Awareness of timber legality low in Peru’s domestic market
‘The Timber Industry in Peru: Identifying barriers and opportunities for internal trade in responsible wood products,’ published in Spanish by FAO-EU FLEGT and the Centre for Technological Wood Innovation (CITEmadera), reported low levels of awareness of whether wood or wood products were produced legally.
The research, presented during the Tecnomueble 2018 Fair, also showed that 90 percent of sales of Peru’s wood were made domestically, a sharp increase from the 63 percent domestic sales figure in 2007.
The findings presented a picture of high domestic timber sales with little understanding by customers of the origins of the wood itself — facts that could be attributed to high levels of informality in an industry where 96 percent of businesses are classified as microenterprises, the research showed.
"Given such high rates of informality, it is very difficult to influence issues of provenance and traceability to guarantee the legal origin of wood," said Maria Elena Rojas, of the FAO Representative’s Office in Peru.
The FAO-EU FLEGT programme aims to support countries in combatting illegal logging, to ensure that their forests can contribute to sustainable development, including efforts to address climate change. A significant part of that work involves raising awareness across the entire timber sector and among consumers and other customers of the importance of legal verification.
"It is urgent to carry out actions of awareness and training towards a responsible demand for timber products, working not only with final consumers, but also with intermediate buyers,” said Diego Mellado, EU Ambassador in Peru.
The FAO-EU Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) Programme seeks to reduce and eventually eliminate illegal logging. With the support of its donors, the FAO-EU FLEGT Programme funds projects created by governments, civil society and private sector organizations in Latin America, Africa and Asia to improve forest governance. The Programme works in support of the European Commission’s Action Plan on FLEGT to promote the legal production and consumption of timber by granting funds to projects, and assisting them at all stages from the original design through to the final outcome.