Joined forces for a sustainable timber supply chain through covenant Sustainable Forest Management

IDH is proud to sign the covenant Sustainable Forest Management as it builds on our active involvement in the ‘Green Deal’ Sustainable Forest Management.

Today, the covenant Bevorderen Duurzaam Bosbeheer (Sustainable Forest Management) has been signed by representatives of the timber industry, the construction, furniture and retail branch organizations, trade unions, civil society organizations and the Dutch government in the presence of Dutch Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation, Lilianne Ploumen.

IDH is proud to sign the covenant Sustainable Forest Management as it builds on our active involvement in the ‘Green Deal’ Sustainable Forest Management. IDH has been actively involved in scaling sustainable forest management in tropical countries through our Tropical Timber program which so far resulted in 9.7 million hectares of certified forest. Daan Wensing, landscape director at IDH added: “The covenant is instrumental in realizing our ambitions as it brings together key public, private, civil society and knowledge sector partners – all needed to scale market demand for sustainably produced forest products.”

Minister Ploumen said: "This covenant is an important step in the right direction. In 2020, the use of sustainably produced timber should be norm, and conditions for conducting business responsibly at a global scale should be in place. This will lead to environmental and working conditions improvements in the producing countries."

IDH Tropical Timber program aims to scale market demand for the certified forests products in the EU. IDH is actively working with partners in Germany, Denmark, France and Spain and scaling to even more countries. A strong link is being made between the commitments by governments and companies to source sustainable timber and eliminate deforestation from supply chains.

At field level, IDH works with the timber sector in its landscape program, spanning 8 countries and 12 landscapes, to integrate sustainable forest management in wider efforts to manage natural resources sustainably.