Independent tools are needed to verify the geographic origin of timber. Why? To curb the trade in illegal timber. To verify whether timber is produced without causing deforestation. Or to create transparency in the timber production chain.
It is increasingly important for the timber industry to provide evidence on the origin of traded wood. International legislation such as the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR) and the future EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) require documents and certificates on origin. Yet, these can be falsified. Therefore, it is important to independently verify wood origin, based on the properties of the wood.
At Timtrace, we develop and test methods to verify the claimed origin of tropical timber.
These methods can help timber trading companies to support the paper trail showing they source timber legally and create transparency in their value chain. It can help governmental authorities to verify trade claims and combat the illegal timber trade. And it enables environmental organizations to verify the origin of traded timber.
LATEST BLOG POSTS
- Clay and soil organic matter drive wood multi-elemental composition of a tropical tree species: Implications for timber tracingLaura E. Boeschoten, Ute Sass-Klaassen, Mart Vlam, Rob N.J. Comans, Gerwin F. Koopmans, Barbara Rocha Venâncio Meyer-Sand, Steve N. Tassiamba, […]
- New paper alertWouldn’t it be great if one could chemically fingerprint wood to support timber tracing? In the brand-new paper led by Laura Boeschoten published in Science of the […]
- Tracing the world’s timber: the status of scientific verification technologies for species and origin identificationMelita C. Low, Nele Schmitz, Laura E. Boeschoten, José A. Cabezas, Mathias Cramm, Volker Haag, Gerald Koch, Barbara R.V. Meyer-Sand, Kathelyn Paredes-Villanueva, Erin Price, Andrew H. Thornhill, Jo Van Brusselen, Pieter A. […]