Opportunities for Improved Transparency in the Timber Trade through Scientific Verification

Abstract

In May 2014, the Member States of the United Nations adopted Resolution 23/1 on "strengthening a targeted crime prevention and criminal justice response to combat illicit trafficking in forest products, including timber. " The resolution promotes the development of tools and technologies that can be used to combat the illicit trafficking of timber. Stopping illegal logging worldwide could substantially increase revenue from the legal trade in timber and halt the associated environmental degradation, but law enforcement and timber traders themselves are hampered by the lack of available tools to verify timber legality. Here, we outline how scientific methods can be used to verify global timber supply chains. We advocate that scientific methods are capable of supporting both enforcement and compliance with respect to timber laws but that work is required to expand the applicability of these methods and provide the certification, policy, and enforcement frameworks needed for effective routine implementation.

A geographical traceability system for Merbau (Intsia palembanica Miq.), an important timber species from peninsular Malaysia

“…Dormontt et al (2015) presented a detailed overview of these scientific tools and the differences in their accuracy, their cost and the experience required to perform verification [8]. These tools can be used to verify the claimed timber species and its geographic origin at discrete points along the supply chain from a logged forest to the point of sale [9]. The identity of timber species can be verified on the basis of wood anatomy [10], metabolic profiles [11], near-infrared spectroscopy [12] and DNA barcoding [13].…”

Advancing DNA Barcoding and Metabarcoding Applications for Plants Requires Systematic Analysis of Herbarium Collections—An Australian Perspective

“…Plant barcoding and metabarcoding can be used to verify the identification of traded ornamental and agricultural plants, including timber (Dormontt et al, 2015;Ng et al, 2016;Staats et al, 2016), to detect the importation or movement of invasive species (Scriver et al, 2015;Xu et al, 2018), and determine the contents of botanical products such as traditional medicines (Newmaster et al, 2013;Seethapathy et al, 2015;Xin et al, 2015). Barcoding represents a potential additional tool for border security purposes as well as for businesses who could also utilize barcoding and metabarcoding services to internally verify compliance and demonstrate due diligence (Lowe et al, 2016).…”

Genomic tools for traceability: Opportunities, challenges and perspectives for the Canadian forestry sector

“…Another method using SNP markers is presently being developed for Indonesian teak (Tectona grandis L. f.) destined to the Australian market (Lowe et al 2015). According to a group of experts, this method of individual genomic identification is more suitable for species of very high economic value where the volumes harvested are rather low (Lowe et al 2016). In a legal context, genomic fingerprint methods have also been used to identify: 1) stolen bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum Pursh.)…”