LIVELIHOODS

...and a responsible and Just Timber TRADE

Is your livelihood linked to forests? Do you depend on timber or wood-based products for all or part of your livelihood?

A globally traded resource...

Well, if you can answer yes to the above questions you have an economic interest in forests. You also have moral and social obligations to ensure your livelihood does not impact negatively on forests and the millions of life forms forests support - from animals to people.

Millions of people all over the world derive their livelihoods working with timber and manufacturing wood-based products. But do we ever think of the importance of Non Timber Forest Products (NTFPs) to people's livelihoods? NTFP's are one of the important natural resources of the Himalayan region where majority of people depends on them as a source of food,fodder,fiber,medicine,condiment,dye and other useful materials. Rural communities are highly dependent on a range of NTFPs for their subsistence needs which contribute up to 50% of their total annual family income.

Measures to address climate change are being actively developed in the countries which have ratified the Kyoto Protocol. However, the potential benefits of utilising wood products to reduce carbon dioxide emissions is not well recognised in the decision-making of governments, public purchasing agencies and individual consumers. There is a need for better understanding of the benefits and costs for sustainable development of using wood products to mitigate climate change. Such improved understanding then needs to be widely communicated and spread such that better informed policy and purchasing decisions are possible.

The monetary value of nature – in particular the goods and services it provides us such as water, food, energy and clean air – is enormous. Various estimates have put the value at many times the total of the world’s gross domestic product. But this value is often not taken into account in economic and tax policy, financial systems and markets. Nearly all environmental and social issues have an economic component and many are driven by market distortions.

Sustainable Procurement of Wood and Paper-based Products

Just like Chico Mendes, its about 'justice' and 'values'...	Importance of Wood	The Timber Trade	What You Can Do
Do you deal in wood?	Just JOBS

Information on the new EU Timber Regulation
	Informationflyerseptember2011190911.doc (35 KB)