Communities residing in the areas have practiced sustainable forest managament, and they produce certified wood.

During a visit by BBC, Siman – Head of Farmers Communication Forum in Selopuro Village, Batuwarno Subdistrict, Wonogiri District, Central Java – measures the teak tree grown on the land owned by Sutantini.

The 30 years old teak tree has a diameter of around 140 centimeters. It is one of the 30–50 years old teak trees planted by her late father, Sugio. Hundreds of teak seedlings also grow on the area.

Sutantini admits that she treats the trees as a saving for her familiy.

“Depends on what we need, the trees are just for urgent needs. If it is only for paying school fee, we can still use the money from other sources. If we need to spend money for something very important, then we will cut down the tree,” she said.

The traditional joglo house where she lives is also build from teak trees grown on her land. Several people also seen to walk down the village road carrying wood, woooden window and door frames. They were moving a traditional joglo house to a new location. Sigit Riyanto of Selopuro Village Farmers Communication Forum said that the habit of moving one house to another location can decrease the logging activities in the village’s community forest.

The community forest in Selopuro covers an area of 262.77 hectares, ranging from field, yard and plantation. Trees started to be planted in 1972 on villagers’ yard and then all the way down to their field.

Ecolabel Certification
Teak trees are grown among the scattered rocks are found in Selopuro village. The community forest management then received ecolabel certificate from PT Mutu Agung Lestari.

According to Siman – Head of Certified Farmers Communication Forum, the Indonesian Ecolabeling Institute certification scheme was developed in Indonesia with a system and standard to certify natural forest, plantation forest and community-based forest management.

The community forest in Selopuro village and its neighboring village Sumber Rejo obtained the certificate in 2004. The total forest size covers an area of 549.68 hectares.

“One thing that we observe is the water source. Before the forest was fully grown, we had to walk 1.5 km to fetch water. We no longer have to do it now. Therefore, empty land should be planted with trees,” said Siman.

After obtaining ecolabel certificate,the teak wood generated community the forest can reach higher market price and in the form of furniture it can be exported to European and USA markets.

Nevertheless, there is no overexploitation. As explained by Surtantini, farmers are required to plant new trees to replace the cut down tree.

“To maintain forest sustainability, whenever a tree is felled, ten new trees must be planted,” she said. Apart from maintaining forest sustainability, around 8 villagers are also trained to produce furniture made of certified wood.

LEI’s chain of custody certification will ensure that the wood and non-wood materials are legally extracted only from sustainable community forests.

The director of PT Furni Jawa Lestari, Jajag Suryoputro explained the reason behind the use of wood products from certified community forests.

“Speaking of certified products made of certified wood, it should not be based on market drive. It should be promoted by wood suppliers because we are trying to save or maintain the sustainability of natural resources. The goal is to give an example to community members so that they do not perform random felling. There are consequences for every taken acts,” explained Jajag.

Furniture produced by PT. Furni Jawa Lestari is mainly exported to European countries. LEI-CoC identification is attached to the producs and their packages. Jajag said that to be able to use the logo, both the manufacturer and source of wood raw materials need to be certified.

“Many people take a shortcut by certifying only the manufacturer without thinking where the raw materials originated from. Our company is different. We believe that, eventhough ecolabel is still unknown in the market, it is a form of integrity performed by the Indonesian people,” said Jajag.

“We are open to audit. Anyone who buys our products are welcome to contact us. And by using the code attached to the products, buyers can trace the source of the wood materials,” he added.

Apart from Selopuro village, PT Furni Jawa Lestari also obtained certified wood from Wonosari, Gunung Kidul district, Yogyakarta Special Region, that is in Dengok Village, Playen Subdistrict.

European Market
Meanwhile, Chairman of Wana Manunggal Lestari Cooperative, Sugeng Suyono said that to facilitate the certification process , they perform an inventory activity by putting numbers on teak trees found in the community forest.

He said the community still experienced difficulties in marketing certified wood product because they had to sell to certified manufacturers.

Sugeng hopes the government can provide support the ecolabel certification and assist the communities managing the community forests.

Economic added value is one of the requirements for sustainable forest, as explained by Taryanto Wijaya of PERSEPSI — Association for Economic and Social Study and Development (Perhimpunan untuk Studi dan Pengembangan Ekonomi dan Sosial PERSEPSI).

“Certification can also serves as an investment to increase product competitiveness in global markets that demand for certified wood,” stated Taryanto.

The NGO assist the communities in Selopuro and Sumberrejo villages during the certification process. In 2006, EU imported around 30 millions m3 of wood and related products extracted from illegal sources. Almost up to one fifth of wood imported to the EU in 2006 was alleged to be extracted from illegal sources, with Rusia, Indonesia and China being the main suppliers.

Taryanto said, certification of wood extrected from community forest was very essential for the industry despite the fact that the government has not provided any supports yet.

“Community forests are relatively neglected. The Ministry of Forestry only deals with large forests. Therefore, we initiated real field recognition and efforts,” he said.

Government’s support for the certification of community forests are required to bring an added value for the community for the fact that the total area of community forests is more than 1.5 million hectares. [bbc]

Source: BBC

Before the 1980s, Selopuro village, Batuwarno, Wonogiri, Central Java, was 646.5 hectares of stony ground with little vegetation. Coupled with an annual water crisis, the unproductive area meant its population lived in poverty.

Today, however, more than 250 hectares of the village have become forests, almost 70 hectares are now rice fields. There are a little over 90 hectares of gardens, 250 hectares of non-irrigated fields, 240 hectares of state forests and 4 hectares of other areas.

The lush forests in Selopuro have been recognized as a Sustainable Community Based Forest Management (PHBML) zone. In 2004, the nonprofit agency Indonesian Ecolabel Institute (LEI) established Selopuro forests as Indonesia’s first certified sustainable forests. While preserving the ecology, Selopuro community forests offer economic benefits without abandoning local culture.

Misman is behind the success of Selopuro’s replanting drive. It is through the initiative, patience and struggle of this father-of-three that locals have become environmentally conscious and voluntarily replanted their home village to reap greater rewards.

As a secondary school student in 1968, Misman was dismayed by the denuded environment of his village and the dire poverty of its population. Without replanting, Selopuro was infertile and only cassava, an annual and low-yielding crop, could be grown. Water springs could not be found and a yearly water crisis plagued the area, forcing locals to spend a third of their time searching for water.

Of the thousands of village residents, only Misman and a neighbor attended secondary school (SMP).

“Most of them were just making ends meet so they didn’t give much thought to studying,” said Misman.

Inspired by the lyrics of a folk song, Ibu Pertiwi (Motherland) that describes the natural wealth of the country, Misman, now the husband of Suminem, 51, became convinced that a green mountainous zone would be a blessing to its community members.

The SMP student began to realize his dreams of greening his barren village. Walking home from school, Misman took the trouble to find seedlings of plants growing wild, which he later planted in neat rows and nurtured on his parents’ 2-hectare plot of land.

“It was a self-help endeavor as I had no money to buy seedlings, so I trekked up and down the hills to find them,” he recalled. Meanwhile, Misman was campaigning for replanting. In the beginning of his struggle, he was frequently scorned because fellow villagers would not believe that growing trees could promote their wellbeing.

“They said I was nuts, doing it just for fun. They couldn’t grasp the idea of replanting for economic improvement,” he pointed out. Yet he carried on his one-man campaign whenever he went out and met people, apparently boring them. Residents gathering for some purpose would even disperse as Misman approached to avoid his greening “lectures”.

Undaunted, Misman kept motivating local people until some of them followed his example. Six years later, in 1976, Misman managed to form eight greening groups and for the first time received 4,000 seedlings in aid.

“Now, there’s no need to urge neighborhood people to grow trees. Residents willingly do so and even buy seedlings themselves because reforestation is more profitable,” Misman noted.

To compensate for every tree cut down, they prepare 25 seedlings and care for the young plants to ensure their growth. The hilly limestone area can normally be planted with corn as an annual crop, producing 1 ton per hectare on average, or worth about Rp 7 million (US$762) assuming the selling price is Rp 7,000 per kilogram.

If the same area is planted with sengon trees, for instance, a hectare will produce 500 trees, which in five years sell at Rp 800,000 to Rp 1 million per tree, thus yielding far bigger profits on average. To meet short-term needs, secondary crops or tubers can be grown as an intercrop among the trees.

The verdant community forests in Selopuro have had a vast economic impact on the rural community.

New water springs have emerged and their abundant supply has freed villagers from water shortages, caused a spread of grassland and a rapid growth in cattle breeding. The new springs arising in the post-greening period have been utilized since 2000.

Through collective efforts, locals have drilled wells and installed an electric pump to raise the water and channel it into a reservoir at a higher level for distribution, through the force of gravity, to hundreds of village homes. Based on village community data, 16 new water springs are still to be tapped.

The green community forests and lavish new water sources have set the local economy in motion.

Extensive grazing areas supply sufficient cattle feed, resulting in fast-developing cattle breeding activities, with each household raising a cow and three to five goats.

Employment is increasing too. Benefiting from the forest waste, in the form of teak and mahogany branches of 5 centimeters in diameter, villagers have started producing handicrafts. In cooperation with a local furniture firm, the products of Selopuro are entering the export market.

“Now, with the forests thriving, I don’t want to see any more forest destruction. I’ve seen the trauma of environmental damage; it led to disasters and impoverishment,” concluded Misman.

Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post, Wonogiri, Central Java | Tue, 06/08/2010 8:53 AM.
Source: Jakarta Post.

BONN, Germany (31 May 2010) — The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Lembaga Ekolabel Indonesia (LEI) have announced the launch of an 18-month collaboration to explore potential areas of cooperation regarding responsible forest management and forest certification in Indonesia. The agreement marks an important measure in the global efforts to facilitate responsible forest management in the tropics, and builds upon previous collaborative initiatives to advance forest certification in Indonesia.

As biodiversity hotspots of the world, tropical forests are vital to the existence of millions of indigenous people, and possess a unique set of social and environmental attributes. The rainforests of Indonesia rank among the most extensive and biologically significant in the world. However, these forests are under tremendous pressure. Deforestation from illegal logging and forest conversion continues to threaten vital habitat and critically endangered species such as the Sumatran orang-utan.

Forest management certification can offer financially competitive alternatives to poor forest management practices, illegal logging and land conversion. FSC and LEI use certification to address crucial social and environmental forestry issues — FSC internationally and LEI specific to Indonesia. The cooperation between the two certification schemes has the potential to benefit from the locally relevant standards and processes led by LEI in Indonesia with the internationally recognized FSC standards.

LEI has a balanced multi-stakeholder governance structure similar to that of FSC and LEI has been instrumental in establishing an applicable system for improving forest management in Indonesia, said FSC Director General Andre de Freitas. With the shared goal to improve forest management in the tropics, we can further this work by identifying the synergies between the FSC and LEI certification schemes and building on our respective strengths.

This is a new phase of FSC and LEI collaboration in Indonesia which shows significant advancement since the Joint Certification Program that concluded in 2005. Through many constructive discussions and meetings, FSC and LEI have agreed to sign a Memorandum of Understanding which intends to set up a new collaboration expressing shared vision of both parties which demonstrate mutual respect on each other certification scheme and achievements, said LEI Executive Director F. Agung Prasetyo.   The FSC and LEI are both certification schemes that promote responsible forest management. There would be so much we could achieve by working together and thus hopefully bring significant benefit to those who use the FSC and LEI certification schemes.

FSC and LEI have identified six specific areas for collaboration which will be explored in the coming months. These will include several analysis of compatibility between forest management standards and other central components of the respective schemes, and a particular focus on information exchange on certification of community based forest operations.

About FSC: FSC is an independent, non-governmental, not for profit organization established to promote the responsible management of the worlds forests. It provides standard setting, trademark assurance and accreditation services to companies and organizations interested in responsible forestry. Products carrying the FSC label are independently certified to assure consumers that they come from forests that are managed to meet the social, economic and ecological needs of present and future generations. FSC rules and procedures are developed through strong multi-stakeholder processes. They are supported and endorsed by social, environmental and economic constituents in the Global South and Global North alike. Find more information at www.fsc.org.

About LEI: The Indonesian Ecolabelling Institute (LEI-Lembaga Ekolabel Indonesia) is a non-profit balanced membership based organization that develops forest certification systems that promote mission of just and sustainable forest resource management in Indonesia. LEI has a very broad support in Indonesia among the forest industry, indigenous peoples groups, the forest science community as well as social and environmental non-governmental organizations. As a balanced membership based organization LEI retains independence and transparency, both necessary for the credibility of forest certification. Find more information at www.lei.or.id.

Media Contacts:

The complete release available to download here
Mou beetwen LEI and FSC available to download here

The emergence of many new water springs, lush greenery and fresh air as well as deterrent to global warming, are some of the ecological benefits.

However, a more difficult challenge awaits namely forest sustainability, especially when the woods extracted from the forest are to be exported.

World market, particularly that of European, is very cautious to non-certified wood products. In 1990s, encouraged by the environmentalists, Indonesian wooden products and furniture were boycotted due to the fact that they were extracted from forests with questionable sustainability status. Forest sustainability is proven with a sustainable forest management certificate.

There are several institutions working in the field of sustainable community forest management certification. One of them is the Indonesian Ecolabeling Institute (LEI), which was established in Bogor. Founded in 1998, LEI has performed certification on 1.1 million hectares of natural forests; 453,000 hectares of plantation forests; 21,000 hectares of community forest and indigenous community forests throughout Indonesia, including in Wonogiri and Pacitan.

To obtain sustainable forest certification, the community members that manage the forest must establish a forest management unit (FMU). As an example, community in Batuwarno formed Communication Forum for Certification Farmer (Forum Komunikasi Petani Sertifikasi — FKPS) Selopuro and FKPS Sumberejo. In Pacitan, the community has formed Rimba Sari FMU and Kelompok Wana Rejo Asri in Sragen. Certification requirements include a series of tests and field inspections.

Despite the internationally-acknowledged standards, the certificate is yet to bring significant benefits to the forest communities. This is due to the facts that first, the plants are still young and have not reached the felling age. Second, only a limited area of forest that is currently certified which lead to limited public expose for the concern that it will bring a considerable number of demands for forest products which can threaten forests sustainability.

The future market for such forest products looks very promising, particularly with the increase of global communities’ awareness on environment sustainability and the legality of wood products. “Another challenge to face is how to create other sources of livelihood for the owners of community forests so that they do not solely depend on the forest to sustain their live. Based on our experiences, people still perform felling-when-needed habit. Such habit needs to be changed,” said Gladi Hariyanto of LEI.

Persepsi’s Vice Director of Agriculture, Forestry and Environment, Taryanto Wijaya – who has been assisting to the people in Batuwarno and Pacitan, admits that the felling-when-needed habit is a threat in achieving sustainable community forests. – By: Suharsih.

The drilled-well in Sumberejo Village, Batuwarno Subdistrict, Wonogiri was made in 2000. The spring that was founded by the local villagers can produce up to hundreds meter cubic of water per second.

Thanks to the spring, no less than 680 families in the village and surrounding areas can now enjoy a year-long access to sufficient amount of clean water. They no longer need to walk kilometers away to fetch water.

What more surprising is the fact that there are still more than 22 unexplored and unexploited springs in the village and another 16 in Selopuro Village.

All emerge after the community members of the two villages transform their land into community forests.

“Before the community forests grown here, the land was arid and barren. Water spring was located far from the villages. However, due to the reforestation, water now seems to spring everywhere,” said Katmo, a villager from Selopuro.

Communal Work
Persepsi’s Vice Director, Taryanto Wijaya – who has been assisting to the people in Selopuro and Sumberejo in their endeavor to conserve the environment, said that it was the community who found the spring.

Together they pushed aside rocks, drilled a well and installed a 6x450 watts water pump.

“A team with a task to manage the well and evenly distributed the water to the villagers has also been established here,” said Taryanto.

Meanwhile, in Selopuro – according to a local tree-planting pioneer, Misman – people built a dam to store water produced by the spring. Villagers can then make use of the water for their daily needs and to irrigate their field. Also according to Misman, he and other villagers need to transport 1.168 trucks of stone to build the dam.

Other positive impacts of the community forests – apart from the newly emerged water springs – are new work opportunities. So far, the community has processed twigs of teak, mahogany, and other hardwood trees into handicrafts. Thus, they can benefit from the forests without logging them.

For many, twigs are useless waste or, at the utmost, used only as firewood. However, for Siman, they can be collected and processed into various artistic furniture.

Twigs are usually made into sofas, cabinets or a set of table and chairs. The 5-cm in diameter twigs are arranged, assembled, and formed into furniture. Some decorated with glass.

“We are currently finishing the order from PT Jawafurni Lestari in Yogyakarta. Our business enterprise is run by 6–8 employees,” said Siman.

PT Jawafurni Lestari is a company that specializes in exporting furniture made from certified wood. Siman is yet to widely market his products to other companies. – By: Suharsih

For Misman, 59, a father of three, the increasing number of children going to school is evidence that standards of living in the village are improving.

“During my time, only two people, including me, completed junior high school. Just to have food on the table was difficult, let alone attend school,” he said.

Local people are becoming aware that forest conservation runs parallel to rising living standards through the sustainable forest management certificate program.

According to Slamet Riyadi Gadas, who heads environment and forest standardization affairs at the Forestry Ministry, community forests can obtain sustainable forest management certification provided they meet three conditions. Forests must be kept green and the socioeconomic value and ecological function of the forest must be maintained in order to obtain certification.

Slamet said that certification efforts were first initiated in 1990 when European countries boycotted tropical timber products because they were not managed in a sustainable manner.

The certification system was started in 2002 by the non-profit institution the Indonesian Ecolabelling Institute (LEI).

To endorse whether or not a community forest warrants a certificate, the LEI has appointed four institutions responsible, PT Mutu Agung Lestar (PT MAL), PT TuV International Indonesia, PT Sucofindo and PT SGS Indonesia.

Since its initiation in 2002, it has so far issued LEI certificates to 10 sustainable community forest management units in Java, spanning a total of 21,000 hectares.

“Ecolabelling certification is now part of the world trading system and as a member of the World Trade Organization [WTO], Indonesia should comply with the standardization.

“The market of forest products is very promising and its economic value is higher because consumers are now aware of sustainable forest management,” said Slamet.

“It is more economically viable and people’s welfare will definitely improve with sustainable forest management,” said Siman, who is the leader of an accredited farmers’ forum.

Since carrying out reforestation to make their forests the first to be certified as a community forest in Indonesia in 2004, villagers in Selopuro have rapidly improved their welfare. There are now 22 sources of water available for more than 21,000 people in the village.

“Before the reforestation, the area was barren and the only water source was far away. The residents had to spend most of their days fetching water,” Siman said.

Now, they can use their spare time to engage in productive activities, such as raising livestock.

As many as 80 percent of the villagers currently own at least two heads of cattle and five goats
per family.

To meet their daily needs, the residents cultivate side crops among the woods.

“Villagers earn an average of Rp 600,000 [US$60], excluding proceeds from livestock breeding. They save the money from selling timber whose proceeds are bigger,” said Misman.

“You can calculate the yields, excluding profits from processing forest timber, and see that reforestation is more beneficial,” said Misman.

Exploring the southern part of Java, from Gunungkidul in Yogyakarta Province to Pracimantoro, Giriwoyo and Batuwarno in Wonogiri then to Pacitan in East Java is an exciting journey. Lush greenery stretches far beyond eyesight, dotted with hills on both sides of the road.

Rock, as the major geological structure found in this karst area, is no longer visible. All are covered with plants, ranging from teak, albizia, rain tree, mahogany and other hardwood species.

Seasonal plants, such as cassava and groundnuts are planted on the spaces between the hardwood trees to sustain farmers’ daily needs.

Forest planting activities in the forest of southern Java was started in 1950s. Limited access to state forests, the decrease in land and environment qualities, demands for woods, cattle feed and water sources, all had encouraged the surrounding communities to plant their land with perennial and seasonal plants. Thus, community forests came to grow and variously named wana, alas, talun, kebun campur, and lembo by the communities.

It took around 20 years for the community in Selopuro, Batuwarno Subdistrict – the first community in Indonesia to obtain sustainable forest management certificate from LEI in 2004 – to promote planting culture and awareness on maintaining forest sustainability.

Some of the tree-planting pioneers, such as Misman and Siman, experienced the hardship of promoting such culture and awareness. Together with Persepsi NGO, they fought the challenges and can now proudly state that the planting rate is higher than the logging rate.

“At the beginning, we even cultivate seeds by ourselves and distribute the seedlings to the communities so that they would be willing to plant their land with hardwood plant,” said Misman. – By: Suharsih

Source: Please Click

Opened by Salahudin Wahid, also known as Gus Solah, and the representative of Lapindo mud victim children, the event took the theme of We Care. With this theme StoS Film Festival 2010 raises the solidarity and involvement from the Southern countries community and also upstream and downstream community members to save the environment and the victimized community. As one of its public involvement, StoS Film Festival 2010 held an environmental documentary movie competition.

The Indonesia Ecolabeling Institute took the part in the competition. In collaboration with KOMSEPSI Mataram, LEI presented the movie titled “Satu Harapan” (One Hope).

Directed by Yuli Andari, the movie presents community forest management practice in Sesaot, Nusa Tenggara Barat. Anton Susilo, the camera person, tells the story of how natural resources management, especially forest resources, is closely related to the problems of health education and gender faced by the community in the area. The movie focuses on the character of Ibu Sapiah. Ibu sapiah has to work hard to sustain her life and the life of her two children. She relies on the non forest products she can obtain from the forest she manages. Sapiah’s character is chosen as she is able to create an awareness that there are community members who have been marginalized due to the minimum access to forest resources. The movie also illustrate how difficult Sapiah’s life is due to the fact that she is also a mother who has to work in both private and public realms. The clear message of the movie is that the complex problem of forest resources management must be holistically approached using cross sector method, not only by improving the system and forest production technique.

On January 24, 2009 StoS Film Festival 2010 awarded Satu Harapan as the winner of the documentary movie section and it is also entitled to receive the South to South Film Festival Award. Satu Harapan was selected as the best movie out of the total 69 movies from varios places in Indonesia. In addition to the received award, Satu Harapan is also entitled to be awarded with cash money. The cash money is given to Ibu Sapiah so that she can use it to support the education of her two children. This is also our appreciation the Ibu Sapiah for the the inspirational story she has given.

Many parties contribute to the movie’s success, and as one of the communication media forms, Satu Harapan is expected to provide spirit to LEI, KONSEPSI Mataram and other constituents to be more creative in conveying their mission of fair and sustainable resources management practices.

As the draft is being compiled, on November 2–4, 2009 the National Water Conservation (LKPN) held an information dissemination activity and work program coordination. The heads of Marine and Fishery offices from all over Indonesia were invited in the national event. At first, LEI was not invited to the event but after explaining that LEI has a work team of marine conservation, the head of LKPN was more than happy to include LEI in the attendance list.

The important information acquired by the marine certification development team when attending the above national event was: 1) in 2009 a total sea area of 13.5 million ha has been stated as conservation area and in 2014 the total area is expected to expand to reach 15.5 million ha. In addition to providing protection for the species and habitat, the conservation area will also bring a positive impact of raising the local community prosperity. The local community’s prosperity can be raised through marine biota exploitation, under the condition that the exploitation must be responsibly and carefully carried out. The team also obtain the information that the Minister of Marine and Fishery, Fadel Mohammad, has the ambition to make his Department as one of the high budget Department. In this way the department will have the capacity to make Indonesia as one of the biggest fish producers in the world. This provide a guarantee that only qualified and environmentally friendly products Indonesia will offer to the global market.

When attending LKPN’s event, on November 2, 2009, the head of Marine Certification Development Team, Fadil Nadila, conducted a mailing list launching on the existence of his team to other milling lists of which are focused on sea and natural resources issues. Through the mailing lists, the marine and fishery stakeholders welcome the team while reminding the team to make sure that the certification (LEI certification) that is going to be developed will create no discrimination for the traditional community.

In addition to the warm welcome to the world of marine and fishery stakeholder, on November 11, 2009 the team was invited to a national workshop titled The finalization of Sustainable Coral Fish Management Strategy held by The Directorate General of Marine, Coastline and Small Island, the Coral Rehabilitation and Management Program in Jakarta.

The important information discussed in the workshop includes preparation for Indonesia to set up marine product certification system so that Indonesia’s marine products can be accepted by the market that demands environmentally friendly goods. LEI is hoping that this can be a kick off towards LEI certified marine products.

LEI Marine Certification Team meeting was scheduled to conduct its first meeting on November 17 2009 to formulize strategic to raise fund and conduct activities.

Central Government is estimated to purchase 20 per cent of all timber bought in the UK. This figure rises to 40 per cent when local authorities and other government bodies are included.

Mr Benn said:
“Developed nations such as the UK must support developing nations so that they do not have to make a choice between their ecosystems and their economies. Developing countries have long — and rightly — called for action by consumer countries to support their own efforts to manage their forests.

“The new social criteria demonstrate the UK’s commitment to use government purchasing power to help push illegal and unsustainable timber out of the market by improving labour standards, prote! cting the interests of developing nations and tackling climate change.”

Cutting down the world’s forests is responsible for about a fifth of global carbon emissions, but what many people may not realise is that this is linked to the illegal trade in timber. This is a major problem for many timber-producing countries in the developing world. It not only causes environmental damage, but costs governments billions of dollars in lost revenue, often involving corruption and funds armed conflict.

The social criteria that will now be included in the UK Government’s procurement policy are:

• identification, documentation and respect of legal, customary and traditional tenure and use rights related to the forest
• mechanisms for resolving grievances and disputes, including those relating to tenure and use rights, to forest management practices and to work conditions
• safeguarding the basic labour rights and health and safety of for! est workers.

The inclusion of social criteria build on the existing requirement that all Government bought timber is legal and sustainable, announced by Hilary Benn on 25 March 2009.

Wood products imported into the UK in 2008 were valued at £6.3 billion and comprised 11 million cubic metres of wood (sawnwood, other wood and woodbased panels) and 9 million tonnes of pulp and paper.

See: http://www.defra.gov.uk/news/2009/090325b.htm