From January 25th to 26th forest certification received a boost through the International Wood Trade Event which took place in Surabaya under the motto: “Indonesian tropical hardwood products: Sustainable. Quality. Guaranteed.”

The Indonesian Association of Forest Concessionaires (APHI) together with The Borneo Initiative (TBI), of which both are GIZ FORCLIME collaboration partners in the strategic area of Sustainable Forest Management (SFM), organized 2016’s event with particular emphasis on the environmental and social dimension in SFM. A great number of stakeholders ranging from the Ministry of Environment and Forestry (MoEF), NGOs such as Rainforest Alliance and The Nature Conservancy (TNC), as well as 19 overseas timber trading companies and 28 Indonesian wood processing industries attended the event.

Currently the Indonesian wood industry manufactures a variety of products such as wood panels (plywood), veneer, indoor flooring, outdoor decking, truck flooring, construction wood, doors and window frames, scantlings, and garden furniture.

The consensus reached among overseas traders and Indonesian producers was that quality and legal origin are key factors for building sustainable long-term business relations, increase trust towards Indonesian wood products among buyers from Europe and the US and thereby enlarge Indonesia’s market share in international markets.

GIZ FORCLIME is supporting the strengthening of SFM and REDD+ capacities in Indonesia, particularly on FMU level. Both the Timber Legality Verification ‘Sistem Verifikasi Legalitas Kayu’ (SVLK) and the Forest Stewardship Council’ (FSC) certification as well as Reduced Impact Logging (RIL) are effective parts of the SFM framework which is realized in collaboration with TBI and APHI amongst others.

For more information, please contact:
Tobias Goedde, Strategic Area Manager for Sustainable Forest Management