ITTO stresses priorities to advance forest-based bioeconomy approaches

ITTO Executive Director Sheam Satkuru outlined potential tools that could boost the forest-based bioeconomy and advance sustainable forest management at a panel discussion at the UNFF COLI held in Vienna, Austria in February 2026. © ITTO

Sustainable forest management (SFM) is key to building businesses and livelihoods with forest products, ITTO Executive Director Sheam Satkuru said, identifying stronger governance, clearer land rights, stepped-up investment and enhanced inclusiveness among tools to boost the forest-based bioeconomy.

Ms Satkuru spoke at the Global Summit on Advancing Forest-based Bioeconomy Approaches, convened in Vienna, Austria, on 23–25 February 2026 under the Country and Organization-Led Initiative (COLI) of the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF), hosted by the Government of Austria.

The summit attracted over 400 participants (in person and virtually) from governments, international organizations, academia, civil society, Indigenous Peoples, youth, business and other stakeholders to identify and accelerate the effective development of forest-based bioeconomic activities.

Experts including Ms Satkuru sat on a panel during a thematic session on “Forest Potentials Beyond Wood” that explored the growing economic, social and ecological opportunities presented by forest products other than timber.

SFM as a precondition

Ms. Satkuru’s contributions highlighted several priority areas that aligned closely with other speakers in the session, including opening remarks from H.E. Aurélie Flore Koumba Pambo of Gabon and keynote speaker Carsten Smith-Hall of the University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Ms Satkuru began by pointing out that while timber features in ITTO’s name, the Organization’s dual mandate is also focused on SFM, “the precondition and the precursor for diversification of wood and non-wood products."

Guided by the International Tropical Timber Agreement (2006) and its set of objectives covering nearly all dimensions of forest governance, ITTO has implemented close to 1,400 field projects over four decades to advance SFM and the sustainable trade of forest products, she said.

At the same time, ITTO engages with a wide range of partners at the global and national levels, including through the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF), a coalition of 16 international organizations.

Among her suggestions for strengthening the forest-based bioeconomy, Ms Satkuru pointed to governance gaps. While empowering local communities was important, “actual enforcement of forestry regulations by government is key to prevent leakage and forest encroachment,” she said.

She cited an example from Malaysia, where Aquilaria (agarwood) is harvested illegally (due to high value and market demand) for use in the fragrance industry. Effective enforcement is also necessary through cross-border cooperation to reduce smuggling and forest theft.

Another area pinpointed was the lack of credible, reputable data on non-timber forest products—a prerequisite for accurately assessing the economic value and contributions of these products to the bioeconomy.

Ms Satkuru pointed to several ITTO field projects that have contributed to this goal, including a project in Mexico that documented ancestral knowledge of over 100 medicinal plants in the Yucatán Peninsula, supporting both the health and cosmetic value chains and the apiculture practices of local communities. Further examples were provided from Benin and Togo, where women’s groups gained financial independence through agroforestry systems combining cocoa and coffee cultivation under forest canopies with reforestation using native species.

Turning to tenure systems, she explained that while forest land in many tropical countries is state-owned, granting secure user rights, as practiced in Malaysia and much of Indonesia, allows communities to use forests responsibly while preventing degradation.

Ms Satkuru also called for deeper engagement with the corporate/business and finance sector to build the value chains that can accelerate the development of the forest-based bioeconomy: “We need the financiers, we need the donor community, we need the perfume and cosmetics industry,” she said. “They need to be here.”

National perspectives

The session also featured speakers from Ecuador, China and New Zealand, who illustrated how forest potentials beyond wood are advancing in different contexts through governance reforms, value-chain development and innovative market mechanisms.

Questions put to the panel—which also featured representatives from TRAFFIC, the Global Shea Alliance and the Bioeconomy Science Institute of New Zealand—addressed issues including data collection, natural capital accounting, power and equity, and policy integration.

The experts noted challenges in generating credible data on non-timber forest products and ecosystem services, especially where much consumption and trade is informal. They underscored the need to build statistical systems that can support collection, valuation and integration into national accounts.

The discussions also explored how market dynamics and global value chains can either empower or marginalize local producers and communities. Enabling equitable market and financing access and diversifying product value addition were stressed as priorities.

The experts also called for stronger alignment of forest bioeconomy policies across sectors and better communication with national economic decision-makers to recognize the full value of forest resources.