The BVRio Brazilian timber Due Diligence and Risk Assessment service has been updated this month with two revised service options for timber importers.

Production has started for the 2021 Copa Verde trophies, made with FSC® certified wood and designed by Guido Guedes and Alessandra Delgado.

At the end of March 2021, BVRio completed its second project funded by the UK government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) Forest Governance Markets and Climate (FGMC) programme. During the first project, running from 2015 to 2018, we adapted the Responsible Timber Exchange, originally developed for Brazil, to the circumstances of other tropical forest timber producer countries (Ghana, Liberia, Ivory Coast and Cameroon) and the consumer markets of the UK, EU and China.

There are over 50,000 species of timber in the world, but only a small fraction is widely used commercially. This, however, does not mean that the rest of the species are unsuitable for a variety of commercial uses. There under-utilised species are known as Lesser-Known and Lesser-Used Timber Species (LKTS) and can often substitute more popular species in terms of performance and aesthetics, and cost-effectiveness. This makes choosing LKTS a good business decision, which also has the potential to improve livelihoods and protect biodiversity.

In collaboration with Ghana Forestry Commission’s Timber Industry Development Division (TIDD), Forest Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG), Ghana Timber Millers Organization (GTMO) and the Ghana Timber Association (GTA), BVRio developed a set of communication materials that include technical information about a selection of timber species that are available to the international markets.

While Ghana has nearly 90 species that are regularly exploited and traded as timber, its diverse forests contain many other species that can be commercialised. Many of these under-utilised species have similar and sometimes even better performance capabilities than well-known species. Others have a distinctive and unique appearance that makes them ideal for creating attractive timber products. Using a more diverse selection of species is not only a good business decision but also has the potential to improve livelihoods, protect biodiversity and promote sustainable forest management.

BVRio and FSC Peru are working together to promote certified and legal timber from Peru to the international market. On 19 August, both organizations hosted a webinar for Peruvian timber companies. This was an informative session that included presentations from two Chinese timber companies, who shared their experience in the sector during the COVID19 pandemic.

According to the FAO (2015), Indonesia has around 91 million hectares of forested land, which constitutes to 53% of the total land area. Indonesia has three categories of forest land: Conservation Forests, Protection Forests, and Production Forests. More than half of the Indonesian forest area is production forest and 87% is owned by the State.

The new RTX platform was launched this Tuesday 14th of January 2020. The user interface is now simpler, providing sellers with greater ability to demonstrate compliance with timber legality and sustainability requirements, and buyers a quicker way to carry out their own due diligence.

BVRio, Landscape Indonesia and the Indonesian Forestry Certification Cooperation announce partnership to expand the Responsible Timber Exchange in Indonesia   29 March 2018 – BVRio, Landscape Indonesia and the Indonesian Forestry Certification Cooperation (IFCC) establish a partnership based on the mutual intention of pursuing sustainable forest management in Indonesia. Under the terms of the MoU, the three parties