Are Trade and Forests Survival Compatible?

Abstract

This chapter examines the question of whether trade in forest products from developing countries adds or subtracts value from the standing forests in those countries, and what potential the trade instrument may have in promoting sustainable forest management in developing countries. It is important to bear in mind that only a few tropical countries export a significant proportion of their output, and that in general demand for forest products within developing and transitional economies has been growing rapidly. It is also the case that plantations are rapidly substituting for natural forest outputs in developing countries, not only for commodity grade material, but increasingly for higher quality raw material as well.

Forest products trade issues have come before the World Trade Organization (WTO) and international consultations in the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) and the International Tropical Timber Organization. Voluntary certification of timber for compliance with sustainable forest management guidelines has grown quickly in the recent two decades, but has to date not produced significant price incentives for certified product from developing countries, nor major impact on deforestation. Illegal logging remains a major impediment to sustainable forest management in general in developing countries: the trade instrument will have some role in addressing this, but much more will be required for success.