In early 2007, Australia became the world leader in the fight against illegal logging, with the introduction of the world’s first DNA testing of timber by one of Australia’s largest timber importers, Simmonds Lumber.
The DNA test, similar to human DNA testing, verifies the exact source of each tree being imported from Indonesia - a country suffering one of the highest deforestation rates in the world with more than 80 percent of all wood produced and sold thought to be illegal.
Simmonds Lumber CEO Paul Elsmore said his company was one of the leading importers of domestic housing timber from Indonesia and the DNA testing was a necessary leadership initiative to set a new worldwide benchmark in combating the trade in illegal timber, as well as providing an Australia wide industry initiative.
Simmonds Lumber have invested more than a quarter of a million dollars over the past 5 years with Singaporean timber auditing company Certisource to develop the technology using sampling techniques similar to that used when trying to establish the paternity of a child.
“From a perspective of sustainability of our industry at the supply end through to the marketability of products to Australian consumers, this is the way of the future,” Mr Elsmore said.
“Today will mark the proof of concept after some 5 years in development and 18 months of rigorous testing, we are fully confident in the DNA testing capacity to verify an undisputed chain of custody,” said Certisource Managing Director Kevin Hill attending the launch in Sydney from Singapore.
A genetic profile is taken of each tree while it is growing in legally allocated concession areas. Trees, like humans, have unique individual DNA codes. It is then rematched with another genetic analysis once the logs have arrived at the production mill in Indonesia. The approved timber is then processed through the mill, under the strict audit of Certisource, before finally being exported to Australia as a finished product.
The tests are the first independent chain of custody verification in the world to use scientific evidence to prove the exact source of each tree.
Currently, many other auditing systems simply rely on a ‘certificate of origin’ issued in the source country, to prove the legality of the cargo. However these systems can be corrupted, with many log smugglers sidestepping the authorities by providing false certificates for contraband timber.
The Australian Minister for Forestry and Conservation, the Hon Eric Abetz says he hopes other importers will adopt a similar approach to proving the legality of the wood products that they source. "The chain of custody system, using DNA technology, that is being introduced by Simmonds Lumber, represents a significant advance in our attempts to stamp out illegal logging in our region. I commend Simmonds Lumber for providing an example to all Australian wood product importers, " says Senator Abetz.
The initiative comes at a time of growing concern over the illegal logging trade in Indonesia. Deforestation in Indonesia is at a rate of 2.8 million hectares lost every year – an area almost the size of Belgium.
According to a report commissioned in 2005 by the Australian Government, (Jaakko Poyry report, Overview of Illegal Logging) around $400 million worth of illegally harvested timber is imported into Australia annually, which represents around 9% of our total timber imports. Most of this is in the form of outdoor tables and chairs, shelves and other household items, or hidden in the common paper products that we use every day.
Increasingly it is expected import restrictions will target this trade.
The Certisource DNA testing technology has been applauded by WWF, the global conservation organisation, as a significant development.
“WWF congratulate Simmonds Lumber for their significant investment and commitment to the development of this DNA technology. We see this technology as a very promising tool in the global campaign to stop the trade in illegally harvested timber,” says Jana Blair, the WWF Australia Forest and Trade Network Coordinator.
For more information on DNA LUMBER go to "http://www.certisource.net".
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