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Press Release
17 December 2007
EU and UK local Government must use legal sources of timber
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courtesy of Nick Robinson/Panos Pictures
During a discussion at Chatham House, Minister for Trade and Development, Gareth Thomas, called on his European Union and local government counterparts to join the international effort to tackle deforestation by ensuring that the timber they buy is legal. He announced £5 million in funding for a programme to help secure the rights of poor people who rely on forests for their livelihoods.
Mr Thomas said forests were of enormous environmental, economic and cultural value, as part of the two-day discussion to look at ways of helping the Democratic Republic of Congo tackle deforestation.
Gareth Thomas said:
"The world’s forests are increasingly facing competing demands for timber, for the environment, for food, land and local livelihoods – the list goes on. Cutting emissions from deforestation is a must if we are to avoid dangerous climate change, and it also brings real benefits for communities who depend on forests for their livelihoods, and for increasingly vulnerable biodiversity.
"Forest resources are among the main assets of the poor, and creating a system that allows them to conserve the forests and diversity of livelihoods will help tackle poverty by improving their income and wellbeing.
"To help start the process, and in addition to the UK’s support for the World Bank deforestation project announced at the climate change conference in Bali last week, today I announce £5 million contribution to the Rights and Resources Initiative to reduce rural poverty, strengthen forest governance, conserve forests and achieve sustainable growth.
"Today I call on all EU countries to adopt timber procurement policies and for Local Authorities to follow the central Government's lead and buy forest products only from legal and sustainable sources. This will help developing countries to protect and manage their forests by closing the market to illegally logged timber. They can do this by ensuring that the products they buy are verified as legal or certified as sustainable."
The Rights and Resources Initiative is an international coalition of organisations that work to address the competing demands on forest resources with the aim of protecting the environment and the millions of poor people who rely on forests for food, water and their livelihoods. It works to increase household and community control of forests, while working to boost benefits for local communities from forests and trees.
Last week, at the UN climate change conference in Bali, the UK Government announced its £15 million contribution to the World Bank’s Forest Carbon Partnership Facility. The new programme will support developing countries to participate in pilot programmes that provide payments to reduce carbon emissions from deforestation.
Earlier this year the UK also announced £50 million to help reduce unsustainable deforestation in the Congo Basin as part of the £800 million Environmental Transformation Fund.
Notes to Editors:
- For further background on the impacts of illegal logging, DFID has recently released a series of short films and booklets available at www.dfid.gov.uk/news/files/climate-bali.asp
- For further information on the UK’s timber procurement policy see
www.proforest.net/cpet
For further information and a copy of the speech, contact Heather Pillans on 020 7023 1752 or 020 7023 0600, e-mail pressoffice@dfid.gov.uk or call our Public Enquiries Point on 0845 300 4100
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