Sustainable timber

Promoting sustainably sourced timber

At Probos our mission is to maintain forests, including through promoting sustainably sourced timber. Strong demand from consumer countries helps shape and support forest management and timber processing in producer countries.

Reliable data are core

Comprehensive market intelligence and market share monitoring are central to our mission. Data provides the basis for accurately formulating and evaluating measures to boost demand for sustainably sourced timber products. Probos is heavily involved in generating such market intelligence. We undertake timber market studies and data collection, including in our capacity as Dutch National Correspondent for bodies such as UNECE, Eurostat, FAO, ITTO, IDH the Sustainable Trade Initiative and in the framework of the FLEGT Independent Market Monitor (IMM).

Besides collating and analysing data across the timber supply chain, we formulate recommendations for policy makers, NGOs, the timber sector and other organizations. We also develop hands-on projects for removing barriers that hamper growth in demand for sustainably sourced timber. Reliable data collection is also essential for monitoring the results of policy and market initiatives.

Sustainable timber booming in the Netherlands

Our data and projects have played a central role in developing the sustainably sourced timber market in the Netherlands. We have helped the Dutch government to design, implement and monitor its sustainable timber procurement policies. The outcome has been spectacular, as concluded from our regular market studies, which show sustainably sourced timber’s Dutch market share growing from 13% in 2005 to 83% in 2015.

International sustainable timber chain

We have already extended our data-driven Dutch approach to the Belgian market and the EU. We are convinced the data driven approach could bring benefits internationally. Many governments and other donors want to support sustainable forest management, but few base their strategies on hard data, limiting their effectiveness. So Probos is increasingly active in the global market, collating and analysing reliable data and helping other organizations do the same.

Supporting the STTC

From the outset, Probos has been engaged as an expert to support the European Sustainable Tropical Timber Coalition (STTC), which aims to increase sustainably sourced tropical timber’s European market share to 50%.

From 2018 through 2020, we are undertaking a range of activities for the STTC, including:

Other international activities sustainable timber

We also undertake other activities internationally in the field of sustainable timber production and sourcing, including:

  • projects to promote supply and use Lesser Known Timber Species.
  • collating data for the Chatham House indicators project, monitoring levels of illegal logging and related illegal trade
  • acting as Netherlands National Correspondent for the ITTO FLEGT Independent Market Monitor (IMM) project
  • assisting the International Tropical Timber Technical Association (ATIBT) with fact-based communication
  • advising the city of Berlin on sourcing sustainable timber.
  • supporting the Beijing Forestry Society in developing a practical Timber Procurement Policy (TPP) recommendation for the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games and 2019 International Horticulture Exhibition.