Import:Export Wood Purchasing News - August/September 2017

AHEC - Continued from page 2
The result is reflected in National Woodland Ownership Survey statistics;
20 years on from fi rst forest certificates being issued in the U.S. hardwood
industry, just 5 percent of privately owned forest area is certifi ed. At the
same time U.S. forest inventory data shows that hardwood forest area has
increased by 2.7 million hectares and standing volume by 2.1 billion m3.
In the absence of widespread certifi cation, AHEC’s efforts to develop an
alternative method for demonstrating good forestry began in 2008, when
it commissioned an independent study from Seneca Creek Associates.
This was the fi rst sector-wide, systematic quantitative assessment of the
risk of “controversial wood” – from genetically modifi ed timber, to material
derived from high conservation forests – entering supply chains. The risk,
it concluded, was negligible.
The study proved highly infl uential for laws like the U.S. Lacey Act
Amendment of 2008 and the EU Timber Regulation (EUTR), which aim to
prevent illegal products entering timber trade fl ows. It highlighted the role
systematic regional assessment of forest governance systems can play
to mitigate risks of sourcing illegal wood, without recourse to expensive,
potentially discriminatory wood tracking systems.
AHEC has now commissioned a review of the Seneca Creek study to assess
changes in forest regulation and management that may impact on its
original negligible risk assessment,
and further explore the potential of
regional risk assessment in demonstrating
U.S. hardwood conformance
to sustainability principles.
AHEC is also building on the work
of government agencies, including
the U.S. Forest Service Forest
Inventory and Analysis (FIA)
Program, which can now identify
how much wood, of which species,
is growing or harvested in each
American county, with fi gures updated
every fi ve years minimum.
AHEC is making FIA data readily
accessible through a new online interactive
map, via which users can
analyse distribution of trees, growth
and harvest for 22 key hardwood
species making up 96 percent of
U.S. hardwood forest volume.
It is also addressing another
shortcoming of some corporate and
public sector “sustainable timber”
policies, which focus on forestry,
ignoring environmental impacts at
other life cycle stages. Since 2010,
AHEC has worked with sustainability
consultants Thinkstep to compile
data on life-cycle environmental impact
of U.S. hardwood in line with
international carbon footprint and
Life Cycle Assessment standards.
Drawing on this work, AHEC can
model environmental impacts of
delivering U.S. hardwood lumber
and veneer to any market worldwide.
It is consequently working
with product designers, architects
and manufacturers, developing
guidance on how best to enhance
environmental performance of
products using high proportions of
U.S. material.
AHEC has also developed the
American Hardwood Environmental
Profi le (AHEP) to provide a simple
practical tool to communicate
environmental information to timber
Extraordinary Wood
• Located in the heart of Appalachian
Forest Region
• Slow grown to produce a tight grain
• Over 200 million board feet annually
Sustainability
• Committed to sustainable forestry
• 300+ years of collective
forestry experience
• Over 1 billion board feet of long
term timber supply agreements
• FSC Chain of Custody Certified
buyers and specifi ers. This consignment-specifi c shipping document contains
information on the legality and sustainability of the hardwood shipment,
including quantitative data on environmental impacts of delivery. It
helps satisfy the due diligence requirements of the EUTR and similar laws
by providing supplier name, product description, wood volume, commercial
and scientifi c species name, place of harvest, and negligible risk of
illegal harvest evidence.
There’s still work to be done to ensure universal acceptance of AHEC’s
approach to demonstrating sustainability. The good news is that buyers,
specifi ers and policy-makers are beginning to recognize the need, and
opportunity, to move beyond an approach centered on forest unit certifi -
cation.
A recent article on the Sustainable Brands website by Lara Koritzke of
ISEAL concludes that “the future of certification might be responsible
sourcing regions rather than certifi ed forest operations.” This aligns with
AHEC’s approach, combining region-wide governance risk assessment
with forest inventory data.
There’s also recognition of the need to consider full product life cycle
environmental impacts, as in the EU “Single market for Green products”
initiative.
The American hardwood sector is clearly positioned to exploit these
emerging trends. ■
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Import/Export Wood Purchasing News August/September 2017 Page 13