Two entrepreneurial initiatives contributing to sustainable development in South Africa have been helped to consolidate and scale up their activities with support from Defra under the UK-South Africa Sustainable Development Dialogue. The projects – Reclaiming Livelihoods and Food and Trees for Africa – were both amongst the winners of the 2011 SEED awards for social and environmental entrepreneurs.

Food and Trees for Africa

Food and Trees for Africa (FTFA), a social enterprise implementing sustainable natural resource management and food security programmes, has distributed over 3.6 million trees and facilitated the creation of over 2,500 organic food gardens for the poorest in South Africa. The sustainable development of land to create urban forest contributes to climate change mitigation and other environmental best practices.

Previously unemployed local residents are employed to help with planting trees and monitoring their health. As a result of the training received, many enter full time employment with other organisations. The setting up of permaculture food gardens equips community members with the knowledge to implement food gardens at schools and their homes, promoting self-sufficiency and allowing them to sell products to other communities and retailers in some instances.

FTFA has until now financed its programmes through private donations and financial support from public organisations, working in close cooperation with private companies to develop innovative projects to fund the supply and planting of trees, such as paperless billing, packaging reductions, recycling, and promoting green products. The initiative is aiming to generate carbon credits, so creating new opportunities to distribute thousands of trees.

Food and Trees for Africa: project participants (photo courtesy SEED)

Overall, the enterprise is now seeking to identify additional funds and funding strategies to help scale-up the operations to other African countries, through:

• Certification for the tree and bamboo programmes as Verified Emission Reductions;
• Producing a promotional video;
• Improving social media reach;
• Extending funding and investor networks.

Reclaiming livelihoods

Informal waste pickers in the town of Mooi River organised themselves into a formal group to work together under the Reclaiming livelihoods initiative, assisted by the NGO groundWork. With permission from the local Mpofana Municipality to recycle waste on the landfill site, the waste pickers collect recyclable materials such as cardboard, plastic, glass and paper. The materials are compressed and sold to larger recycling companies.

The initiative has contributed to poverty alleviation in an area of high unemployment, by providing job opportunities and income to local people. With formalised waste reclaiming, the landfill sites are now better managed through the constant presence of the workers. This leads to fewer toxic materials being deposited on site, fewer fires, less water pollution, and increased recycling rates.

Reclaiming livelihoods: loading up consolidated recyclables (photo courtesy SEED)

In 2011 the initiative is scaling up through:

• Improvement to the transportation system from the landfill to the recycling company;
• Introduction of an IT system;
• Procurement of urgently needed technical equipment (bailers, weight scales, a forklift, transportation and building material);
• Creation of additional jobs for waste pickers in Mooi River.

Further reading

• The SEED Initiative supports worldwide innovative small-scale and locally driven entrepreneurships which integrate social and environmental benefits into their business model;
• The UK-South Africa Sustainable Development Dialogue has supported these initiatives.

You may also be interested in...

• Applications invited for 2013 SEED Awards
• UN Human Development Report 2013: The Rise of the South

Mexico and the UK are working together to make the Mexican tourism industry more sustainable, delivering training to help hotels operate more sustainability.

A key industry

With annual revenue of over 11 billion dollars, Mexico’s tourism industry represents 8.1% of the country’s Gross National Product, a larger share than the agriculture, food, timber, paper, and chemicals industries together. The country’s diverse ecosystems, species, gastronomy and cultures, make Mexico the world’s tenth tourism destination, visited each year by over 20 million visitors.

These numbers speak by themselves of the high importance the tourism industry has for the Mexican economy and the potential it has to make it greener. The diversity of those involved make it a key partner to carry the message of sustainability both locally and world-wide through the millions of tourists that visit each year.

More sustainable hotels

Given this potential, the UK government has been an active promoter of Mexico’s efforts to make its hotel industry more sustainable. With the support of Defra’s International Sustainable Development Fund, the Mexican Environment Ministry (SEMARNAT) and the Rainforest Alliance have trained 26 hotels in the Yucatan Peninsula area on how they can increase the sustainability of their operations.

Hotels have received expert visits and advice. Having studied their operations, the visiting experts made a diagnosis and designed an action plan for implementing best practices. With this plan a technical assistance team helps the hotel implement the suggested changes.

Some of the actions the hotels now have in their regular operations include:

• Separation of waste and recycling PET bottles, aluminium, batteries, computer equipment, paper;
• Setting up an environmental management system based on ISO 14001:2004;
• Creation of an environment committee;
• Changing light bulbs;
• Installation of intelligent light systems in some public areas;
• Implementation of communications programme on best environmental practices to staff and guests;
• Organising workshops to raise awareness of staff;
• Adjustment of showers in public areas so they are controlled by timers.

Ambassadorial visit

One of the participant hotels in the project, Dreams Hotel Cancun, invited British Ambassador Judith Macgregor to visit their facilities and see their progress through the project.

The ambassador reported that the hotel remained “extremely committed to their sustainable hotel programme”. They are now working to obtain the “Clean Industry Certificate”, which is given by the Environmental Attorney to recognise those industries that excelled at complying with environmental standards. The manager who led this process at the Dreams Hotel is now moving on to manage two other hotels from the same group who are new to these practices, and plans to introduce these standards into their operations as well.

Bearing sustainable fruit

It is encouraging to see that a UK-planted seed, in such an important tourism spot, has not only borne fruit but has started to grow the benefits in the hotels already engaged and extend them to new participants.

The region’s recent hosting of the Climate Change COP-16 has given additional momentum to sustainability and climate change as business drivers for the tourism industry. Watch this space as the industry continues to offer more sustainable tourism.

Global demand for fish is high and continues to grow, a trend that shows no sign of changing in the foreseeable future. This is particularly true in developed countries, which imported 33 million tonnes of fish, worth over £40 billion, in 2004. Developing countries are also highly dependent on marine fisheries, which often provide a critical source of animal protein.

Fish for sale at Maputo fish market (photo by Markus Burgener)

While the demand for fish products has increased around the world, there has not been a corresponding increase in the catch of wild harvested fish. Fish catches have remained roughly stable since the mid-1980s, at around 90–93 million tonnes annually, with many fisheries in decline. Because of the critical state of world fisheries, it is important that fishermen use marine resources sustainably so that they survive for years to come.

Illegal fishing’s impact on fish stocks, the environment, communities and security

One of the main contributors to declining fish stocks is illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing – known as IUU fishing.

IUU fishing is recognized as an international problem with far-reaching impacts on the marine environment, coastal communities and food and income security. The total value of global IUU fishing losses worldwide was recently estimated at between £6.5 and £15 billion annually.

The countries that bear the greatest losses from IUU fishing are mostly those in the developing world, where there is a high dependency on fisheries for food, livelihoods and state revenues. Frequently, it is companies and fishing vessels from the developed world that are responsible for this illegal activity, and it is largely onto the markets of Europe, the USA and the Far East that this illegal catch flows.

Analysing trade in wildlife for more sustainable trade

Analysis of the trade in wildlife products has for some time been recognised as a valuable source of information contributing to the sustainable use of natural resources. Given the extent to which fisheries products are traded internationally, knowledge of the trade and the market for those products is almost a prerequisite to good management. It can provide a direct point of intervention, for instance through the use of trade measures, and it can guide interventions at other points of the management system.

Analysis of trade and market information is a potentially powerful tool to assess IUU fishing activities and assist efforts to combat them. Trade data analysis can assist efforts to combat IUU fishing by:

• Identifying discrepancies between export and import figures for a fish product;
• Identifying the countries engaged in trade in a certain product;
• Identifying trade routes for IUU fish;
• Comparing estimated catch and trade volumes;
• Creating increased awareness of trade dynamics by fisheries management agencies especially where IUU fishing is considered to be a threat.

The TRAFFIC User’s Guide

In order to assist fisheries, customs and other officials tasked with regulating the international trade in fish and fish products and more particularly in tackling IUU fishing and related trade, TRAFFIC has developed a Fisheries Trade Data Analysis User’s Guide, with funding from Defra’s Sustainable Development Dialogues.

The guide provides information on how data analysis can be used by compliance and management officials in their efforts to tackle IUU fishing, contains links to 24 country and 6 meta-data websites where fisheries trade data can be sourced, and provides step-by step guidance on navigating each of these sites, including advice on the sourcing and extraction of trade data.

Training sessions on the guide have been run in South Africa for fisheries compliance and Customs officials and more than 75 copies of the guide have been distributed on CD-ROM.

A dedicated website has now been set-up and the guide can now be publicly accessed and used by anyone.

For further information, please contact Markus Burgener, Senior Programme Officer for TRAFFIC East Southern Africa, at m.burgener@sanbi.org.za

A recent demonstration project on the eco-efficiency of Indian dyehouses has shown that there are significant opportunities to reduce their environmental impact.

The project was funded under the Sustainable Development Dialogues and delivered for Defra by Colour Connections, as part of the Sustainable Clothing Roadmap, a voluntary industry initiative to improve the environmental and ethical performance of clothing across its supply chain.

The relevance of Indian dyehouses

Dyeing is recognised as a high impact process that consumes large quantities of water, energy and chemicals, and the dyeing industry is a major global polluter.

Because 90% of clothing consumed in the UK is imported, encouraging environmental and ethical improvements across the international clothing supply chains feeding the UK is essential for improving the sustainability of the clothing we wear in the UK. India is the second largest manufacturer of clothing imported into the UK.

In light of this, Defra commissioned the project to investigate the inefficiencies, negative environmental impacts and sustainability issues surrounding three better quality dye houses in India. The two aims of the project were to identify opportunities to improve the performance of selected dye houses, and to develop and disseminate best practice for use by the wider dyeing industry.

Dye houses in Tirupur

Tirupur was selected as the project area as it is had been subjected to a high degree of environmental damage from the dye houses operating there. In a positive development in recent years, the local population forced the dyeing industry to court to ensure they ceased releasing waste products into the river. The majority of dye houses in the region now have to be zero discharge facilities.

Despite some small mills being forced to close for illegally releasing contaminated effluent, Tirupur is now an example for best practice within the industry. However, there are still major challenges for the industry, namely reducing the environmental impact from power generation, and improving the efficiency of the dyeing operation.

One major challenge is the limited availability of water in the region. Tirupur is largely reliant on water piped in by the government from 60km away, forcing it to impose restrictions on water use. Despite this, a 20% loss of water during operation is common, forcing further purchase of water, at fluctuating prices, from the government pipeline.

In addition to water shortages, dye houses struggle to receive a reliable supply of electricity, forcing them to generate power independently at a significant loss to themselves in terms of cost and efficiency.

The cotton dyeing process

Cotton dyeing is generally accepted as having the greatest negative environmental impacts of all dyeing processes. The most common method for weft knitted cotton (the type used in T-shirt type fabrics) is a method called jet dyeing and all the dyehouses considered for the project use these machines.

A long length of fabric (up to 1km in the largest machines) is sewn together in a loop and this is propelled around a machine and exposed to jets of hot water containing the dyes and chemicals used in the process.

The dyeing process always requires: electricity to run the machines, steam to heat the water, heat for drying, a supply of high quality soft water, compressed air to operate machine valves, a reliable supply of dyes and chemicals, and effluent treatment.

Dyehouses can be considered as a very simple ‘black box’ model with inputs, activities and outputs: the aim of this project was to improve the efficiency of the activities to minimise inputs and negative outputs.

Assessing water, energy and chemical use

The project analysed the three dye houses by utilising EcoMetrics, a tool that qualitatively assesses products and processes in terms of water, energy, use of chemicals and pollution. Given the fact that information provided by the dye houses was not at all times accurate, a qualitative assessment proved to be more valuable in terms of ascertaining the areas which required improvement in efficiency and energy usage.

In order to improve aspects of the dyeing process, some weaknesses in the knowledge of the workforce was identified. To address this, best practice seminars were organised to share knowledge with the wider Indian dyeing industry.

Motivating change

Defra conceded that a significant obstacle to improving the efficiency of the dye houses was motivating individuals to make improvements. The inability of factory staff to allocate sufficient time to improvement projects is a major hurdle to improving the dyeing industry. This is understandable, given that the dye houses’ main priority is the satisfaction of their customers’ day to day deliveries.

Despite this, the report demonstrated that it is possible, with some initial capital investment, to significantly reduce costs and environmental impacts through simple, low-cost measures and implementation of best practice.

Further reading

• RITE Group: industry association dedicated to reducing the impact of textiles on the environment
• Colour Connections: consultancy dedicated to improving textile products, the processes used to make them, the technical knowledge of individuals and the effectiveness of communication with suppliers and customers.
• Sustainable Clothing Roadmap: voluntary clothing industry initiative co-ordinated by Defra to improve the environmental and ethical performance of clothing.

A recent Centre for Sustainable Fashion project aimed to promote sustainable textiles from India for use within the fashion industry, looking at improving the sustainability of textile production in India and how the lessons learnt could be applied around the world.

The Shared Talent India project was funded by Defra and is part of a wider body of work taking place under Defra’s Sustainable Clothing Roadmap and the UK-India Sustainable Development Dialogue. The project was jointly delivered by the Centre for Sustainable Fashion at London College of Fashion and Pearl Academy of Fashion in Delhi.

Textiles’ contribution to national industry in India

The project was commissioned in light of research detailing the massive contribution of textiles in India to national industry and the environmental and social challenges this presents. With textiles accounting for 14% of industrial production and 17% of the country’s export earnings, the industry is an important vehicle for the promotion of sustainable development.

The Sustainable Clothing Roadmap has identified the global relevance of the clothing industry to sustainable development:

“while an economic success story (globally worth over £500 billion), the industry has a significant environmental and social footprint across its supply chain.”

Assessing the impact of textiles

The environmental and social impacts of a range of fibres and textiles used within the industry formed an important part of the project. Using detailed information on greenhouse gas emissions, waste water production and chemical pollution associated with the production of all fibres, a more complete environmental impact assessment was achieved.

Indian cotton, in particular, was given special consideration as it accounts for 16% of world production, while providing a livelihood for between 40 and 50 million people. It is also associated with particular problems of high water and chemicals usage.

Collaboration between manufacturers and designers

Fashion design is synonymous with exclusivity; designers are continuously striving to create a product that is more original and superior than their competitors. However, a recurring theme of the project was the importance of collaboration between suppliers and indeed designers to determine effective solutions to the challenges of sustainability in fashion.

Shared Talent India provided a forum for collaboration: design workshops and online and face-to-face dialogue enabled designers and suppliers to discuss each other’s perspectives, and work with a skilled group of cutters and tailors in New Delhi. A dialogue on sustainability was initiated through a series of discussions that led to the designers questioning ecological, social and economic criteria as a basis for their work.

Online sourcing toolkit

In addition to various visual outputs, the Centre for Sustainable Fashion developed an online sourcing toolkit and textile catalogue that allows purchasers to source textiles that are guaranteed sustainably sourced. It is hoped that tools such as this will continue to promote sustainable materials within fashion.

Continuing collaboration for long-term sustainability

Collaboration is of key importance for achieving long-term sustainability in the materials utilised in the textile and fashion industries. Additionally, transparency is essential within the fashion material and product supply chains.

By cultivating a culture of trust, cooperation and transparency, the future of the textile and fashion industry within India can continue to achieve high growth and provide continuing employment and success in a sustainable manner.

Further reading

• Shared Talent India (Centre for Sustainable Fashion)
  Further project details, picture gallery and film.

A new UK-China partnership project will seek to develop more sustainable management policies for river basins in China: ‘Management Policy Framework for River Basin Sustainable Development’ was launched on 30th June under the UK-China Sustainable Development Dialogue.

Project team at the launch of UK-China River Basin Management project, Beijing

The project will draw upon UK expertise in integrated river basin management – developed through implementing the Water Framework Directive under EU legislation – to assess existing policies and their implementation in seven major Chinese river basins. The project will also develop guidelines on holistic planning and management, to balance ecological, economic and social development.

Expertise will be shared in both directions, with UK river managers learning about the various methods that China is developing to improve the efficiency with which it uses its scarce water resources, which may be applicable within the UK.

This new project demonstrates cross-governmental collaboration on both the UK and Chinese sides. On the UK side, UK water policy makers and managers from DEFRA, DFID and Environment Agency (England and Wales) will provide technical support; On the Chinese side, both National Development and Reform Commission and Ministry of Water Resources will co-lead, support and provide guidance to this project through its implementation. The project has been co-funded by DEFRA and DFID.

As one of the world’s megadiverse countries – the group of extremely biodiverse countries that harbor the majority of the Earth’s species – Mexico has an important role to play in protecting global biodiversity from the threats of illegal poaching and trading across borders.

Training to reduce illegal trade

The UK-Mexico Sustainable Development Dialogue has worked with Mexico’s Environmental General Attorney (PROFEPA) on a project to help it to improve its governance and capacity to reduce illegal trading of timber and unique animal and plant species.

In 2009 the number of illegally captured species increased to 22,300, up from 19,500 in 2008. The project has provided training for key authorities including customs officers, General Attorney Officials, as well as some Guatemalan authorities, recognising the importance of improving border control in the south of the country.

Just a few days ago customs officials at the Mexico City airport captured a Mexican national, flying in from Lima, Peru, with 18 primates he was trying to smuggle into the country. The animals were sedated and packed in lycra tights.

The species that were captured are regulated by CITES (Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species) and should never have left their place of origin (the Amazon Rainforest), since they are endangered or threatened.

The officials who conducted this operation had benefited from the training under the UK-Mexico project; their success demonstrates the impact of this training on the identification and management of CITES-regulated species, along with the use of tools and techniques to identify wildlife smuggling.

Continuing work

Recently, HM Ambassador to Mexico, Judith Macgregor, chaired an event to present wildlife identification equipment and training materials to PROFEPA, which is the national authority of Mexico in charge of implementing international conventions on biodiversity including the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) and the Convention on Biological Diversity, whose Conference of the Parts is due to take place next October in Nagoya.

At the event, PROFEPA and TRAFFIC-North America also signed a four-year agreement to continue joint work on combating illegal wildlife trade in Mexico. This agreement is a positive result of the UK-funded project, since it is a follow up to the previous work undertaken with UK support, and has encouraged an increased commitment from Mexico to build its capacity to improve regulation to combat the of illegal wildlife trade. This project has played an important role in working to protect some of the world’s most rare and endangered biodiversity.

The Government, through the UK-Mexico Sustainable Development Dialogue, is working with Mexico’s National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP) on a project building national capacity for the development of adaptation measures to reduce the vulnerability of protected areas to climate change.

The project is an example of how the UK is working internationally to help combat the affects of climate change on some of the world’s most important ecosystems and biodiversity.

Cuatrociénegas in Coahuila (Photo by Alejandro Boneta)

Protecting ecosystems from fire

One focus of the project is to build the capacities of the CONANP in fire issues and the restoration of ecosystems, a key part of its strategy for climate change and protected areas.

On May 27 CONANP presented fire-fighting equipment and tools to three fire brigades of Morelos and Puebla. Thanks to this equipment – which includes chainsaws, machetes, helmets, uniforms, shovels, drip torches and radios – forest fires will be attended promptly, helping to reduce impacts in both states.

Constitución in Baja California (Photo by Roberto Vazquez)

Addressing biodiversity loss for ecosystem conservation

Ecosystem conservation within protected areas is a key priority for CONANP, which is addressing current drivers of biodiversity loss, including land use change, deforestation, introduction of invasive species and overexploitation.

Climate change is becoming one of the main drivers of change for ecosystems. CONANP is working to adapt to climate change and reduce ecosystem vulnerability, by facing known threats such as wildfires, droughts, flooding and especially terrestrial and marine ecosystem degradation – both key areas for ecological adaptation.

Protected areas: representing Mexico’s diverse ecosystems

National Protected Areas are terrestrial or water portions of the national territory that represent diverse ecosystems where the original environment has not been essentially changed. Protected areas produce ecological benefits that are becoming better known and appreciated.

CONANP handles 174 federal natural areas across 25,384,818 hectares. Protected areas are classified in the following categories: biosphere reserves, national parks, natural monuments, natural resources protection areas, wildlife protection areas, sanctuaries.

Montebello in Chiapas (Photo by Alberto Vazquez)

Reducing the vulnerability of protected areas to climate change

The recent presentation of fire-fighting equipment is just one of the project’s many activities to help protect Mexico’s ecosystems. Other activities have included:

• Delivery of equipment for restoration purposes
• Training workshops for brigades
• Development of an instruction manual for community brigades
• Research into climate change scenarios in southern Mexico and the Yucatan Peninsula

The brigades have received proper training and instruments to perform the brave tasks required to combat and mitigate forest fires at the local level. Thanks to this programme, CONANP will increase its capacity to restore ecosystems in several states of Mexico besides Morelos, Puebla and Mexico City.

The May event took place at the Amatlán de Quetzalcóatl hotel, owned and run by the indigenous community of the same name, located in the “Tepozteco”, a natural protected area of Morelos. To conclude the event, women who work at the Amatlán de Quetzalcóatl Hotel cooked delicious tamales for the guests and participants.

Attracting funding for ecosystem protection

In addition to funding of £453,000 from the British Government, the project has attracted approximately £683,000 co-funding from other sources. The project is implemented by the National Commission of Natural Protected Areas (CONANP), the federal government agency responsible for the conservation and management of protected areas in Mexico.

Update from Antonieta Castro, UK-Mexico SD Dialogue (13th August 2010)

A couple of weeks ago, HM Ambassador to Mexico Judith Macgregor visited one of the protected areas, La Malinche, near Mexico City to witness some of the work that has to date been done there as part of the UK-funded project. She met community fire brigade volunteers who have been trained and equipped thanks to the project and was greatly impressed by their interest in protecting their forest.

Explanation of fire-fighting methods

The ambassador also saw some concrete examples of environmental services provided by the natural protected area such as water supply, through the digging of holes in the ground to collect water to inject into acquifers, which then supply water to surrounding cities such as Puebla and parts of Mexico City.

Mangroves are the arborous vegetation on the tidal zones between marine and terrestrial environments, requiring both fresh water and seawater to function. They help mitigate climate change due to their high photosynthetic rates, local communities rely on them for construction materials and firewood, and it is estimated that almost 80% of global fish catches are directly or indirectly dependant on mangroves.

A UK-Mexico Sustainable Development Dialogue project has recently helped to reforest some of Mexico’s mangrove wetlands.

Dolphins amongst mangroves

The Nayarit mangrove forests

The mangrove forests of Nayarit are located on the coastline of the Pacific Ocean. They include one of the most extensive and productive mangrove forests of Mexico, and some were included in the Ramsar Convention.

These ecosystems serve as one of the most important winter habitats for birds migrating from North America. Nevertheless, they have been threatened by different factors, including natural phenomena such as hurricanes and human activities such as deforestation, land use and hydrological system changes, tourism, construction of dams and roads, aquaculture industry, and agriculture.

Reforesting the mangroves

The UK-Mexico Sustainable Development Dialogue funded a regional action plan for the reforestation of the mangrove wetlands in Nayarit, through capability building for local community “ejidos” and the development of tools for wetland restoration, conservation, ecotourism and sustainable use, implemented by the National Forestry Commission (Conafor). Its purpose was to improve the conservation and restoration of the mangroves of Nayarit through the capacity building of the local communities.

Mangrove Nursery, Ejido of Francisco Villa

The project ran from October 2007 to March 2010; its outcomes included:

• Training for community settlers, covering areas such as: restoration of mangroves, bird watching, ecotourism services and projects, environmental education for women; local communities have also developed a “train the trainees” system
• 220 reforested hectares; 300,000 mangrove plants grown in supported nurseries; 60 kilometres of mangrove canal cleaned
• Diagnosis of the situation of the mangroves
• Regional action plan for the restoration of mangrove swamps
• Manual of mangrove restoration experiences in Nayarit’s rural communities
• Directory of tourism suppliers

Declaring the mangroves a natural protected area

The mangrove area known as Marismas Nacionales Nayarit has recently been designated a Natural Protected Area, in the Biosphere Reserve category. The communities of this area were initially reluctant to this designation. However, thanks to the training and capacity building that the project gave to the communities, they recognised the importance of the mangroves and entered a dialogue with the authorities, helping to start the process for the declaration of the Natural Protected Area.

The UK is working with the Chinese government on the prevention of imports of illegally harvested timber, through a new two-year project. This £540,000 project, the Joint Study to Assess Options for a Chinese Timber Legality Verification Scheme, is funded by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the China State Forestry Administration (SFA).

Launched on 4 December 2009, the project will develop detailed proposals on the establishment of a practical timber legality verification scheme in China which will promote the utilisation of legally-produced timber products in the international trade.

China is the world’s largest timber importer and a major exporter of timber products. Illegal logging contributes to climate change and biodiversity loss by destroying forests. It also negatively affects local communities’ livelihoods and makes it harder for sustainably-harvested timber to succeed in the marketplace.

Legislation to combat illegal logging

Governments from developed countries have initiated legislation to curb illegal logging. For example, in May 2008 the US introduced the Lacey Act amendment to prevent trade of illegally harvested timber. Now, the EU is finalising new legislation that will require all businesses that first sell any wood product in the EU to minimise the risk that it has been produced from illegal logging.

Through the UK-China Sustainable Development Dialogue (SDD), DEFRA and DFID are working closely with the Chinese Academy of Forestry and its sponsor SFA to find options for cost-efficient timber legality verification schemes which could work in the Chinese context. To make sure these options are grounded in reality, they will be pilot tested with a sample of companies, working back through their supply chains to the countries where the timber is being harvested. Working with the private sectors and NGOs will allow real problems to be identified and practical solutions found.

Ms. Zhang Yanhong, Director General of the State Forestry Administration said:

“The project will serve as a basis for the Chinese government to develop its options for timber legality verification. SFA is very grateful for the timely support from the UK government for its demonstrated commitment to work with the Chinese government on enhancing its capacity to tackle the illegal logging problem and promote a responsible timber trade.”