Twenty-two fellowships were awarded at the 54th Session of International Tropical Timber Council at at a total value of about USD 140 000. The newest group of fellows represents 12 different producer member countries and includes 6 female fellows.

The Workshop on Fiscal Mechanisms for a Sustainable Forest Sector, co-convened by ITTO and the World Bank in Washington, DC, in October 2018, brought together about 50 experts across disciplines to discuss fiscal policy mechanisms that can reduce deforestation and forest degradation and contribute to sustainable forest management. Workshop presentations are now available.

ITTO was a pioneer in the development of guidelines on the restoration, rehabilitation and sustainable management of tropical forests, says Bern University’s Jürgen Blaser, and it still occupies an important restoration niche. It’s time, he says, to revise the 2002 version of the guidelines to adapt them to the new global environment and the full range of degraded tropical forest landscapes.

Women’s role in the management of forests and other natural resources can no longer be forgotten or dismissed, said Rosalie Matondo, Minister of Forest Economy in the Republic of the Congo, in a video presented at a panel discussion on women, forestry and ITTO that took place at the 54th session of International Tropical Timber Council.

A 2018 survey of companies in Europe on the impact of the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) timber legality initiative has found that most companies now consider that FLEGT licensing is making it easier to import timber products from Indonesia.

Tropical timber producers, importers, governments and communities need to work more closely together to increase the impact of efforts to promote the benefits of sustainably produced tropical timber in consumer markets.