Tropical Forest Trust
Encyclopedia
The Forest Trust (formerly the Tropical Forest Trust) is a UK
registered charity focused on making the trade of timber from sustainable forest management
standard practice. TFT works with partners at all stages of the supply chain – from forest producers, to mills and factories, to retailers who sell tropical wood products (like garden furniture) at their stores. By promoting sustainable forestry, TFT seeks to give tropical forests value as fully functioning ecosystems, rather than as land cleared for alternative uses.
TFT has offices in the UK, France
, Switzerland
, Indonesia
, Malaysia, Viet Nam, China
, United States
, Brazil
, Republic of Congo, Cameroon
and Gabon
. The TFT is governed by a Board comprising representatives of its members and independent experts.
, calling for new market based mechanisms to protect forests.
) certified wood has led to many millions of forest hectares achieving certification. However, there has been less rapid certification in developing countries. Tropical forest managers are often unsure of how to achieve certification and they face highly complex forest management contexts that make achieving certification difficult. Even securing wood from known legal sources is challenging in many tropical countries where enforcement systems are weak and illegal logging is common.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
registered charity focused on making the trade of timber from sustainable forest management
Sustainable forest management
Sustainable forest management is the management of forests according to the principles of sustainable development. Sustainable forest management uses very broad social, economic and environmental goals...
standard practice. TFT works with partners at all stages of the supply chain – from forest producers, to mills and factories, to retailers who sell tropical wood products (like garden furniture) at their stores. By promoting sustainable forestry, TFT seeks to give tropical forests value as fully functioning ecosystems, rather than as land cleared for alternative uses.
TFT has offices in the UK, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
, Malaysia, Viet Nam, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, Brazil
Brazil
Brazil , officially the Federative Republic of Brazil , is the largest country in South America. It is the world's fifth largest country, both by geographical area and by population with over 192 million people...
, Republic of Congo, Cameroon
Cameroon
Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon , is a country in west Central Africa. It is bordered by Nigeria to the west; Chad to the northeast; the Central African Republic to the east; and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of the Congo to the south. Cameroon's coastline lies on the...
and Gabon
Gabon
Gabon , officially the Gabonese Republic is a state in west central Africa sharing borders with Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, and with the Republic of the Congo curving around the east and south. The Gulf of Guinea, an arm of the Atlantic Ocean is to the west...
. The TFT is governed by a Board comprising representatives of its members and independent experts.
Process
TFT currently recognises the Forest Stewardship Council as the leading international forest certification scheme providing credible independent assurance that source forests are well managed. TFT helps its members to manage and monitor their supply chains and it helps the forests that anchor those supply chains to achieve FSC certification. TFT assists member companies to find out where their wood currently comes from. Having done so – or having identified the reasons why it is impossible to do so – the TFT helps its members to develop policies for where they want their wood to come from in the future. It then helps its members to identify ‘good wood’ sources: FSC certified forests that meet their product needs or, where these are lacking, Transition Wood Sources that are implementing or are ready to implement a strictly controlled Certification Action Plan with the TFT to achieve FSC certification.Forests Now Declaration
The TFT has also endorsed the Forests Now DeclarationForests Now Declaration
The Forests Now Declaration is a declaration that advocates using carbon credits to protect tropical forests. The Declaration was created by the Global Canopy Programme, and has been signed by over 200 NGOs, business leaders, scientists and conservationists...
, calling for new market based mechanisms to protect forests.
Issues
In North America and Europe demand for FSC (Forest Stewardship CouncilForest Stewardship Council
The Forest Stewardship Council is an international not-for-profit, multi-stakeholder organization established in 1993 to promote responsible management of the world’s forests. Its main tools for achieving this are standard setting, independent certification and labeling of forest products...
) certified wood has led to many millions of forest hectares achieving certification. However, there has been less rapid certification in developing countries. Tropical forest managers are often unsure of how to achieve certification and they face highly complex forest management contexts that make achieving certification difficult. Even securing wood from known legal sources is challenging in many tropical countries where enforcement systems are weak and illegal logging is common.
See also
- Conservation movementConservation movementThe conservation movement, also known as nature conservation, is a political, environmental and a social movement that seeks to protect natural resources including animal, fungus and plant species as well as their habitat for the future....
- EcologyEcologyEcology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
- Environmental protectionEnvironmental protectionEnvironmental protection is a practice of protecting the environment, on individual, organizational or governmental level, for the benefit of the natural environment and humans. Due to the pressures of population and our technology the biophysical environment is being degraded, sometimes permanently...
- Natural environmentNatural environmentThe natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....
- Natural capitalNatural capitalNatural capital is the extension of the economic notion of capital to goods and services relating to the natural environment. Natural capital is thus the stock of natural ecosystems that yields a flow of valuable ecosystem goods or services into the future...
- Natural resourceNatural resourceNatural resources occur naturally within environments that exist relatively undisturbed by mankind, in a natural form. A natural resource is often characterized by amounts of biodiversity and geodiversity existent in various ecosystems....