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Bolivia is a part of WWF's Global Forests & Trade Network (GFTN)

Posted on 31 marzo 2007

Certified wood opens opportunities for Northern markets

Certified wood opens opportunities for Northern markets

Within the 2007 version of Bolivia’s specialized exhibit and trade fair "Expoforest", WWF Bolivia, the conservation organization, besides presenting its One Tree Project in a pavilion of its own, also supported the participation of sustainable forest management communities, as well as of Belgian, Dutch, Spanish and Chinese businessmen at the third Wood Industry Business Roundtable, thus enhancing responsible forest trade, and, through this, conservation and sustainable management of Bolivian forests.

Aiming at linking the FSC certified - and in process of becoming certified - Bolivian wood offer to the responsible demand of international companies, WWF Bolivia, through the Bolivia Forest and Trade Network (FTN), organized on March 24th in Santa Cruz the Commercial Buyers Mission, attended by the aforementioned visiting businessmen who are participants of the GFTN. This event was possible thanks to the generous support of the IFC and the Royal Embassy of the Netherlands.

The Bolivia FTN currently has 11 national participating companies: La Chonta Woods, SumaPacha, Aserradero San Luis, Cimal IMR, Ecolegno, Jolyka, Mabet Etienne, Multiagro, Anatina Toys, Guasase Brothers Workshop and Bolivia Handicraft Workshop, who also participated at this Commercial Mission, where they had the opportunity to exhibit - in one place - samples of their forest products, as well as closing business deals.

Background
The companies who participate at the Bolivia FTN are committed to sustainable forest management, enhancing responsible forest trade through buying and selling wood from forests that are under management and / or certified.

How do WWF Bolivia and its Forest Programme work?
WWF Bolivia’s Forest Programme promotes forest management capacity strengthening for indigenous communities and their integration to the national and international market, thus enabling responsible forest trade through the creation of a preferential demand of legal wood coming from well managed forests. One of the Programme’s components is:
- Responsible forest trade: WWF’s GFTN promotes the adoption of Responsible Purchase of Forest Products Policies and market linkages as strategies to contribute to reduce illegal wood logging and trade, as well as market mechanisms that guarantee the sustainability of forests worldwide.

How does the Responsible forest trade component work?
At the international market: linking the Bolivian FSC certified - and in process of becoming certified – wood offer to the responsible demand of companies abroad (30 countries worldwide), through the participation of Bolivian forest products offering companies at the Bolivia FTN.

Which is the role of the Bolivia FTN?
The Bolivia FTN, just like all other FTNs in the GFTN member countries, promotes the contact between Bolivian certified - and / or in process of getting certified - producers (such as forest companies along the productive chain, producers and / or forest managers, primary and secondary transformation companies, retailers, small or large international buyers) committed to increasing the responsible use of forest products, who have adopted a Responsible Purchase of Forest Products Policy and are participants of the GFTN.

What is the Global Forest and Trade Network (GFTN)?
The GFTN in an association lead by WWF, established between important NGOs and around 400 companies and communities whose commitment is to demonstrate their leadership and best practices regarding responsible forest management and trade.

The participants, who represent a wide range of actors and include forest owners, wood processors, importers, traders, construction companies, salespeople and investors, are organized in national and regional FTNs (Forest and Trade Networks), who operate in around 30 producer and consumer countries in Europe, America, Africa and Asia.

Since the creation of the first FTN in the UK in 1991, all GFTN participants have generated a demand which has created a new type of world market: the market of environmentally responsible forest products.