Reporter Raphael Rowe spent 6 months tracking timber from the Congo’s jungle; his discovery, that illegally logged timber is finding it’s way onto the European market, raises important questions about the efficacy of the EU Timber Regulation.
The programme demonstrated that the EUTR is only as strong as it’s weakest link, concluding that FSC is the ‘most rigorous guarantee of sustainability’. There is only one FSC certified company in the Republic of Congo who export to the UK under the FSC label, ‘elsewhere in the market, the timber industry is a chain of good intentions with very weak links’. What the programme makes clear is that the EUTR is still a work in progress, and engagement across Europe is not yet sufficient. It also highlights the importance of third-party audited FSC certification, which ensures that harvesting practices are not only legal, but also sustainable.
You can watch the programme at any time (within the next year) on the BBC website at http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b037lp1d.