為了減少非法採伐的木材交易，「森林合法性聯盟」(The Forest Legality Alliance)25日在美國華府啟動，該組織結合了全球保育團體、政府機構、企業與商業團體，要攜手促成合法森林製品的供應鏈。
該聯盟的宗旨是達成更好的森林治理與生物多樣性保育，方式是藉由減少對非法砍伐森林製品的需求，並且增加供應商提供合法的木材與紙品的產能。
「聯盟要建立起大家的信心，確信進口木材與紙製品是合法的。把事情做對，貿易便能支持環境的保護，而聯盟承認貿易在保護我們全世界的大面積森林上發揮了作用。」世界資源研究所的克雷格‧漢森(Craig Hanson)如此表示，該組織為聯盟的創始會員之一。
漢森負責執行世界資源研究所的人民與生態系計畫，他說：「某些公司並未意識到有必要去探究了解其購買的木材，或是放任非法木材進入其供應鏈的後果。」
聯盟將著重在這個行業整體上合法交易的產能，而非著重於個別公司的表現，聯盟並將補足既有的行動，亦即對合法性與永續性的認證。
除了主要發起者世界資源研究所、環境調查協會(Environmental Investigation Agency)與美國國際開發署之外，加入聯盟的成員包括美國森林暨紙業協會(American Forest & Paper Association)、硬木聯合商會(Hardwood Federation)、IKEA，國際木製品協會(International Wood Products Association)、新品紙業(NewPage Corporation)、零售業領導協會(Retail Industry Leaders' Association)、史泰博文具(Staples Inc.)與世界企業永續發展協會(WBCSD)。
只要是針對非法採伐木材而出現的新興貿易政策，聯盟也會設法讓進口商與供應鏈都能夠瞭解。
例如，美國政府在2008年修改拉賽法案(Lacey Act)，若森林製品由違反外國法律採伐的木材製成，則禁止在美國販售。由於這項修法，使得美國成為全球第一個禁止非法木材與相關製品進口的國家。
「舉凡樂器到教科書，美國與國外的法律正從根本改變木材與所有木材製品貿易與製造的方式。」位於華盛頓特區的環境調查協會執行長沙夏‧ 馮俾斯麥(Sascha von Bismarck)說道。「供應商若不注意這些新的政策，除了信譽危機，也可能遭受財務上的惡果。
他表示：「聯盟將會致力提供企業與民間社團他們所需要的資訊，以避免風險並對全球的森林造成改變。」
目前森林佔全球土地面積的30%，但只有10%生產林木的經濟林經獨立認證為永續經營。世界企業永續發展協會主席比約‧斯蒂格森(Bjorn Stigson)在5月初於溫哥華召開的資誠聯合全球森林與紙業年會上做出上述表示。
該聯盟將會發展出新的線上資源庫作為其提供的服務一部份，協助企業評估可能購買到非法木材的風險，謹慎進行處理，並完成進口申報。
藉著和志願的成員合作進行一連串的試驗測試，聯盟打算要證明，去符合需求方新興的要求是可行的，也具有成本效益。聯盟並且會找出實際可行的方式以減少且減緩進口商與製造商未預期到的負擔。
To reduce trade in illegally harvested wood, a global initiative was launched today in Washington that brings together conservation groups, government agencies, corporations and business associations with a stake in promoting legal forest product supply chains.
The Forest Legality Alliance aims to achieve better forest governance and biodiversity conservation by reducing demand for illegally harvested forest products and increasing the capacity of suppliers to deliver legal wood and paper.
"The Alliance seeks to build confidence that imported wood and paper products are legal. Done right, trade supports environmental protection and the Alliance recognizes the role trade plays in protecting our world's great forests," said Craig Hanson of the World Resources Institute, one of the founding members of the Alliance.
"Some companies are not aware of the need to ask questions about the wood they are buying or the consequences of letting illegal wood enter their supply chains," said Hanson, who directs WRI's People and Ecosystems Program.
The Alliance will focus on the capacity for legal trade in the sector as a whole, rather than on the performance of individual companies, and will complement existing initiatives that certify legality and sustainability.
Joining the World Resources Institute, the Environmental Investigation Agency, and the U.S. Agency for International Development in the Alliance are the American Forest & Paper Association, the Hardwood Federation, IKEA, the International Wood Products Association, NewPage Corporation, the Retail Industry Leaders' Association, Staples Inc., and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, WBCSD.
The Alliance will work to ensure that importers and supply chains know and understand emerging new trade policies that target illegally harvested wood.
For instance, in 2008, the U.S. government amended the Lacey Act to prohibit trade within the United States of products made from wood harvested in violation of the laws of a foreign country. With this amendment, the United States became the first country in the world to ban imports of illegal wood and related products.
"From musical instruments to textbooks, legislation in the United States and abroad is fundamentally changing how wood and everything that is made from wood is traded and produced," said Sascha von Bismarck, executive director of the Environmental Investigation Agency in Washington, DC. "Suppliers unaware of these emerging policies could face financial repercussions in addition to reputational risk."
"The Alliance will work to provide businesses and civil society groups the information they need to avoid risks and create change in the world's forests," she said.
Forests currently cover 30 percent of the world's land area but only 10 percent of production forests is independently certified for sustainability, said WBCSD president Bjorn Stigson at the annual PricewaterhouseCoopers Global Forest and Paper Industry Conference in Vancouver earlier this month.
As part of the services it provides, the Alliance will develop new online resources that help companies assess the risk of encountering illegal wood, conduct due care, and complete import declarations.
The Alliance intends to demonstrate through a series of pilot tests with volunteer Alliance members that compliance with new demand-side requirements can be feasible and cost-effective, and identify practical ways to reduce and mitigate unintended burdens on importers and producers.
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