Links

Non-Profit Organisations in Japan involved in Forest Conservation

Friends of the Earth - Japan focusses particularly on environmental issues which pertain to Japan and seeks particularly to encourage Japan's timber industry to procure legal and sustainable timber and, through its international affiliates, publishes guidance in choosing wood for use in housing.

Greenpeace - Japan highlights civil society's environmental concerns including through expos?s (of forest crime) and the promotion of sustainable alternatives (including in the publishing and timber industries).

The Japan Tropical Forest Action Network "JATAN" seeks to raise the awareness of the Japanese public and business to the damaging impact of Japan's trade in wood-based products.

Sarawak Campaign Committee seeks in particular to highlight the role of Japanese business in destroying forests (and, as a consequence, the livelihoods of indignous people) in Sarawak

WWF - Japan is the local branch of a conservation organisation which amongst other things has taken a lead in promoting sustainable forest management and the credible certification of wood-based products. Through its international affiliates it publishes a guide to timber procurement at different stages along the chain of supply.

International Non-Profit Organisations Involved in this Issue

Bruno Manser Fonds aims to support indigenous people against tropical forest destruction, especially the Penan in Sarawak.

CIFOR carries out and publishes research particularly into the management of tropical forests.

Conservation International seeks to protect the world's biodiversity hotspots, tropical wilderness and key marine areas.

The Environmental Investigation Agency "EIA" has had particular success with Telapak - and Indonesian NGO - in exposing Malaysia and Singapore's complicity in trade in illegal timber from Indonesia, and particularly the role of Free Ports in smuggling.

The Forest Stewardship Council "FSC" maintains what, so far, is the only certification scheme concerning forest management and the supply of timber which is largely endorsed by civil society. It takes into account difficulties which producers might have in transforming their businesses, and endorses a step-by-step approach so long as commitment is demonstrated. A guide to the procurement of FSC-certified timber has been published. The FSC maintains a current list of companies which hold - for at least part of their output - certificates of forest management and/or "chain of custody".

Forest Trends focuses on the market for wood-based products by publishing its research and arranging conferences.

Forests Monitor publishes research into corporate activity (and its local impact) in tropical and other vulnerable forests.

Global Forest Watch (a unit of the World Resources Institute) carries out mapping and research of the logging industry in several countries, including on behalf of governments. It publishes selectively from its findings.

globaltimber.org.uk charts China's involvement in the trade in timber from tropical countries and Russia.

Global Witness exposes links between governance and illegal trade in natural resources particularly timber (including furniture), oil and diamonds and monitors forest crimes on behalf of governments. Its publications include a review of timber consumption in Japan.

The Nature Conservancy is a leading conservation organisation whose interests include protecting biodiversity in forests.

Pacific Environment seeks to protect valuable ecosystems (including forests) around the Pacific Rim.

World Rainforest Movement (including the Forest People's Programme) seeks to protect forests for indigenous people and dispel (including through bulletins) myths about "development" in forest areas.

The Gobal Forest & Trade Network seeks, through its member companies, to promote trade in timber which is certified as both legal and from sustainably managed forests. It works primarily at the end-user~retailer interface and, at forest level, with producers.

Metafore works with the timber industry to promote sustainable forestry.

Proforest provides assistance in designing policy and implementing practice in relation to sustainable forest management, particularly certification.

The Tropical Forest Trust, "TFT", assists committed concessionaires both in managing their forests sustainably and in matching their output to the requirements ofmanufacturers and retailers who are members of the TFT. The TFT provides marketing assistance to those retailers, particularly through the promotion of the TFT brand and advice, particularly to the industry.

Forests.org, is a "virtual" resource for information, news and action alerts pertaining to forest conservation.

The Rainforest Action Network, which has been instrumental in shaming major USA-based timber companies into halting their procurement from, or logging in, old growth forest, also produces relevant news articles.

Multilateral Organisations

The forest-related activities of the United Nations' Food and Agriculture Organsation "FAO" include the collation of national statistics - and the publication of research - pertaining to forests and the timber trade. In not distinguishing between types of tree cover (e.g. scrub, tropical rain forest and mono-culture tree farms such as palm oil plantations - whose commercial and socio-environmental dynamics differ greatly) the FAO risks misleading planners. The World Conservation Monitoring Centre of the United Nations Environment Programme is a resource for information on forest ecosystems.

The ITTO is an multi-lateral organisation devoted to the conduct of international trade in tropical timber, but its discussions on sustainable forest management and illegal timber do not seem to have affected forest management or the chain of supply downstream. The ITTO is a leading publisher of information about the tropical timber trade.

The World Bank group, which might seem rather less transparent than regulated commercial banks (which are subject to national money laundering legislation and the like), plays a major role in forest issues. It often, however, tends to promote the export of quantities of timber from tropical producer countries in excess of that which those countries governments can properly manage.

The Asia Forest Partnership exchanges information about sustainable forest management in Asia.

The Forest Law Enforcement and Governance process "FLEG" relates particularly to natural tropical forest of commercial interest in Africa and East Asia.

The European Union's Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade process "FLEGT" includes efforts to improve law enforcement and governance. It seeks to do so, for example, through a licensing scheme to ensure that only legal timber is permitted to enter the EU (particularly for public sector projects), and co-operation with two of the three other major importing blocs (Japan and the USA but not China).

Government Organisations

The USA's President's Initiative Against Illegal Logging sponsors a number of important conservation initiatives, but does not address illegal timber, particularly that which the USA imports.

The Foreign Agricultural Service of the USA's Department for Agriculture publishes reports on the Solid Wood Product industries of several countries.

The UK's Royal Institute for International Affairs and the UK government's Department for International Development, including through their website of information and news about illegal logging, are at the forefront of developing policy and good practice to combat illegal logging.