The report of the International Forum: Together Towards Global Green Supply Chains, held in Shanghai, is online. About 350 actors in the tropical timber sector attended the forum, which ITTO co-organized; among other things it established the Global Green Supply Chain Network to promote the responsible production and consumption of tropical wood and help achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

Mastering forestry to meet the needs of sustainable development is an increasingly complex task. An ITTO study in the Congo Basin concluded there was insufficient human capacity there to ensure sustainable forestry. A subregional ITTO project encompassing seven education institutions in five countries sought to address this and contribute to Sustainable Development Goal 4 ("quality education").

A survey by the ITTO Market Information Service (MIS) and the Trade Advisory Group (TAG) in nine tropical countries shows that the measures taken to prevent the spread of COVID-19 are having substantial impacts on the tropical timber sector, with thousands of workers laid off and demand plummeting. Some governments are providing support for workers and companies, but others are yet to react.

Peruvian national Talia Lostaunau-García has written about her journey to the Tambopata National Reserve in the Amazon in pursuit of “solutions journalism”, using skills gained through an ITTO Fellowship.

A new publication by ITTO, FAO and the UN Economic Commission for Europe provides the most up-to-date and comprehensive set of conversion factors in forestry. Conversion factors are used primarily for measuring the efficiency and technical progress of forest industries, and this publication will support the work of analysts, policymakers, forest practitioners and manufacturers worldwide.

Tropical forests cover a small fraction of the Earth but are estimated to harbour more than half its terrestrial plant and animal species. ITTO develops policies and funds projects to conserve this rich biodiversity while also improving the well-being of forest-dependent people. Read on to learn about the Organization’s efforts in Benin’s sacred forests and Indonesia’s Cibodas Biosphere Reserve.