Project/activity information

A major obstacle to promoting certified tropical wood and verified legal tropical wood (hereafter “C/VL wood”) as a means to achieving sustainable forest management in tropical countries is the inadequate market demand for C/VL wood. Promoting and creating demand for C/VL wood are urgent tasks for Asia because it produces and consumes more tropical wood than any other region. To create such demand is especially important in Japan, one of the world’s largest importers of tropical wood.

The Project will establish a center ? the “FairWood Center” ? to act as a clearinghouse and a point of expertise for C/VL wood. The FairWood Center will support companies both on the demand and supply sides to trade in C/VL wood by providing attractive business-oriented environmental and social information and supporting phased approaches to boost supply.

The Project will focus on Indonesia and Malaysia as tropical timber producing countries, and the knowledge gained from the Project will be used to open the services of the FairWood Center to all producer countries.

The model developed under the Project to encourage sustainable forest management by creating demand for legal and sustainable wood products in consuming countries can be applied to other producer and consumer countries.