Certification and Eco-Labelling of Timber and Timber Products

Abstract

In recent years, there has been intense interest and concern about deforestation and degradation of the world’s forests with consequent environmental damages — at the global level, loss of biological diversity and climate change, and at the national and local levels, harm to the provision of products and services derived from forests. Initiatives for certification and eco-labelling of timber and timber products have been motivated by these concerns and by the possibilities of acting in the near term to foster better forest management and complementing long-term efforts to improve forestry policies and practices. It is also widely recognized that timber is an important commodity in trade and that forest industries provide income and employment in producing countries.