Policy Documents

Are you ready for the new EU regulation on illegal timber? If you are trading in wood or paper products, then you should act now and start preparing for future demands for legality assurance. A growing number of companies are now enrolling in legality verification schemes, thus positioning themselves to meet these demands READ MORE

Policy Documents from Around the World

A Message From CITES - Introduction - The Importance of Wood - 2011 - International Year of Forests - What is Good Wood? - Why Good Wood can help protect populations and resources - Ireland and the international trade in wood - Find Good Wood - A turning point for forests? - Good Wood Guide - Good Wood and Music - the Sound of Wood - Wood and Waste *********** Download a summary here...******

REDD, Development and Sustainable Forest ManagementIndustrial timber production has a poor record in Africa. Over the past sixty years, there is little evidence that it has lifted rural populations out of poverty or contributed in other meaningful and sustainable ways to local and national development. CIRAD, World Bank, and CIFOR, 2007. Forests in Post-Conflict Democratic Republic of Congo: Analysis of a Priority Agenda.

A formal complaint on the widespread use of illegally-logged timber in Ireland is lodged by Just Forests with the EU Commissioner for Consumer Protection/Affairs. Consumers are the key players in the European economy. "There are now more than 490 million consumers in Europe and their expenditure represents over half of the EU’s gross domestic product (GDP). Consumers are essential to economic growth and job creation. Yet there is an EU-wide lack of consumer confidence when it comes to cross-border shopping. I believe that consumers should be as confident about making purchases in other countries as they are at home." Meglena Kuneva, EU Commissioner for Consumer Affairs

Industrial logging under the guise of “Sustainable Forest Management (SFM)” is a major source of carbon emissions, a primary driver of deforestation and threatens to derail the UN process to reduce deforestation, according to a new report released by leading environmental NGO, Global Witness, at the UN Climate Change talks in Bonn today. Vested interests pushing the “SFM agenda” have co-opted 13 influential inter-governmental organisations – the Collaborative Partnership on Forests (CPF)1 - which are driving the agenda in Bonn.

Ever wondered how much 'Nature' your lifestyle requires? Well now you can measure your 'Carbon Footprint Read More... [Click Here]

Brazilian Environment Secretary Marina Silva resigns as Amazon deforestation increases

Report from Uganda on linkages between forests and poverty.

Palm oil plantation expansion causes millions of acres of clear-cut rainforest every year. There are thousands of household products on sale here in Ireland that contain palm oil- from face creams (see GREENPEACE movie below onDove/Oil of Ulay) and soaps to biscuits and sweets

Ecologically, oaks are keystone species in a wide range of habitats from Mediterranean semi-desert to subtropical rainforest. Oaks are under threat in the wild from general forest loss and over-exploitation of particular species. This report presents a review of the conservation status in the wild of oaks worldwide, undertaken by the IUCN/SSC Global Tree Specialist Group.