examines the status of forest education and identifies needed actions. It addresses education and training related to forests, trees outside forests and other wooded land and covers all levels of formal education: primary, secondary, technical and vocational education and training, universities and colleges. It identifies an urgent need for locally relevant, appropriate and inclusive solutions that take into account digital divides, language barriers and a gender and racial/ethnic balance in forest education programmes and the workforce. One of the main areas for improvement is to ensure that students at all levels have better access to forests and outdoor training experience.

This report is available in English only.

Teak in Mekong for a Sustainable Future

This book, written by teak experts with extensive on-the-ground experience in the Greater Mekong Subregion, showcases best practices in planting, managing, harvesting and processing teak into valuable products and demonstrating legality and sustainability along supply chains. It also contains information on the distribution of teak in the subregion, research on the conservation of teak genetic resources, and teak certification. It sets out policy-related issues and makes recommendations for strengthening collaboration in the subregion and globally on teak research, silviculture, management, certification and trade.

Una nueva Política Nacional para los Bosques del Perú

This publication, produced by Peru’s Forestry Chamber with ITTO support, takes stock of recent developments in the country’s legal framework and makes proposals to modernize the forest sector and increase its capacity to meet current and future challenges. The outcome of a series of thematic discussions in 2019–2021 on ways to improve Peru’s forest management, the document proposes a new national forest policy framework capable of ensuring the provision of ecosystem services, increasing forest production and promoting a thriving forest industry based on forest plantations. It recognizes the need for multisectoral approaches to halt deforestation and the advancement of the agricultural frontier, particularly involving the forest, agriculture, mining and transport infrastructure sectors. Other proposed measures include prioritizing forest landscape restoration, combating informality and illegal logging, incentivizing investment in commercial plantations, improving forest education and establishing a coherent administrative structure.

(Available in Spanish with executive summary in English)

India Timber Supply and Demand 2010–2030

India Timber Supply and Demand 2010–2030, by Promode Kant and Raman Nautiyal, analyzes India’s timber market dynamics by reviewing historical trends for 2010–2019 and forecasting the likely situation to 2030. The report shows that, although India’s forest cover has increased steadily for nearly two decades, timber production is still substantially less than consumption, and an increasingly large proportion of demand is being met by imports.

The report forecasts a jump of nearly 70% in roundwood demand in India in the next decade, from 57 million m3 in 2020 to 98 million m3 in 2030, driven largely by the construction sector. Without policy changes to increase domestic wood production, say the authors, India will need to rely heavily on imports to meet this surge in demand.

Forest product conversion factors: tropical logs and sawnwood

The report estimates the conversion factors for a wide range of tropical timber species based on weight, using data on wood and bark density and wood moisture content. The derived factors can be used to convert the dry weight of a timber consignment to volume, and vice versa.

Designing Fiscal Instruments for Sustainable Forests

This report identifies fiscal reforms that can positively influence forest conservation and management while freeing up resources for national development. Examples of such reforms are environmental commodity taxation to encourage forest conservation and land use change; ecological fiscal transfers, in which more money is allocated to those regional and local governments whose forests are better conserved; agricultural subsidy reforms that reward the sustainable management of forests and farmlands; and a fee-and-rebate mechanism (known as a “feebate”) that offers tax discounts to companies that meet specified sustainability standards.

ITTO supported the development of this publication financially and intellectually, including through the funding of a workshop that brought together academics and practitioners across disciplines to present and discuss the mechanisms proposed in the publication.

Click here to see the each chapter of the publication.

Click here to download the full report.

FLEGT VPA Partners in EU Timber Trade 2019

The Independent Market Monitoring (IMM) mechanism was established under an ITTO project and funded by the European Union (EU) to support the implementation of bilateral voluntary partnership agreements (VPAs) between the EU and timber-supplying countries. The 2019 IMM annual report shows an increasing level of recognition of timber licensing under the EU’s Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) initiative as a means to reduce importers’ own risk under the EU Timber Regulation and increasing awareness of the wider benefits of implementing VPAs in participating countries. It also finds that EU traders are increasingly familiar with the administrative processes involved in importing FLEGT-licensed timber and that there is a very high level of acceptance of these processes.

Report of the International Forum: Together Towards Global Green Supply Chains—A Forest Products Industry Initiative

The International Forum: Together Towards Global Green Supply Chains—A Forest Products Industry Initiative, held in Shanghai in October 2019, brought together 350 key players in the tropical forest products sector. Co-organized by ITTO, the forum established the Global Green Supply Chain Network with the aim of incentivizing the responsible production and consumption of tropical wood products

Forest product conversion factors

Forest product conversion factors provides, for 37 countries around the world, ratios of raw-material input to output for eight categories of wood-based forest products. Analysts, policymakers, forest practitioners and forest-based manufacturers often need these conversion factors to understand sectoral drivers of efficiency, feasibility and economics. In addition, such factors are used for conversions from one unit of measure to another. The publication includes explanations of the units of measure and determinants of the ratios, as well as information on some of the physical properties of wood-based forest products. Finally, where reported factors are unavailable, factors from other sources are given.

FLEGT VPA Partners in EU Timber Trade 2018

The Independent Market Monitoring (IMM) mechanism was established under an ITTO project and funded by the European Union (EU) to support the implementation of bilateral voluntary partnership agreements (VPAs) between the EU and timber-supplying countries. This, the IMM’s annual report for 2018, summarizes the status of VPA implementation and negotiations in all VPA partner countries. It provides an update on the share of VPA partner countries in global tropical wood products trade in 2018 and reports on other issues related to forest law enforcement, governance and trade (FLEGT) in the EU timber trade. It concludes with recommendations for developing markets for FLEGT-licensed products and outlines plans for future IMM monitoring.

EU voluntary private-sector timber procurement policies & the role of FLEGT licensing

Private-sector procurement policies are prominent in the global North and among companies with global reach. A new special study by the Independent Market Monitor (IMM) identifies more than 100 organizations, tools, initiatives, templates and sets of guidance that could influence company timber procurement policies in the European Union (EU).The study assesses 65 potential sources of influence to identify attitudes and support for key indicators such as timber certification, legal compliance, and EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) licensing.

Report on Asia-Pacific regional workshop on trans-boundary biodiversity conservation: empowered forestry communities and women in sustainable livelihood development

This publication is an output of a regional workshop on transboundary conservation areas in the Asia and the Pacific, which involved primary stakeholders and was organized by the Ministry of Environment and Forestry of Indonesia in Cooperation with ITTO, and which took place in Pontianak, Indonesia on March 2018 as an activity of ITTO project PD 617/11 Rev.4 (F)

Report of International Conference on Sustainable Mangrove Ecosystems: managing a vital resource for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals and the Paris Agreement

This conference report is an output of the International Conference on Sustainable Mangrove Ecosystems, which was convened in April 2017 in Bali, Indonesia, to promote the conservation, restoration and sustainable management of mangrove forest resources in the tropics (www.itto.int/mangrove2017). An important objective was to identify ways in which mangrove restoration and sustainable management could contribute to the achievement of Sustainable Development Goals 13, 14 and 15 and the Paris Agreement on climate change. At its conclusion, the conference adopted the Bali Call to Action for Sustainable Mangrove Ecosystems, in which participants urge policymakers, land-use planners, mangrove practitioners and scientists, international organizations, the private sector, donors and coastal communities to redouble their work to ensure the conservation, restoration, protection and sustainable management and use of the world’s remaining mangrove forest ecosystems.

Assessing the ITTO guidelines for the restoration, management and rehabilitation of degraded and secondary tropical forests. Case studies of Ghana, Indonesia and Mexico

ITTO commissioned the report from WRI as part of its contribution to the Global Partnership for Forest Landscape Restoration (GPFLR) in order to increase understanding of the factors to be taken into account in successful forest and landscape restoration and rehabilitation of degraded forests in the tropics. The report presents a review of restoration activities in project sites in Africa, Asia and Latin America. ITTO tasked forestry professionals in Ghana, Indonesia and Mexico to assess sites according to the ITTO guidelines. The report presents a summary of the main lessons learned and recommendations for the development of a revised framework.

Technical report on the life-cycle assessment for environmental product declarations of ipe and cumaru decking strips produced in Brazil

This report on the environmental product declaration (EPD) study on ipe and cumaru decking strips in Brazil is the third output of an activity under the ITTO Biennial Work Programme for the years 2013-2014 which was carried out in response to the latest international timber markets’ requirements on environmentally responsible construction materials.

Life cycle assessment for environmental product declaration of tropical African mahogany (khaya) lumber produced in Ghana

This report on the environmental product declaration (EPD) study on tropical African mahogany (khaya) lumber in Ghana is the second output of an activity under the ITTO Biennial Work Programme for the years 2013-2014 which was carried out in response to the latest international timber markets’ requirements on environmentally responsible construction materials.

UNU-IAS/ITTO Policy Report on Strengthening Development in International-Local Institutional Linkages in REDD+: Lessons from Existing Forest-Carbon Initiatives

This study seeks to understand how best to connect local and international institutions based on lessons learnt from existing initiatives in the forest sector that aim to achieve greenhouse gas emission reductions (often referred to as ‘forest-carbon’ initiatives) in order to inform the current debates and actions on REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation in Developing Countries).

PP-A-47-262 Final Report on Strengthening the Capacity to Promote Efficient Wood Processing Technologies in Tropical Timber Producing Countries

Report on Strengthening the Capacity to Promote Efficient Wood Processing Technologies in Tropical Timber Producing Countries.

Report on Environmental Product Declaration on meranti plywood in Indonesia and Malaysia

This report on the environmental product declaration (EPD) study on meranti plywood in Indonesia and Malaysia is an outcome of an activity under the ITTO Biennial Work Programme for the years 2013-2014 which was carried out in response to the latest international timber markets’ requirements on environmentally responsible construction materials.

Towards a development strategy for the wood processing industry in the Congo Basin

This document brings together a series of reflections and suggestions for the development and implementation of strategies to develop the forest industry in the Congo Basin. These were formulated over the course of four workshops organized between September 2010 and June 2011 in Cameroon, the Republic of the Congo, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Gabon.

Governing the forests: an institutional analysis of REDD+ and community forest management in Asia

This joint report of UNU-IAS and ITTO will serve as a useful reference for policymakers, professionals and practitioners as they work to promote REDD+ in ways that tackle climate change and biodiversity loss but also respect concerns and listen to the voice of local stakeholders. The report has been prepared by ITTO in cooperation with United Nations University – Institute of Advance Studies (UNU-IAS), and features a case study of ITTO funded project PD 519/08 Rev.1 (F) “REDD in Meru Betiri National Park, Indonesia”.

Working together to get forest measurement right: a solution for REDD+

REDD+ is an incentive mechanism being developed under the UNFCCC for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation and contributing to conservation, sustainable management of forests and enhancement of forest carbon stocks. The Montréal Process, ITTO, FOREST EUROPE and UN FAO recognize the value of working with other countries, organizations and processes involved in REDD+invite other entities interested in forest-related data, evaluation or expertise to work with them to explore how existing C&I can be used to meet content and process requirements for developing country-specific REDD+ safeguards and understanding how those safeguards are being addressed and respected. This short handout was developed by the four partners for dissemination at UNFCCC COP 18 and in other relevant fora.

Wood product accounting and climate change mitigation projects involving tropical timber

An output from a pre-project under the ITTO Thematic Programme on Trade and Market Transparency.

TMT-PA 007/11 Rev.1 (I)

Work plan for accounting methodology development for wood products in climate change mitigation projects involving tropical timber

An output from a pre-project under the ITTO Thematic Programme on Trade and Market Transparency.

TMT-PA 007/11 Rev.1 (I)

Report of in-house training on wood processing techniques carried out under Biennial Work Programme 2010-2011

Proceedings of the joint workshop to streamline global forest reporting and strengthen collaboration among international criteria and indicator processes

Statement from the joint workshop to streamline global forest reporting and strengthen collaboration among international criteria and indicator processes

Transboundary conservation and peace-building: Lessons from forest biodiversity conservation projects

This report, jointly produced by ITTO and UNU-IAS, analyzes and presents lessons from the implementation of ITTO transboundary conservation projects in the following eco-regions: Borneo rainforest (Indonesia and Malaysia); Central African rainforest (Gabon, Cameroon and Republic of Congo); Southeast Asian forest (Cambodia, Lao PDR and Thailand) and the Andean rainforest (Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia).

National forest landscape restoration guidelines developed under 2008-09 Biennial Work Program activity PPA43/225 which promoted the implementation of guidelines for the management of secondary tropical forests, the restoration of degraded tropical forests and rehabilitation of degraded forest land

REDD-plus (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) – Forest conservation in developing countries

This booklet, jointly produced by JICA and ITTO, aims to promote further understanding on- and interest in REDD-plus by the interested parties and the general public.

Unedited case studies of TS#34: The pros and cons of procurement

The unedited country case studies referred to in TS#34 are available in their original languages only.

Forest law compliance and governance in tropical countries

The objective of this report is to summarize the main outcomes and lessons learned from five regional workshops on forest law compliance and governance conducted jointly by FAO and ITTO throughout the tropics. Based on the outputs of the workshops, the report makes a number of region-by-region recommendations and draws some general conclusions.

Guidebook for the formulation of afforestation / reforestation and bioenergy projects in the regulatory carbon market

The purpose of this guidebook is to serve as guidance for those interested in developing land-use change, forestry and bio-energy projects under the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) of the Kyoto Protocol. The guidebook has been updated by Winrock International with the support of UNEP's CASCADe programme, modified from an earlier version of an ITTO publication (TS 25 / 2006). This updated version includes new information on bio-energy projects and an Annex on voluntary carbon markets.

Forest governance and climate-change mitigation. A policy brief prepared by ITTO and FAO

This policy brief summarizes the main findings of five workshops that were jointly funded and convened by ITTO and FAO in Southeast Asia, West Africa, Central Africa, the Amazon Basin and Mesoamerica, between August 2006 and July 2008 to promote a multi-sectoral dialogue between countries on improving forest law compliance. It highlights the lessons learned from experiences on the ground and sets out the key elements of an approach to forest law compliance and governance that will ensure the optimal role of forests in mitigating climate change.

Developing forest certification (unedited annexes)

These unedited annexes contain country case studies of certication initiatives in country list.

Report on the review of the US market for tropical timber products

This report gives an overview of trends in the US tropical timber market.

Collaboration among C&I processes

This report presents the results of the Inter-Criteria and Indicator (C&I) Process Collaboration Workshop, a collaborative effort by the Montreal Process, ITTO, FAO, the Ministerial Conference for the Protection of Forests in Europe (MCPFE), the UN Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) and the US Forest Service.

Prevención, manejo de incendios forestales e impactos ambientales en la cuenca baja y media del río Piura, Perú

El Niño events bring extreme rainfall to semi-arid northwestern Peru resulting in high loadings of tinder-dry fuels in the years following an event. Forest fires have burned large areas after recent El Niño events, yet the capacity to manage the fires is limited. This report reviews what is known about the effects of fires in the lowland dry forests of the Piura region and introduces a strategy for developing effective fire management.

Best practices for improving law compliance in the forestry sector

The first comprehensive overview of efforts being made at the local, national and international levels to address illegal forest operations, this joint FAO/ITTO publication analyses and distils available knowledge in a set of best practices for decision-makers.

Review of the French timber market

This report gives an overview of trends in France's tropical timber market, recommending, among other things, that tropical timber producers grow the market for lesser known species by processing them locally to international standards.

Review of the Italian timber market - with focus on tropical timber

This report indicates that Italy will continue to play a substantial part in the international trade of tropical wood products, but the tropical timber industry faces some challenges if it is to retain and expand its share of the Italian timber trade.

Review of information on life cycle analysis of tropical timber products

This report outlines the results of a review on life cycle assessment (LCA) as applied to temperate and, in particular, tropical timbers.

Review of the Indian timber market

This review gauges the overall trends and prospects of India's timber markets with a focus on the tropical timber trade, to bring insight into the current supply and demand status and opportunities for ITTO exporters.

A review of forest fire management in the Philippines

According to this report, a law that removed responsibility for forest fire from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources has reduced the effectiveness of fire management in the Philippines. A five-year plan to restore forest fire management capacity is recommended.

Market access of tropical timber

This report assesses how various market access-related initiatives and instruments are affecting, or may affect in the future, the market positions of tropical and non-tropical timber and timber products.

Comparative study on the auditing systems of sustainable forest management

The purpose of this study is to assist ITTO producer countries in developing systems for the auditing of sustainable forest management.

International cross sectoral forum on forest fire management in South East Asia

This report summarizes the outcomes of the International Cross Sectoral Forum on Forest Fire Management in South East Asia, which was hosted by the Government of Indonesia and sponsored by ITTO and the Japan International Cooperation Agency.