Timber Traceability: A Diagnostic Tool for Practitioners and Policymakers

Abstract

Traceability is recognized as important for the legitimacy and credibility of natural resource management, and as a tool to support and demonstrate compliance with legality and sustainability requirements. This report seeks to provide practical technical guidance to decision-makers and designers of government-sponsored timber traceability systems so that they can better define their needs and design and implement traceability systems that respond to the specific needs and context of the country.

Timber Traceability and Sustainable Transportation Management: A Review of Technologies and Procedures

“…A "chain of custody" assures that the certified parties document and record each phase of the production and circulation life cycle of timber as both a resource and an item. This system should ideally consist of a fundamental database that provides information to all clients via an uncomplicated login or comparable approach [158]. The data maintained inside this system should be clear and comprehensive in terms of both sustainability and compliance.…”