Sustainable and Responsible Trade Promoted to Wood Processing SMEs through Forest and Trade Networks in China, India and Vietnam

November 2011

63 Indian SME timber producers attended a wood trade legality and markets workshop in Kerala as part of the SWITCH-Asia funded sustainable timber program in October.  The workshop was designed to inform producers about the US Lacey act (aimed at preventing illegal timber from entering the US market) and the upcoming EU Timber Regulations which will require all timber exported to the European market to come from legal sources by 2013.  A side event to promote afforestation was also held and Mr M Raghavan, a local Member of Parliament, delivered a keynote speech to the SMEs and the eight media representatives present.  The Indian timber industry is experiencing solid growth, and producers are keen to tap into export markets.  There is a steady demand for sustainable and certified timber products from Europe, and Indian producers can benefit not only from stronger margins but also through assuring their longer term supply chains.

11  October 2011

SCP was firmly on the agenda for a number of trainings conducted by WWF Vietnam and VIFORES, the Vietnamese forestry trade association, over the past three months.  The overall aim of the trainings was to reach out to small scale producers to involve them in the debate on sustainable timber consumption through a series of workshops.  The workshops covered marketing, quality control, legal timber trading, cross-border wood trading and sustainable supply chains. Over 100 businesses attended the training events as well as local government representatives and journalists.  Vietnam is playing an increasingly important role in regional timber use and much of the timber used is from unsustainable sources.  Instilling sustainable practices in smaller businesses means that the sustainability is an integral part of the business model – resulting in a reduced environmental impact as the business grows.  VIFORES also held a press conference to address the cross-border traffic in illegal timber.  This event was widely reported in the Vietnamese timber trade press, serving to raise the issues of supply chain sustainability and legality amongst the Vietnamese timber SME community.

China

As part of the SWITCH Asia project GFTN (Global Forest and Trade Network) China organized the “China Green Wood Forum - GFTN-China Annual Meeting” on Oct. 26-28 in Kunshan with support from GFTN-UK. Four new wood processing SME participants were recruited to the GFTN during this meeting as part of project activities. The meeting included presentations from experts on green labelling, FSC, supply chain management, legality verification as well as an opportunity to bring company participants (& applicants) from GFTN China and GFTN UK and their suppliers together to have a roundtable and training workshop to deepen understanding of each other’s expectation in practicing sustainable forest management and responsible trade of forest products.

India

Baseline assessments for ten wood processing SMEs have now been completed as part of the process to join GFTN India under the project. An event announcing the participation of these SMEs to the project and GFTN India will be held on 25^th November. This will be attended by an EU Delegation to India representative as well as members of the press. A consultative meeting on Responsible Wood Sourcing and Forest Certification was held on 21^st October 2010 in Thiruvananthapuram targeted at SME wood processors, manufactures and traders in the southern districts of Kerala.    

Vietnam

Two more wood processing SMEs are applying for GFTN Vietnam membership as part of project activities. There have also been initial discussions with a state owned corporation which has 17 smaller SME members (1 paper mill plus 16 plantation companies with sawmills) and they are interested to encourage their members to join GFTN as part of the project. Market links have been established between a GFTN Vietnam SME member and FSC certified smallholder plantation and paper companies. As part of the project media campaign our trade association partner VIFORES are continuing to provide articles on sustainable wood processing and marketing for VietWood magazine.

February 2009

From 9 to 13 February 2009, an inception workshop was held in Beijing to officially kick-off the project. The workshop gathered representatives from WWF Vietnam, WWF India, WWF UK, WWF China and Vietnam Timber and Timber Product Association. Participants discussed tools and techniques for team building, staff capacity building as well as an effective implementation among WWF, partners, consultants and the donor.