Archive - Author: Media BVRio

Promoting Lesser-Known and Lesser-Used timber species from Ghana

Promoting Lesser-Known and Lesser-Used timber species from Ghana

In collaboration with Ghana Forestry Commission’s Timber Industry Development Division (TIDD), Forest Research Institute of Ghana (FORIG), Ghana Timber Millers Organization (GTMO) and the Ghana Timber Association (GTA), BVRio developed a set of communication materials that include technical information about a selection of timber species that are available to the international markets.

Read more...
Illegal timber trade from Brazil and the need for robust due diligence

Illegal timber trade from Brazil and the need for robust due diligence

At the 12th BRICS Summit, held via video conference on the 17th November 2020, the Brazilian government “threatened to disclose” that “Europeans have purchased illegal timber from Brazil during 2017”.
Indeed, this is true.
Recent analysis by BVRio concluded that a high percentage of Brazilian hardwoods, exported to EU member states and the USA in 2016-2017, had a very high risk of illegality. The study was based on BVRio’s Timber Due Diligence systems, that uses big data analysis and satellite imagery and is able to able to identify the risk of irregularities in 99% of cases.

Read more...
WEBINAR: LESSER KNOWN SPECIES – Utilising Ghana's Sustainable Timber Resources

WEBINAR: LESSER KNOWN SPECIES – Utilising Ghana’s Sustainable Timber Resources

While Ghana has nearly 90 species that are regularly exploited and traded as timber, its diverse forests contain many other species that can be commercialised. Many of these under-utilised species have similar and sometimes even better performance capabilities than well-known species. Others have a distinctive and unique appearance that makes them ideal for creating attractive timber products. Using a more diverse selection of species is not only a good business decision but also has the potential to improve livelihoods, protect biodiversity and promote sustainable forest management.

Read more...
New Forest Code approved in the Republic of Congo

New Forest Code approved in the Republic of Congo

With over 65% of the Republic of Congo covered by forest – an area almost the size of the United Kingdom – it is vitally important that sustainable forest management practices take place in the country, both to improve livelihoods and protect the forest. The main legislation to do this is the country’s Forest Code; in July 2020, a new version of the code received presidential approval after eight years of revision. This is an important milestone towards a more sustainable and inclusive forestry and timber sector.

Read more...
BVRio and FSC Peru host a webinar about COVID19 in the Chinese timber sector

BVRio and FSC Peru host a webinar about COVID19 in the Chinese timber sector

BVRio and FSC Peru are working together to promote certified and legal timber from Peru to the international market. On 19 August, both organizations hosted a webinar for Peruvian timber companies. This was an informative session that included presentations from two Chinese timber companies, who shared their experience in the sector during the COVID19 pandemic.

Read more...
New research demonstrates climate benefits of rainforest protection and restoration

New research demonstrates climate benefits of rainforest protection and restoration

Researchers from 13 institutions studied an area of tropical forest in Sabah, Malaysian Borneo, that was heavily logged in the 1980s and subsequently protected from further logging or conversion to plantation agriculture. They found that areas left to regenerate naturally recovered by as much as 2.9 tonnes of aboveground carbon per hectare of forest each year. This is important because it highlights that if degraded tropical forests are protected, they can recover well naturally.

Read more...