We wanted to share a quick update on our collection expeditions in the Asia Pacific region. Timber sampling is now underway in the Mekong Basin, with a focus on species at high risk of illegal logging. This is the first stage of a project funded by the Australian Government aiming to generate comprehensive reference data for the region, which can be used to identify timber illegally entering Australian markets. We are currently collecting in five countries (highlighted on the map below) and will be expanding into additional Asia Pacific countries in the coming months.
We wanted to thank our partners at the University of Adelaide for their collaboration, as well as our collectors from Kerala Forest Research Institute in India, IPB University in Indonesia, the National University of Laos, and the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia. Last but not least, our trusted collector Koki in Thailand for his continued support of our work.
#forests #deforestation #transparency #traceability #supplychains #sustainablesupplychains #wood #sustainablewood #sustainabletrade #geolocation #India #Thailand #Laos #Malaysia #Indonesia #AsiaPacific #Mekong #illegallogging #referencedata #timber #markets @uniofadelaide@kscste_kfri@ipbofficial@nuolofficial@ukminsta
World Forest ID is excited to announce that Charles (Chip) Barber, Director for Natural Resources Governance and Policy in World Resources Institute's Global Forests Program, has recently joined our Board.
Chip brings unique experience in international environmental law and policy, forest and biodiversity conservation, and sustainable development, as well as an extensive network of international experts both in the public and private sector.
In his current role, Chip oversees the Forest Governance and Policy Program, the Secretariat for the Nature Crime Alliance, for which WRI serves as host, and is Chief of Party for the USAID-funded Countering Nature Crime initiative, a consortium led by WRI. In the past, Chip has served as Forest Division Chief in the U.S. Department of State, worked as Environmental Advisor at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), served as a consultant to numerous international organizations, and held a prior role at WRI working on forest, biodiversity, and marine programs, based in the Philippines.
@worldresources@usaid #forests #sustanabledevelopment #environmentallaw #sustainableconsumption #biodiversity #conservation #forests #deforestation #illegallogging #supplychains #sustainablesupplychain #timber #naturecrime
A big thank you to Loa Dalgaard Worm and FSC Denmark for dedicating the latest episode of the podcast series Forest for the Future to talk about the work we do at World Forest ID.
You can access the episode on any of the platforms listed below to hear Jade Saunders, our Executive Director, and Scot McQueen, our Board President and Senior Technology Officer at the Forest Stewardship Council, discuss the various ways our reference data and models could be used to enable more transparent supply chains, sustainable consumption, and healthier forests.
Spotify: https://lnkd.in/eqKnKTgG
Itunes: https://lnkd.in/dt63jvj
Castbox: https://lnkd.in/d9xdwjk
Google Podcasts: https://lnkd.in/d-QJyMg
Podtail : https://lnkd.in/du8wbFX
#supplychains #sustainablesupplychain #forests #deforestation #sustainablewood #illegallogging #EUDR #geolocation #sustainableconsumption #timber @fsc_international
Please join us in welcoming Cicely Podmore, our new Communications and Administrative Intern!
In addition to supporting the communication and administration functions at World Forest ID, Cicely will also collaborate closely with Lydia Prior, our Collections and Research Associate, and our collection teams on the ground around the world.
Cicely holds a BA in Modern and Medieval Languages from the University of Cambridge and a PGDE in Secondary Modern Languages from Bath Spa University. She is proficient in Spanish, French, Russian, and Ukrainian. Prior to joining World Forest ID, Cicely worked in education, including at The Ukrainian Institute of London.
Special thanks to the Climate and Land Use Alliance for funding this role!
#forests #deforestation #supplychains #traceability #timbertracking #sustainablesupplychains #transparency #sustainabletimber #sustainablewood #scientifictesting #geolocation #EUDR #forestriskcommodities
It is hard to believe that another year has flown by since our last holiday post, and what a year it has been. Building on everything we learned about collections in the last few years, this year has been an opportunity to deep dive on the analytical front, thanks to our incredible science team and partners, including Caspar Chater (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew), Andrew Lowe (University of Adelaide), Agroisolab Germany, and Source Certain, as well as our data science collaborators including Jakub Truszkowski (University of Gothenburg), Thomas Mortier (Ghent University), Roi Maor (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew), and the team at the Sanghani Center for Artificial Intelligence and Data Analytics at Virginia Tech.
Here are the main highlights of 2023:
👉 Results from the first round of replicability tests working with paired laboratories to increase confidence in our measurements and ensure that our reference data is scalable.
👉 Combined stable isotope and trace element data for a handful of valuable European timber species, which together give dynamically improved results, highlighting the power of combining results from multiple techniques in determining origin.
👉 Spatial models for key origin techniques which move beyond simple statistics, showing geolocated chemical variability in plants and trees within countries - for increased granularity in our traceability for traded wood products and forest risk commodities.
We want to thank our donors, including DEFRA, the Government of Australia, the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Climate and Land Use Alliance, the U.S. Forest Service, IKEA, Kingfisher plc, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, World Resources Institute, the Forest Stewardship Council, and Virginia Tech for making our work possible, as well as our partners, Assurance Services International and Simeone Consulting (John Simeone), among others, for making our work that much more effective, efficient, and fun!
World Forest ID will be closing the doors of our virtual office for the holidays for a well deserved break and we will connect with you all in the new year, refreshed and ready for another year of fantastic firsts.
Sharing some highlights from our recently concluded expedition in Belize!
The goal was to collect teak (Tectona grandis) samples in Central America as part of our effort to create a comprehensive ‘origin model’ for the species, enabling traceable and transparent supply chains for plantation teak worldwide, and access to regulated markets for responsible producers.
We want to thank our long time partner and science advisor Meaghan Forney for leading this expedition on behalf of World Forest ID, as well as German Lopez from the Belize Forest Service, and Hemalatha Velappan from the University of Washington for their support, and the U.S. Forest Service for funding the expedition.
#Belize #CentralAmerica #teak #supplychains #transparency #sustainability #accountability #traceability #timber #sustainabletimber #sustainablewood #wood #markets @u.s.forestservice
Meet our newest Board member, Melissa Flagg!
Melissa is the founder of Flagg Consulting LLC, a fellow at the Acquisition Innovation Research Center (AIRC), a visiting fellow at the Perry World House, and a senior advisor to the Center for Security and Emerging Technology (CSET) at Georgetown University where she previously served as a Senior Fellow. Earlier in her career Melissa served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Research, responsible for policy and oversight of Defense Department science and technology programs. She also worked at the State Department, the Office of Naval Research, the Office of the Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and the Army Research Laboratory.
The expertise and diverse set of experiences that Melissa brings to World Forest ID will undoubtedly benefit our organization, and we are excited to welcome her! She is joining an incredibly strong and supportive Board, including Scot McQueen, Alexandra Banks, Catalina Romero Nocua, Dr Paul Wilkins, Art Blundell, and Rupert Oliver.
#forests #deforestation #supplychains #traceability #transparency #scientifictesting #sustainability #wood #timber #FRC #EUDR #policy #research
Thank you to the Rainforest Foundation US, AIDESEP, ORPIO, and ORAU for inviting us to participate in the Tech Camp 2023 workshop series in Peru this fall. Arthur La Rosa Sánchez Navarro and Rosario Carrasco presented at two workshops aimed at building capacity for rainforest stewardship and land management in indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon. In addition, World Forest ID also organized and led a pilot wood collection project to train 22 environmental monitors from indigenous communities, as well as sponsored the travel of two indigenous leaders to the workshop in Pucallpa.
Tech Camp 2023 demonstrated that indigenous organizations are deeply committed to forest conservation and can make an important contribution to the World Forest ID database by collecting geo-referenced wood samples in remote locations.
#Peru #georeference #rainforest #forest #amazon #indigenous #communities #wood #environment #environmental #Pacullpa #conservation #sustainability #geolocation #EUDR @aidesepperu@orpioaidesep@rainforestus@orau_oficial@arthur.lrsn
After many months of work and unwavering support from our team, collectors, and partners, we are proud to present our new learning platform, and a number of finalized collection and drying guides for wood, soy, and cocoa! We are working hard to add new guides, as well as Spanish and French translations to those only currently available in English.
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#supplychains #traceability #sustainablesupplychains #timber #FRC #forestriskcommodities, #scientifictesting #forests #illegallogging #geolocation #EUDR #deforestation #accountability #sustainability #wood #soy #cocoa
JOB ALERT! 👉 World Forest ID is looking for a Communications and Administrative Intern to join our team. This is an exciting opportunity to join a dynamic global team as it grows. The role offers scope for career development as well as working across a variety of projects in cross-cutting activities. Key responsibilities include administrative support, communications support, and logistics. Initial 6 months contract with option to extend. Apply via Linkedin (/jobs/view/3728450429) or email us at [email protected].
Meet Alfredo Rodriguez Zunino, our new Asia-Pacific Project Manager!
With an Msc in Tropical Forestry, Alfredo has a long track record working with development institutions, international cooperation agencies, competent authorities, and the private sector developing strategies for strengthening sustainable supply chains and forest-commodities legality assurance systems. Based in South Korea, he will support World Forest ID in managing projects in the Asia Pacific region.
#forests #forestry #sustainableforests #logging #illegallogging #suppplychain #supplychains #sustainablesupplychains #transparency #traceability #transparentsupplychains #EUDR #geolocation #wood #timber #forestriskcommodities #sustainablefood
Another exciting pilot project to share, also from Thailand! We are working out best practices for palm fruit collection, palm oil extraction, and transport. Just as with our rubber pilot, once our new protocol is well tested and streamlined we hope to expand collections into the wider region.
While, according to Chain Reaction Research and Mongabay, palm oil related deforestation has been declining in the past couple of years, in 2021 it still amounted to a whopping 19,000 hectares in the three leading palm oil producing countries, Indonesia, Malaysia and Papua New Guinea. In addition, as one of the seven commodities covered under the new EUDR law the establishment of a comprehensive reference database is crucial for better traceability, enforcement, and supply chain transparency.
#palmoil #oilpalm #plantations #deforestation #Thailand #Indonesia #Malaysia #PapuaNewGuinea #PNG #sustainability #sustainablesupplychains #forestriskcommodities #FRC #forests #geolocation #sustainablecommodities #illegallogging #commodities #EUDR #referencedata #referencedatabase #traceability #enforcement #supplychains #transparency
