Europe can sustain sustainable tropical timber

The European tropical timber trade was, of course, hit by global recession. But it had been in steady decline, largely, it is thought, due to anxieties over tropical timbers’ environmental credentials, for some years before; the downturn simply served to exacerbate the downward trend.

This was, naturally, a source of mounting concern for the timber business. It represented not just a loss of trade, the contraction of the market threatened to deprive a growing swathe of European specifiers, end-users and consumers of an incredibly diverse, versatile and beautiful raw material. More significant still was the adverse impact it could have on the tropical forest.

Europe has been in the forefront of international efforts to promote the spread of sustainable forest management (SFM) in the tropics and its market for the end product, certified, sustainable timber, incentivized that spread. If that market continued to shrink, the fear was that the drive to SFM could shrink with it.

That’s why the European Sustainable Tropical Timber Coalition (STTC) came into being and why it is now taking its effort to halt and reverse the decline of Europe’s tropical timber trade another step forward, with a raft of new initiatives.

The STTC was formed in 2013 by Dutch government backed IDH, The Sustainable Trade Initiative in association with a grouping of independent European timber businesses retailers, end-users, local authorities, NGOs and trade bodies, including the European Timber Trade Federation (ETTF).

This alliance pledged to implement its own action plans to further the goals of the STTC. They formed working groups focused on technical issues and marketing to raise awareness of the availability of certified sustainable tropical timber and its potential in a range of applications. The STTC also lobbied the authorities and backed development of a website highlighting the potential of lesser-known sustainably sourced tropical species.

After this strong start, last year the STTC decided to move to the next phase. The ETTF became the managing partner and a new strategy was developed, to directly fund companies, trade associations and local authorities to implement sustainable procurement action plans and initiatives. This latter move was partly inspired by the successful introduction of responsible procurement policies for members by the UK Timber Trade Federation, and Royal Netherlands Timber Trade Association. They led the way in demonstrating that such concrete actions to shape the market really had impact.

So now the STTC, via the ETTF, is distributing a total of €1m to this end. Companies and local authorities are eligible for match funding up to €15,000 or 30% of the cost, to implement procurement strategies and other STTC-aligned activities. Federations can receive up to €30,000 to introduce sustainable procurement policies and codes of conduct.