Events

The Forest Legality Initiative, a project of the World Resources Institute (WRI), convened partners and stakeholders in October 2019 in Washington, DC, to advance dialogue and initiatives related to the international trade in timber. The three-day event drew 189 attendees from more than 20 countries.

Topics under discussion included linkages between climate change and illegal logging, corruption and the timber trade, the island of New Guinea, consisting of Papua New Guinea and the province of Papua in Indonesia, Peru, and policy developments in the EU on the EU Timber Regulation and the EU Communication on Stepping up Action to Protect and Restore the World’s Forests. Side events held before the start and after the close of the main conference included a meeting on corruption and financial flows and illegal logging, a discussion on main takeaways for timber from the August 2019 CITES Conference of Parties, discussions on early warning systems and a coordination and exchange meeting among providers and users of due diligence support tools. The U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Forest Service provided generous support for the event. Below is a summary of the conference presentations and discussions. The presentations from the sessions can be found here. Please note that since the event was webcast and we share the presentations, the presentations are on the record, but we do not attribute any audience comments and questions to individuals. The contents detailed below do not necessarily reflect the views of WRI or conference participants.

Download the summary of the event

AGENDA

Tuesday, October 8

1:00 PM : Opening Remarks

• Chip Barber, Director, Forest Legality Initiative, World Resources Institute (WRI)
• Jonathan Brightbill, Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General, U.S. Department of Justice

1:30 PM : Forest Legality and Sustainable Landscapes: making the connections

• Moderator: Andrew Steer, President and CEO, WRI
• Why Forest Legality? The Big Picture - Frances Seymour, Distinguished Senior Fellow, WRI
• Rannveig Formo, Senior Advisor Forest Crime, Norway’s International Climate and Forest Initiative
• Kathryn Stratos, Director, Office of Global Climate Change

USAID Corruption: a key obstacle to reducing forest loss and illegal logging

• Moderator: Amy Smith, WWF
• From the Bottom to the Top: Examples of Corruption in the International Timber Trade - Lisa Handy, Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA)
• Zero deforestation in anti-corruption approach - Timer Manurung, Yayasan Auriga
• Corruption: a key obstacle to reducing forest loss & illegal logging - Art Blundell, Forest Trends 
• Integrated Compliance: Supporting Sustainable and Ethical Business Practices - Jeanne Cook, Center for International Private Enterprise (CIPE)

Wednesday, October 9

9:00 AM : The last great forest of Southeast Asia: Part I: Indonesian Papua

• Moderator: Zuraidah Said, WRI Indonesia
• The Land of Papua : How Intact Forest Landscape could have Sustainable Development Agenda? - Arief Wijaya, WRI Indonesia
• Law Enforcement Challenge in Avoiding Deforestation in Papua - Timer Manurung, Yayasan Auriga
• Deborah Lapidus, Mighty Earth
• Sam Lawson, Earthsight

10:30 AM Coffee Break

11:00 AM The last great forest of Southeast Asia: Part II: Papua New Guinea

• Geoffrey Blate, USAID (Moderator)
• Reiner Tegtmeyer, Global Witness
• Marjorie Warisaiho, Center for Environmental Law and Community Rights (CELCOR)
• Cosmas Apelis, The Nature Conservancy
• Rufus Mahuru, Partners with Melanesians

12:30 PM Lunch

1:30 PM Peru’s Progress on Forest Legality - Accomplishments and Challenges for the Future: Civil Society Perspectives

• Nhaydú Bohórquez Carvajal, Food and Agriculture Organization – Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade Programme (FAO-FLEGT) - (Moderator and background presentation)
• Magaly Avila, ProÉtica
• Melissa Blue Sky, Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL)
• Julia Urrunaga, Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) 
• Tom Bewick, Rainforest Foundation US

3:00 PM Coffee Break

3:30 PM Peru’s Progress on Forest Legality - Accomplishments and Challenges for the Future: Government and Private Sector Perspectives

• Nhaydú Bohórquez Carvajal (FAO-FLEGT) (Moderator)
• Alberto Gonzalez Zuñiga Guzman, Servicio Nacional Forestal y de Fauna Silvestre, Peru (Peruvian Forest Service - SERFOR)
• Jessica Moscoso, Centro de Innovación Productiva y Transferencia Técnica para la Madera (Center for Business Innovation and Technological Transfer for Timber – CITEMadera)
• Alberto Yusen Caraza, Fiscalía Especializada en Materia Ambiental, Loret (Environmental Prosecutor, Loreto – FEMA)
• Jhoana Canales, Consorcio Maderero SAC (Timber Consortium SAC, COMASAC)

5:15 PM The Open Timber Portal: launching a platform for transparency in timber trade

• Matthew Cassetta, U.S. Department of State (Moderator)
• Patrick Duggan, U.S. Department of Justice
• Jon Knut Berg, Embassy of Norway
• Marieke Wit, Forest Governance, Markets and Climate Programme (DFID)
• Marie Vallée, WRI

Thursday, October 10

9:00 AM Regulating forest-risk commodities: what lessons from regulating timber trade by the EU?

• Tina Schneider, WRI (Moderator)
• Giuliana Torta, Delegation of the European Union to the United States of America
• Marigold Norman, Forest Trends
• Clotilde Henriot, Client Earth
• Faith Doherty, EIA

10:30 AM Coffee Break

11:00 AM Next steps in the EU and other jurisdictions on forest-risk commodities

• Tina Schneider, WRI (Moderator)
• Giuliana Torta, Delegation of the European Union to the United States of America
• Sylvain Maestracci, Embassy of France
• Heli Hyypiä, Embassy of Finland
• Clotilde Henriot, Client Earth
• Rick Jacobsen, EIA

12:30 PM Closing Remarks, followed by Lunch

Chip Barber, Director, Forest Legality Initiative, World Resources Institute (WRI)