Since 2011, FSC has increasingly made use of wood identification technologies. Recently new technologies have made it possible to combine the information about species with very specific information about exactly where the timber was harvested from. These tests include the use of stable isotope and DNA and have the potential to determine the forest from where the wood originated within a 10-kilometre radius. In other words, these new technologies make it possible for forest owners and communities under pressure from illegal logging to protect their market share, because it is possible to prove that the timber comes from their forests. But to be able to identify the origin of finished wood products, enough samples from that forest must be available to use these comparative sciences. That is why FSC, US Forest Services and Kew Gardens have joined forces to launch the Global Timber Referencing Project. The project has set out to build the world’s largest database of geo-referenced wood samples from all regions of the world where illegal logging is an issue. Current databases of geo-referenced wood samples are very limited, especially from forests that are being illegally logged.
Collection of wood reference samples on a global scale
FSC collects wood reference samples directly from forests. It will expand this work across the 1,600 FSC-certified forests in all timber-producing regions of the world. All reference samples collected will then be sent to an open-source reference library established by FSC and our partners. The reference library is open to be used with any recognized wood identification technology. Through this sample collection, we will not only ensure the credibility of the FSC scheme, but also strengthen efforts to tackle illegal logging worldwide.
Working with the world’s leading laboratories
FSC is working with credible partners such as Kew Gardens, Agroisolab, the University of Tennessee, and the USDA US Forest Service Forest Service to create a global, open-source database based on a collective library of reference samples, where users can access the database, and sub-samples can be provided to bona fide researchers and/or labs upon request. The library can be used to identify species and locations of harvest and will be accessible to everyone. This tool will add extra benefits to our work, going far beyond FSC certification and have a greater impact in combatting illegal logging worldwide.
Collecting in Gabon
After conducting sample collections in Amazonia (Nicaragua, Honduras, Guatemala and Peru) and most recently in the Pacific region (Solomon Island), FSC supply chain integrity decided to pilot collection in the Congo Basin in order to sample African tropical rain forest species. With the support of FSC Congo Basin two field missions were organized to cover the three FSC certified concessions of Gabon. A partnership with the Institut de Recherche en Ecologie Tropicale (IRET) was concluded and a local researcher was selected to be trained to take part in the project. A first mission led by one of FSC Supply Chain team members collected samples in June 2019 in the CBG and CEB/Precious Woods forest concessions. They collected from 10 different species with a focus on the Okoume tree which is Gabon’s most prevalent specie. In November 2019, Rougier Gabon hosted the field mission. Two samples from each tree were shipped to Kew Gardens to complete the library and one sample was kept by the local research institution. A journalist from CNN covered the June mission and reported on the initiative.
Illegal logging brings unfair competition to the FSC concessions of the Congo Basin. We hope to soon see the impact of these new technologies in fighting against these practices.