Inadequate international laws are at the root of an illegal trade in wood worth more than $2 billion a year in the Asia-Pacific region alone. Commercial forestry interests are now joining NGOs to lobby for proof of legality at the border and in shops, as Tony Neilson reports.
The phenomenon that has made Vietnam a wooden furniture superpower in a decade has a dark side – it is also one of the world’s major destinations for illegal timber.
With international wood suppliers and manufacturers facing the prospect of having to prove the legitimacy of their wood products at the border and in the showroom, the all-pervasive influence of FSC is again being questioned.
A whole new way of looking at the profitability of forests is proposed with New Zealand Government initiatives supporting projects to utilise harvest residue and mill waste as sustainable energy for the future.
The New Zealand forest research scene entered a new era and demonstrated refreshing unity with the recent launch of Future Forests Research Ltd. And, as Peter Harington reports, there is already $35 million in the kitty.
Necessity is the mother of invention, and nowhere more so than in the Australasian furniture industry where only the most creative problem solvers survive. Penelope Lawry profiles a trio of producers who have succeeded by combining resources.
