Dear Readers, Our General Assembly has kicked off the New Year with a gift for tropical forests. The new statutes our members have approved increase their accountability on environmental issues and responsible harvesting. At the same time, they empower the private sector to better carry out its role in close collaboration with key stakeholders.

Accordingly, the Board will now comprise 21 Directors: 10 from the economic chamber, 1 from national industry associations, 6 from member States, international organizations and research institutes and 4 from NGOs.

This is a break-through in ATIBT’s institutional development enabling even more impact of ATIBT’s activities from now onwards in maintaining and managing our tropical forests by responsible use.

From now on in ATIBT, representatives of some of the world’s largest tropical wood companies will decide jointly with African governments, environmental NGOs, prestigious science institutes and information centres. This collaboration will strengthen our Member States’ decision-making that is so crucial for conserving tropical forests.

The best and only way to avoid deforestation, forest conversion and forest degradation is the responsible production of tropical wood. We need to do so in a precautionary way, so that the people living off the forests can continue to do so while earning a good living and having limited impact on flora and fauna.

Read more:  here