Science to tackle the illegal timber trade

The illegal timber trade

The trade in illegal timber damages forests, local communities and local economies and is a serious and growing problem both for producer and consumer countries. It contributes to deforestation, climate change and biodiversity loss and can deprive local communities of a sustainably managed livelihood resource, promote corruption, and undermine the rule of law.

Mechanisms have been established to reduce illegal logging, and there is a significant global movement to curb the practice, recently consolidated in legislation in both the EU and the USA. However, current reliance on paper-based tracking of timber is insufficient to stop illegal logging and there is a lack of practical control tools to identify the origin of wood to eradicate fraud from the global supply chain.

The challenge is to establish a system that is based on intrinsic properties of traded wood, to identify species and geographic origin. This system, when used by those overseeing the timber trade, could contribute to a significant decrease in the illegal timber trade with long-lasting benefits for communities in areas where illegal logging damages ecological sustainability, economic prospects and social structures.

This Bioversity International project is part of a wider effort to establish international standards for the practical application of timber tracking tools.

Illegal timber comes in two basic forms. A lot of wood is harvested informally, sometimes in small and scattered operations, which then flows into larger operations; these may even have permits. There is also wood that is harvested illegally in one country and shipped through another country to be sold as that country's wood. Because many tropical timbers look very similar, it is very hard to identify species, and in any case the wood may well be sold under a different species' name.

The core idea behind the project is to use DNA to identify species, starting with maybe 20 priority species that the partners will agree soon. Among them will surely be iroko (Milicia excelsa and M. regia) and abachi or ayou (Triplochiton scleroxylon) in sub-Saharan Africa, sandalwoods (Santalum spp) in Asia and Oceania, and mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) and Brazilian rosewood (Dalbergia nigra) in Latin America. An important goal will be to see whether DNA profiles can be used to separate the different species that may be traded under the same name, like iroko in Africa.

Illegal logging. Photo: CIFOR

Illegal logging. Photo: CIFOR

Nobody knows the value of illegal logging, although the figure of US$10 billion or more a year is often cited.

The biggest obstacle to a crack-down is that timber is difficult to identify, while documents are easy to falsify. A new CRP6 project, led by Bioversity International, aims to find a scientific system that is repeatable and precise, using DNA markers and stable isotopes — intrinsic characteristics of the wood — to track the origin and species of timber.

According to senior scientist Judy Loo, such a system will provide the realistic threat of spot checks, which will in turn act as a deterrent to the widespread sale of illegally harvested logs.

The project started in November 2011. Marius Ekué from Benin was hired as the scientific coordinator, based in Malaysia. Marius completed his Masters and PhD in Germany, which is supporting this project. The Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection, Federal Republic of Germany, is a leader in Europe in trying to come up with real controls so that FLEGT (Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade  [1], a European Union action plan) can become a reality.

Different labs in different countries are already developing markers for several species. So a primary task for the project is to build a network, identify those laboratories and find out who is doing what. Currently, much of the work is not well coordinated. For example, different labs may be working on the same species, but using different sets of markers. One goal of the project is to bring people together in order to try and standardize the use of DNA markers and stable isotopes, which will make the process of species identification and origin more efficient and reliable. Standardization will also be a necessary first step for certifying test labs so that results will carry some legal weight.

Elias Ferreira, from the National Agricultural Research Institute, Mozambique, and Laura Snook, Bioversity, examine a stump of Pterocarpus angolensis, a valuable timber tree that was almost certainly logged illegally. Photo: Bioversity/J. Loo.

Elias Ferreira, National Agricultural Research Institute, Mozambique, and Laura Snook, Bioversity, examine a stump of Pterocarpus angolensis, a valuable timber tree almost certainly logged illegally. Photo: Bioversity/J. Loo.

Some DNA markers can be used to identify geographic sources for their species, although stable chemical isotopes might be better for that. These isotopes are in the soil and are specific to a place rather than a species.

"We hope that by using a combination of stable isotopes and DNA the source location and species can be tied down fairly precisely," said Judy Loo.

The practical details of how exactly customs officials might use this approach have yet to be worked out. Probably samples will be taken and sent to a lab, which might delay a shipment for a few days. It would be a spot check, the very threat of which could be enough to keep people honest, because new legislation in Europe and the US puts the onus on importers to ensure that timber is legal (see, for example, Recent Amendments to U.S. Lacey Act Should Help Protect Forests Worldwide  [2]).

The project has three years of funding, and the scientists involved are optimistic that by the end of that time a proper system will be in place for at least a handful of species.

As senior scientist Judy Loo notes, "I'm sure there will still be work to be done beyond the three years, but we are ready to make a start, and that's important if we are to contribute to protecting forests from illegal logging."

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Filed under: CGIAR Research Programs  [8], Conservation  [9]See also: CGIAR  [10], CRP 6.0  [11], Forests and Trees  [12], Plant Genetic Resources  [13]

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