1. Responsible Forestry
  2. Timber

Timber

  1. Responsible Forestry
  2. Timber
Timber
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Overview

Did you know?

Consumption of tropical timber by the US and other industrial countries plays a significant role in tropical deforestation.

Increasing global demand for low-cost timber products supports a multibillion-dollar illegal and unsustainable logging business in forests worldwide. The international trade in illegal, primary wood products is estimated to account for about 15%–30% of global timber production, making it the world’s third-largest transnational crime. Consumption of tropical timber by the US and other industrial countries plays a significant role in tropical deforestation and degradation.

Trade in forest products has increased significantly over the past 50 years, especially in processed wood products such as sawn timber, pulpwood, board, and wood-based panels. The planet's natural forests cannot sustainably meet the soaring global demand for timber products under current forest management practices. Tens of millions of acres of plantations (i.e., planted monocultures of commercial tree species—generally fast-growing ones) exist worldwide, and every year millions more are established. While intensive production of plantation timber is essential to meet global demand and take pressure off the world’s natural forests, there can be significant adverse impacts associated with these plantations. Some have been created from the conversion of high conservation value natural forests—forests with outstanding biological, ecological, social, or cultural values—and some have caused significant social and environmental harm.

WWF believes the demand for responsible forest products in international trade provides significant incentives for sustainable forest management. Without appropriate forest management policies, environmental and social safeguards, and responsible demand, trade can negatively impact forest conservation.

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Two elephants cross a river inside the heavily forested Congo Basin

Impacts

Forests around the world are used to supply furniture, flooring, lumber, and other building materials to the booming global marketplace. Responsible practices by companies throughout the forest products supply chain can avoid the worst impacts of illegal or unsustainable logging.

Effects of Climate Change

Deforestation causes about 10% of global greenhouse gas emissions, contributing to the climate crisis. Greenhouse gases are released when forests are destroyed by activities such as illegal and unsustainable logging and land conversion for agriculture.

Timber Marginalized indigenous Local Communities

Biodiversity Loss

Timber Biodiversity

Forests are home to most of the world’s biodiversity on land. When forest cover is removed, biodiversity can be severely impacted. Wildlife can lose shelter, food sources, and migration routes and become more vulnerable to human-wildlife conflicts, hunting, and poaching as new logging roads extend into previously unlogged areas.

Soil Erosion and Water Cycles

Poor forest management promotes soil erosion by increasing runoff and reducing the soil protection provided by tree litter. When tree cover thins, the damp soils of the forest floor heat up and dry out, changing the forest’s delicately balanced ecosystem.

Indigenous Peoples and Local Communities

Increased global demand for valuable timber species such as mahogany has brought selected financial benefits to communities living near forests. But evidence shows that forest-dependent communities often lose out to powerful interests, such as logging companies, that reap most of the benefits.

Lost Revenue

When trees are cut without the correct permits and then smuggled abroad, governments lose revenue from taxes and duties—revenue that could be used to better enforce laws and reduce illegal logging. The global market and governments lose billions of dollars annually from illegal logging. Timber logged without payment of duties and taxes decreases the market price and provides an incentive for other loggers to follow the same practice. This disadvantages law-abiding companies, as they can get undersold by companies that evade these taxes and fees through illegal practices.

Impacted Species & Places

What WWF Is Doing

Promoting Responsible Forestry and Trade

Through Forests Forward, WWF’s signature program for corporate action in support of nature, climate, and people, we work with forest managers, manufacturers, and purchasers across the forest industry supply chain to promote responsible production and trade of forest products.

Advancing Credible Certification

Timber

Credible certification contributes to a more sustainable timber products industry by helping create market conditions that support forest conservation. Such conditions also provide economic and social benefits for Indigenous peoples, local communities, and workers. WWF considers the Forest Stewardship Council® (FSC®) the most rigorous and credible voluntary certification system to ensure environmentally responsible, socially beneficial, and economically viable management of forests around the globe.

Creating a Level Playing Field

In addition to voluntary certification, regulations and trade rules are essential to combat illegal logging, promote responsible forest practices, and create a level playing field for companies in the forest products sector. In the US, WWF advocates for robust implementation of the Lacey Act Amendments of 2008, the first law of its kind to prohibit the import, sale, or trade of wood and wood products in the US that were illegally sourced in their country of origin or illegally traded.

Wood Risk Tool

WWF developed a Wood Risk Tool to help companies, governments, nongovernmental organizations, and others assess and mitigate risks related to the origin and species of wood products, including illegality risks. Companies and others can use this tool to avoid unacceptable wood as part of more significant commitments to responsible sourcing.

Publications

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How You Can Help

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