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Forests
Engaging Business
Turning the global marketplace into a force for saving the world's forests
Timber being transported on a truck from the forest to the paper and cellulose mill in Telemaco Borba, Brazil.
© WWF-Canon / Edward PARKER
Forests play a key role in the world's environmental and economic health but are far from adequately protected. Current projections are alarming: Every year, 32 million acres of natural forest are destroyed due to illegal logging, poor forest management practices and an increasing growing global demand for forest and agricultural products. Meeting this demand in a sustainable way is a challenge, but WWF believes that responsible forest management is not only good for the environment, but can be a sound business objective. WWF's Global Forest & Trade Network (GFTN) proves it can be done: Spanning the globe, our network links environmentally responsible producers and suppliers with equally responsible buyers, creating change in the forest product industry at the core of the global market.
Linking timber trade to conservation
By facilitating market links between companies committed to achieving and supporting responsible forestry, the GFTN creates conditions that help conserve forests while providing economic and social benefits for the businesses and people who depend on them. As we do this, we consider the socioeconomic patterns at work and how conservation can fit into and change global markets - we help manage the market - providing technical support and guidance at both the supply and demand ends of the chain.
Market share: high volume, high value
From forest owner to architect, manufacturer to retailer, the GFTN is open to any organization that supports improved forest management and the credible certification of forest products. Increasingly, consumers want to know where their wood comes from, and they want to be assured that today's forests will be here tomorrow.
The network's over 350 participants currently manage over 67.5 million acres of forests in progress to certification. They trade wood worth over $45.2 billion and buy or sell in excess of 197 million cubic meters of forest products a year. Together, these companies along with GFTN applicants account for more than 13 percent of the total forest products traded globally.
To have a major impact in the market the participation of every single company is not needed - just those that create a critical mass, those that can become leaders in the growing trend toward sustainability. WWF is working so that responsible forest management and trade will become a force of its own, working from within to spur change throughout the industry. Through the GFTN, WWF is well on its way by facilitating over 174 trading relationships or market links.
Learn about the North American arm of the Global Forest & Trade Network
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