Forest Governance and Policy

At the forefront of Indonesia’s commitment to tackling illegal logging is Law No. 18/2013 on the Prevention and Eradication of Forest Destruction, which requires law enforcement agencies to prove that timber was harvested illegally from a designated forest area. Investigators have 90 days to secure this evidence, which often includes a combination of wood anatomy analysis and manually locating tree stumps to match them, based on size and species, with the wood in question. However, innovative wood identification techniques, such as DNA and stable isotope analyses, could transform these efforts by offering reliable verifications of timber quickly and at minimal cost. A new World Resources Institute working paper published by the Forest Governance and Policy team and World Resources Institute (WRI) Indonesia sets out the case for the adoption of such technologies. Read the paper here: https://lnkd.in/e6PTUsBp #woodidentification #Indonesia

Tropical primary forest loss declined in 2025, driven largely by Brazil. However, climate-driven fires are a dangerous new normal, threatening to reverse this progress.    2025 #TreeCoverLoss data from Global Land Analysis & Discovery laboratory at the University of Maryland (UMD GLAD) is now available on Global Forest Watch, and it reveals a promising sign that strong policies and enforcement can work.    “A drop of this scale in a single year is encouraging — it shows what decisive government action can achieve,” shares Global Forest Watch Co-Director Elizabeth Goldman. “But part of the decline reflects a lull after an extreme fire year. Fires and climate change are feeding off each other, and with El Niño on the horizon for 2026, investments in prevention and response will be critical as extreme fire conditions become the norm.”     Read the full analysis here on World Resources Institute's living report on forests, the Global Forest Review 👉 https://lnkd.in/erAxiNxq    🌎Explore the data on Global Forest Watch: https://lnkd.in/eJqfAVSg 🌍Learn more about how the data compares to other national estimates: https://lnkd.in/eMZaiTij 🌏Check out the data on WRI’s new innovative, AI-powered system: https://lnkd.in/eKnVsJtn Our thanks to WRI Africa, WRI Brasil, WRI Colombia, World Resources Institute (WRI) Indonesia and World Resources Institute Europe for their invaluable contributions to this analysis.

What would a proposed ‘no-risk’ category mean for the EUDR? According to analysis from World Resources Institute, such a category would undermine the entire regulation, creating laundering loopholes and uncertainty for businesses. In a WRI Insights piece, Olivia Campbell Bo L. Tina Schneider Sonja Zantow set out the challenges that a no-risk category would present, including: 1) The creation of laundering loopholes  Commodities are often traded, processed and re-exported across complex, multi-country supply chains. Without a requirement to trace products back to their origin, a no-risk category creates a loophole for deforestation laundering. For those profiting from deforestation-linked production, a no-risk exemption could be a free pass to sell to the EU market without having to show where their products actually came from. 2) Disputes at the WTO  A no-risk category based on country classifications rather than objective sector-wide criteria, such as plot-level data, can trigger WTO disputes and undermine the EU’s credibility in defending the regulation internationally. Allowing no-risk exemptions to some countries but not others risks violating the WTO’s principle of non-discrimination.  If legal challenges to the EUDR at the WTO are successful, it would have considerable impact on the EU's credibility as a trade partner and global leader in environmental governance.   3) Additional uncertainty and complexity  Introducing a no-risk category would not simplify the regulation; it would undermine it. A new category would create uncertainty for the country benchmarking system and due diligence exemptions granted for countries with so-called negligible risk of deforestation. Instead of reducing burdens, it would create regulatory complexity and weaken the existing monitoring and enforcement mechanisms. Read the full analysis in the WRI Insights article: https://lnkd.in/eKbXDp5u #EUDR #EuropeanUnion #deforestation #forestgovernance #forestpolicy 

The EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) aims to ensure that key commodities entering or leaving the EU market are not linked to deforestation. With the EU ranking among the world's largest importers — in particular, seven key commodities: timber, cattle, cocoa, coffee, oil palm, rubber and soy — the regulation represents a critical step toward more sustainable global supply chains. However, proposals to introduce a "no-risk" category could significantly weaken its impact. By removing due diligence requirements for certain countries, companies would face reduced obligations to trace product origins. In complex supply chains, this creates opportunities for both intentional and unintentional deforestation laundering, making enforcement by national authorities far more difficult. Even small regulatory exemptions can create major loopholes. For the EUDR to succeed, consistent traceability and accountability across all supply chains are essential. To learn more about the risks of weakening the EUDR, read our insights: https://lnkd.in/eKbXDp5u #EUDR #Deforestation #SupplyChains #ForestProtection World Resources Institute Global Forest Watch

While corporate efforts are not where they need to be, a growing number of companies are adopting and implementing deforestation commitments ahead of the European Union Deforestation Regulation (EUDR) taking effect in December, according to Global Canopy's latest Forest 500 Report.    However, multiple delays and talk of changes to the EUDR are making it harder for companies to make decisions on setting up and implementing their due diligence systems. Tina Schneider, Director of Forest Governance and Policy at World Resources Institute, spoke to Mongabay on the challenges business face from this constantly shifting legal landscape: https://lnkd.in/emr9M9X3 #forests #deforestation #eudr

Innovative technologies can play a key role in fighting illegal logging, especially when they support stronger collaboration between different stakeholders. Last month, the Forest Governance and Policy team at World Resources Institute, in partnership with Brainforest Gabon and Pulitzer Center, brought together civil society organizations, investigative journalists, and forest governance experts in Gabon to deepen their understanding and knowledge of digital tools – like the Open Timber Portal (OTP) – and to foster stronger collaboration to investigate, report on and tackle illegal logging. The workshop, held in Libreville from March 24-26, shared learnings from the NICFI - Norway's International Climate and Forest Initiative-funded project “Innovative Technologies to Combat Illegal Logging” that has been implemented by FGP and our partners since 2021. Some of the key accomplishments achieved by Brainforest under this project include: 🟢 Training and building the capacity of local CSOs (Muyissi Environnement and the Nsombou Abalghe-Dzal Association (NADA)) on independent forest monitoring (IFM) 🟢 Establishing eight local community networks in the provinces of Ngounié, Nyanga, Ogooué-Ivindo and Estuaire to monitor logging operations and verify compliance with social obligations 🟢 Conducting six IFM missions, with 17 observations of suspected noncompliance. You can view these on the OTP here:  https://lnkd.in/eivgc2RS We’re grateful to everyone who participated in the workshop and shared their insights and experiences in combatting illegal logging. WRI Africa #illegallogging #illegaldeforestation #forestmonitoring #IFM #Gabon

Hello LinkedIn! 👋 Welcome to the official account of the Forest Governance and Policy (FGP) team at World Resources Institute   🌳 For those not familiar with FGP, we support the design and implementation of effective forest policies related to illegal logging and deforestation-free supply chains 🔎 We provide tools and resources to improve transparency and accountability in forest-related supply chains, such as the Open Timber Portal, and inform policy and purchasing decisions through data and analysis ✍ We’ll be posting here about the latest developments in forest governance and policy, alongside updates from our work Follow us for insights on forest legality, policy and governance! Find out more: https://lnkd.in/eEF-hwWQ #forests #forestprotection #illegallogging #illegaldeforestation #forestpolicy #forestlegality #forestgovernance