BVRio, Landscape Indonesia and LEI announce partnership

BVRio, Landscape Indonesia and LEI announce partnership to expand the Responsible Timber Exchange in Indonesia

20 March 2018 – BVRio, Landscape Indonesia and the Indonesian Ecolabelling Institute (LEI) establish a partnership based on the mutual intention of pursuing sustainable forest management in Indonesia. Under the terms of the MoU, the three parties will work together to promote the use of the Responsible Timber Exchange (RTX) in Indonesia, by including Indonesian responsible timber sellers and buyers in the platform and promoting their products in the international market.

In November 2016, Indonesia became the first country to fully achieve its VPA objectives and be authorized to issue FLEGT licenses. Following on from this important achievement, it is necessary to support the timber industry to maintain their engagement with the FLEGT Action Plan and to attract more companies to it. An essential part of this process is to assist companies in promoting their timber products in international markets, ensuring that the sector is rewarded for their efforts in adopting legality and sustainability standards.

This is where the newly formed partnership will play an essential role. BVRio Responsible Timber Exchange utilizes a wide range of e-commerce and digital marketing tools combined with direct engagement with timber traders in the EU, US and China. The RTX platform is already fully accessible in Bahasa Indonesia and provides a registration tutorial for Indonesian users, making it perfectly placed to promote Indonesian responsible timber products in international markets.  LEI will bring a wealth of experience to the partnership, having been very active in promoting sustainability of forest enterprises and community forestry projects in Indonesia for a long time. Adding to this, while Landscape Indonesia has come to the market more recently (2016), it is gaining momentum and is now providing advisory services on sustainable landscape management financing and development facilities.