Metsä Group's Äänekoski mill in Finland now calls itself a ‘bioproducts mill’ as it makes paper and wood for recyclable drinks cartons, clothing and building materials. They re-use the chemical additives and by-products of the production process to make sure they are not wasted. They also deploy drones to digitally map the forest area so they can monitor trees using a mobile phone app and then arrange remotely for contractors to thin or harvest an area when the trees look ready. For more information, please visit Metsä Group's website.

SPOTT released their 2019 timber and pulp assessment results, which show the tropical forestry sector needs to improve public disclosure of policies and practices. Although average scores were just 20.4%, compared to 31.1% in 2018, companies assessed since 2017 have, on average, increased their score over time, showing some progress towards transparency. A full summary of this year’s assessments is available at this link.

The Norwegian parliament voted to make Norway the world's first country to ban its biofuel industry from importing deforestation-linked palm oil starting in 2020. A 2017 report by Rainforest Foundation Norway (RFN) showed palm oil-based biofuels have a more detrimental effect on climate change than using fossil fuels. The resolution calls on the government "to formulate a comprehensive proposal for policies and taxes in the biofuels policy in order to exclude biofuels with high deforestation risk."

Study shows that 92.2 percent of tree cover loss in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and 48.2 percent in the Republic of Congo (ROC) is linked to small-scale shifting cultivation. Global Land Analysis and Discovery (GLAD) and World Resources Institute’s Congo team mapped the rural complex of DRC and ROC, with forest fragmentation to differentiate between the rural complex, fragmented forest and undisturbed forest. The DRC and ROC rural complex maps together enable better understanding which loss is caused by shifting cultivation cycling back to previously farmed areas, and which shows new deforestation, degradation or fragmentation.

British fast food restaurants and grocery chains, including Tesco, Morrisons and McDonald’s, buy their chicken from Cargill, which feeds its poultry with imported soy, much of it apparently coming from the Bolivian Amazon and Brazilian Cerrado — areas rapidly being deforested for new soy plantations. Retailers have so far not used their leverage over Cargill to compel it to support a soy moratorium expansion.

Although 2015 saw worldwide demand for graphic paper decline for the first time ever, the paper and forest-products industry as a whole is growing, albeit at a slower pace than before, as other products are filling the gap left by the shrinking graphic-paper market. Packaging is growing all over the world, along with tissue papers, and pulp for hygiene products. The paper and forest-products industry is changing, morphing, and developing, in terms of industry structure and market segments. The industry is also facing challenges to manage short-to-medium-term ‘grade turbulence’, finding cost efficiencies, and finding new markets for forest products.

Many tropical forests around the world have been severely fragmented as human disturbance split once-contiguous forests into pieces. Previous research indicates trees on the edges of these fragments have higher mortality rates than trees growing in the interiors of forests. Researchers used satellite data and analysis software they developed to figure out how many forest fragments there are, and the extent of their edges. They discovered that there are around 50 million tropical forest fragments in the world today. When they calculated how much carbon is being released from tree death at these edges, they found a 31% increase from current tropical deforestation estimates.

A new CDP study released that a substantive portion, 24% on average, of the revenue of 187 international companies depend upon commodities linked with deforestation, which are cattle products, palm oil, soy and timber products. Moreover, only about 40% of the studied companies have evaluated how the availability or quality of these commodities can impact their business growth strategy over the next five or more years. However, on the positive side, more and more companies become to recognize the benefits in scaling up their forest-protection efforts.

According to research by Greenpeace's Energy desk, Malaysian IOI Group, which is one of the biggest world's producers of palm oil and which exports its production to the European Union, is related to deforestation processes and violations of labour law in Indonesia. Following the publication of a report, Greenpeace activists have blockaded a palm oil refinery owned by IOI in the port of Rotterdam.

According to NASA’s Amazon fire forecast, the Amazon basin is now facing driest season due to the reduced rainfall during the wet season, which means the wildfire from July to October is at the highest risk. The forecast model is developed by scientists at the University of California (UC-Irvine) in 2011, which links sea surface temperatures and fire activity. Now scientists at NASA and UC-Irvine have been working with officials of South American and scientists to make them aware of these data and their implications.

Regarding the choking haze in Indonesia, 23 companies have been punished by Forestry Minister Siti Nurbaya, while over 33 plantation companies are being investigated. The Singaporean government said it plans to take action against firms linked to haze-causing fires.

Austrian timber company Schweighofer is linked to large-scale illegal logging which accounts for half of Romania's timber production. An EIA investigation finds that almost all the illegal timber ends up in the company's mills. Romania still has an estimated 218,000 hectares of old growth forests. A recent Romanian government study estimated that 80 million cubic meters of timber have been cut illegally in the past 20 years, representing a loss to the Romanian economy of over €5 billion. Following the report’s publication, WWF filed a complaint at the Federal Forest Office in Vienna for violations of the European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR) and calls for a full investigation of the allegations against Schweighofer.

In a move to bolster links with the Malaysian forestry sector last week FSC held a media conference in Kuala Lumpur to bring together its Malaysian stakeholders, discuss the specific issues in the country’s forests, and how parties can work together to tackle these challenges. FSC opened a new office in Kuala Lumpur in November 2014 and seeks to grow its existing certificate holders from 12 forests and 173 Chain of Custodies.

Tasmania’s government wants to open up nearly 200,000 hectares of their 1.5m hectare world heritage area for logging. The Tasmanian government has stressed that new tourism infrastructure and ‘selective’ logging in the area, which makes up around 20% of the state’s land mass, will boost the state’s struggling economy. Environmentalists claim that this would undermine the essence of world heritage values and The UN has called for a blanket ban on logging and mining in this world heritage area, demanding the Tasmanian government rethink its new management plan for the site.

A new study of 14 nations by WWF and think tank Climate Advisors shows that only 4 (Indonesia, Columbia, Ecuador and Peru) have set targets to succeed by 2020. WWF say that if zero net deforestation by 2010 was achieved in these 14 countries, three gigatonnes in annual carbon dioxide could be saved by 2020 – more than the annual emissions of India and Germany combined.

The think tank Innovation Forum held a two-day conference in Washington DC entitled “How business can tackle deforestation” attended by 160 representatives from companies, NGOs and investors. Whilst multiple major consumer goods companies have declared their commitments to achieving zero deforestation in their supply chains many others have raised concerns over the term and what the policy actually means in practice.
Rainforest Alliances’ recent position paper, ‘Halting Deforestation and Achieving Sustainability’ warned that zero deforestation commitments may not be enough to protect the world’s forests, due to two reasons. Firstly, though many major companies have signed up for these commitments, many other producers and buyers will not. These companies will continue to rely on deforestation to produce their goods, unless a way is found to address underlying issues, such as growing worldwide demand for forest products. Secondly, focusing solely on deforestation risks drawing attention away from other business practices within the commodities supply chain which may deserve equally urgent attention e.g. water scarcity and labour laws. In addition, the use of ‘zero deforestation’ as a catchphrase is problematic because there remains no clear agreement over what the term means. Rainforest Alliance emphasises the need for greater education, auditing and transparency so that consumers know the impact of what they are buying and are able to trust companies’ sustainability claims. Though a commendable step in the right direction, ‘zero deforestation’ commitments need to be backed up with comprehensive action plans if they are to deliver credible results.

A report from Prince Charles' International Sustainability Unit has found that we are still some way from realising the full potential of tropical forests in stabilising global climate, agricultural yields, ecosystem services and local livelihoods. The report, Tropical Forests: A Review, argues that forests have such incredible potential because of their dual role as carbon sinks. Less deforestation means less carbon is released and as the forest continues to grow, more carbon is locked in to the biomass. The report also highlights the importance of tropical forests to regional and global rainfall cycles. This is particularly relevant for Brazil where a severe drought has impacted cities and major agricultural areas. Modelling has shown that deforestation in the Amazon and Congo Basin could affect rainfall patterns across Europe and North America. The report urges forests be prioritised as a significant solution as we approach binding international agreements on climate change.

New research has shown that Brazil and Indonesia paid over $40bn in subsidies to industries that drive rainforest destruction between 2009 and 2012 - compared to $346m in conservation aid they received to protect forests. The report from the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) encouraged a ‘radical rethink’ of how subsidies for commodities are assigned. ODI identify part of the problem in a lack of coordination between environment ministries and other government departments seeking to protect commodity exports and reduce rural poverty. The ODI have called for subsidy reform allowing a model of forest finance to protect forests and their surrounding rural communities.

A ranking of 50 governments, 250 companies, 150 investors and 50 other ‘power brokers’ aims to illustrate how the most influential parties are handling their own operations when it comes to controlling deforestation. Run by Oxford-based think tank, Global Canopy Programme, the Forest 500 highlights those leading - and those trailing – in addressing forestry issues. Six printing and publishing companies were featured – Bertelsmann, Pearson, R.R. Donnelley, News Corp, APG (subsidiary of Time Publishing & Media), and Advance Publications. Bertelsmann and Pearson both came out on top of the sector rankings. For more on the report and in-depth analysis visit their website.

For decades, mahogany, ebony, rosewood and other rare tropical hardwoods have been extensively logged to produce valuable wood products, particularly guitars and other instruments. Increasingly aware of the impacts to forests and communities from over-harvesting, many instrument manufacturers have taken steps to make their supply chains more sustainable. Now, musicians are joining the call to make sure guitars and other instruments are made from legal, sustainably sourced wood. Last week the Environmental Investigation Agency and REVERB released a video featuring artists such as Jason Mraz and Michael Franti urging consumers to find out where their wood comes from.

The founder of the independent news site dedicated to rainforests points to a slowing deforestation rate in Brazil, new initiatives extending our capacity to monitor forests and zero deforestation commitments from the private sector as reasons for optimism. He thinks that most consumers aren’t aware of the issues to the extent it affects their purchasing decisions, except in particularly egregious cases. And he says that NGO campaigns targeted at brands are effective in that these brands are more likely to change their policies quickly than governments and consequently the brands will push governments to reward their commitments by forcing the laggards to catch up.

A new Global Witness report, ‘Deadly Environment’, shows there has been a surge in the killing of activists protecting land rights and the environment over the past decade with three times as many deaths in 2012 compared to the previous 10 years. Between 2002 and 2013, at least 908 activists were killed in 35 countries with only 10 convictions. The most deadly countries in the scope of the report were Brazil (448 since 2002), Honduras (109), Philippines (67), Peru (58) and Thailand (16). The deaths are linked to activism against a range of activities including illegal logging, cattle ranching, soy bean farming, mining and the building of hydroelectric dams.

Indonesian civil society groups have called on their government to reform its legal timber certification system, pointing to widespread illegal practices among certified companies and an auditing system that is “almost impossible” for companies to fail. The Anti Forest-Mafia Coalition, a group of Indonesian NGOs, has published a 63-page assessment of SVLK which finds that SVLK-certified companies had illegally cleared natural forests inside the habitats of protected species, in deep peat areas, and in forests zoned for conservation, and had intentionally started fires in some cases while in others their certificates were linked to officials sentenced for corrupt practices in issuing licences. The report also criticises SVLK’s failure to address human rights concerns such as land tenure issues and the fact that certified mills are not required to source timber exclusively from SVLK-certified timber concessions.

The second largest US grocery chain, Safeway, has established a policy that excludes deforestation-linked palm oil from its products. Safeway is asking its suppliers to implement social and environmental criteria that ensure the palm oil it uses in branded products is “free of deforestation, free of expansion on carbon-rich peat lands…” Safeway’s move was immediately welcomed by the Rainforest Action Network, which has been campaigning to push American companies to demand greener palm oil.

The environmental organization says the 60-foot banners on P&G's two towers were in protest of the consumer products company's use of palm oil from a supplier that Greenpeace says is linked to tropical forest destruction in Indonesia.

GPS technology is being used to help define ancestral land boundaries by indigenous people in Indonesia. As land rights are intrinsically linked to sustainability, the recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights will help to slow deforestation, whilst also securing community livelihoods and reducing land conflicts.

A new Eyes on the Forest report accuses Asia Pacific Resources International Limited (APRIL) of continuing to destroy large areas of rainforests and peatlands despite a commitment to end natural forest logging by 2009. The report draws links between APRIL’s wood suppliers and their obtaining of cutting licences from officials who have been convicted of corruption offences and are now serving custodial sentences. In response APRIL has acknowledged that it continues to clear natural forest but claims that all licences were issued prior to the moratorium in 2011, hence making the company compliant with Indonesian law.

The actor and environmental activist Woody Harrelson is putting his support behind the construction of a $500 million tree-free paper mill in Canada which would produce straw-based paper. Prairie Pulp and Paper, the company behind the project, already produce a copy paper which is 80 per cent waste wheat straw. According to a study they commissioned this paper has a lower environmental impact than 100 per cent recycled paper. However, a representative of the Forest Products Association of Canada thinks wheat paper will be a niche product due to limited availability of waste wheat and the need for the strength and quality in paper that is provided by wood fibres.

A Cambodian journalist, Hang Serei Oudom, who wrote a number of stories uncovering forest crimes linked to businessmen and powerful officials has been found murdered in his car. Cambodia’s forest cover has dropped from 73 to 57% between 1990 and 2010 according to the UN. His murder follows that of prominent local environmentalist, Chhuth Vuthy. In the last story before his death, Oudom accused the son of a military police commander of smuggling logs in military-plated vehicles and extorting money from people who were legally transporting wood.

The Global Canopy Program is promoting the use of smartphones by indigenous communities to protect their forests. The strategy would see smartphone apps used to collect geographic data and photographs. This local data would then be linked to remote sensing data to enhance the monitoring of forest management. Up until now the effectiveness of community forest management projects in halting deforestation has been brought into question. The hope is that smartphones would play a significant role in helping local communities to manage their forests though there are some concerns that this would reduce the role of communities to simply collecting data without having input using their local knowledge on how their forests should be managed.

A coalition of 21 NGOs from nine countries are calling on the UN to impose sanctions on Malaysia for breaching its obligations under international anti-corruption and anti-money-laundering treaties. They allege that Malaysian authorities are protecting Sarawak Chief Minister Abdul Taib Mahmud from prosecution. The Chief Minister is linked by the NGOs to large scale destruction of Malaysia’s tropical rainforests by logging.

Washington-based NGO Rights and Resources Initiative have published a report claiming that there is a vital link between forest dwellers having rights over their land and preventing deforestation. It points to examples in China, India and Brazil where locals have had a say over how their forests are managed. Conservation groups are hoping to get land rights firmly on the agenda at the Rio 20+. The summit takes place on 20-22 June and will discuss poverty reduction, advancement of social equity and environmental protection.

According to an Indonesian weekly news magazine the Ministry of Environment is preparing a civil suit against fourteen pulp and paper companies – twelve linked with APP and two with APRIL – for illegally clearing forests on Sumatra. The value of the timber only represents four per cent of the damages being claimed, the balance is for ‘ecological losses’. The Ministry of Forestry is opposing the lawsuit.

Major amendments to Brazil’s Forest Code are on the brink of passing into law. The changes allow reserve areas in the Amazon to be reduced from 80 to 50% and reduce the restriction on forest clearance near rivers. Agriculturalists have welcomed the amendments.

Letter from Purwadi Soeprihanto, Executive Director, Association of Indonesian Forest Concessionaires
Published on the Chatham House Illegal Logging website this letter draws attention to the new certification system for Indonesia’s timber sector called SVLK (or TLAS using the English acronym). It is intended to address the requirements of the EUTR, which comes into force in March 2013, by providing assurance that Indonesian wood products are produced in a legal and sustainable manner.