PROJECT DESCRIPTION
BACKGROUND
Tropical forests cover only 6 % of the world’s surface area but contain half to three-quarters of the earth’s plant and animal species. Loss of habitats and biodiversity threatens the survival of some of the world’s most endangered primates, while forests have a crucial role in mitigating and adapting to climate change. Illegal logging in nine forest producer countries was estimated to have released 190 million tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere in 2013.
The main drivers of illegal logging are weak forest governance in producer countries and the importing of timber products by consumer countries without sufficient checks on whether they have been legally sourced.
The European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR) took effect in 2013, making it illegal to place timber in the EU market if it was illegal in the country of harvest, and requiring companies to implement due diligence measures to reduce the risk of illegal timber entering the EU.
A 2017 report on EUTR compliance checks showed that 40 % of timber exporters did not have appropriate due diligence systems in place, compared to only 8 % of domestic operators. The report also revealed a huge disparity between how EU countries monitor operators that place imported timber on the EU market. Some countries that import significant quantities of tropical high-risk timber carry out very few checks, creating a loophole, with companies knowing they will face minimal or no checks in some countries. The only way to close this loophole is to ensure adequate enforcement across the EU.
OBJECTIVES
The overall objective of the LIFE - Support EUTR II project was to reduce illegal logging and improve sustainable forest management globally through improved compliance, monitoring and enforcement of the EUTR by key duty holders.
The specific objectives were:
- to increase the capacity of key stakeholders to understand, comply with, monitor and enforce the EUTR requirements, especially in EU countries where the greatest impact can be made;
- to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of EUTR compliance, monitoring and enforcement through increased availability and quality of free information about compliance risks related to imported timber;
- to increase awareness among key stakeholders about the availability of free EUTR information and resources.
- The project will complement a previous project by aiming to close remaining gaps in EUTR implementation, with a specific focus on competent authorities, monitoring organisations and industry operators in critical timber-importing countries.
RESULTS
The project's aim was to reduce illegal logging and improve sustainable forest management globally through improved compliance, monitoring and enforcement of the EU Timber Regulation among key duty holders.
The project worked towards:
- increasing capacity among key stakeholders to comply with, monitor, and enforce the EUTR requirements.
- improving efficiency and effectiveness in EUTR compliance, monitoring and enforcement among key stakeholders.
- increasing awareness of key stakeholders regarding the availability of free information and resources regarding imported timber risks to enable better EUTR compliance.
Timber risk assessments and Toolkits were prepared for 13 countries.
Almost all originally foreseen physical meetings and trainings were organised online.
The new timber risk database has been developed and the new sourcing hub is available at https://sourcinghub.preferredbynature.org.
Four training videos were developed and are available at: https://preferredbynature.org/sourcinghub/eutr-info/guides-tools/eutr-training-videos
