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.

At the 12th BRICS Summit, held via video conference on the 17th November 2020, the Brazilian government “threatened to disclose” that “Europeans have purchased illegal timber from Brazil during 2017”. Indeed, this is true. Recent analysis by BVRio concluded that a high percentage of Brazilian hardwoods, exported to EU member states and the USA in 2016-2017, had a very high risk of illegality. The study was based on BVRio’s Timber Due Diligence systems, that uses big data analysis and satellite imagery and is able to able to identify the risk of irregularities in 99% of cases.

With over 65% of the Republic of Congo covered by forest – an area almost the size of the United Kingdom - it is vitally important that sustainable forest management practices take place in the country, both to improve livelihoods and protect the forest. The main legislation to do this is the country’s Forest Code; in July 2020, a new version of the code received presidential approval after eight years of revision. This is an important milestone towards a more sustainable and inclusive forestry and timber sector.

In September 2019, the Expert Group for the European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR) released specific due diligence requirements for timber imports from Brazil. These requirements aim to ensure that the risk of illegality along the supply chain is at a negligible level. To facilitate the due diligence process for timber operators, BVRio explains how its Due Diligence System can help meeting these specific requirements.

Cameroon has vast forest resources that provide millions of people with jobs and subsistence products. The forest sector accounts for 8% of the country’s gross domestic product (FAO FRA 2015). Unfortunately, Illegal logging has long been recognised as a significant problem in the country, due to misuse of certain logging permits and lack of effective regulation and law enforcement (Hoare 2015).

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.