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The Tropical Forest Trust is an UK organization concerned with establishing responsible wood procurement policies for tropical woods - allowing customers to choose tropical woods that have not been harvested from rainforests.

The TFT is a UK registered not-for-profit company, with offices in the UK, Switzerland, Indonesia, Malaysia and Viet Nam. The TFT is governed by a Board comprising representatives of its members and independent experts.

In North America and Europe demand for FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) certified wood has led to many millions of forest hectares achieving certification. Yet despite an exponential growth in demand for FSC certified tropical timbers there is still only minimal supply. Tropical forest managers are often unsure of how to achieve certification and they face highly complex forest management contexts that make achieving certification difficult. Even securing wood from known legal sources is challenging in many tropical countries where enforcement systems are weak and illegal logging is common. The Tropical Forest Trust or TFT, is a membership based organisation established in March 1999 by companies trading in tropical wood products. The TFT helps its members to implement responsible wood procurement policies in the tropics.

The TFT helps its members to manage and monitor their supply chains and it helps the forests that anchor those supply chains to achieve FSC certification. The TFT currently recognises the Forest Stewardship Council as the leading international forest certification scheme providing credible independent assurance that source forests are well managed.

The TFT assists member companies to find out where their wood currently comes from. Having done so – or having identified the reasons why it is impossible to do so – the TFT helps its members to develop policies for where they want their wood to come from in the future.

It then helps its members to identify ‘good wood’ sources: FSC certified forests that meet their product needs or, where these are lacking, Transition Wood Sources that are implementing or are ready to implement a strictly controlled Certification Action Plan with the TFT to achieve FSC certification.

For more information please go to www.tropicalforesttrust.com

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