05-08-2013 - Key Findings of BMZ-Conference "Forests for Future Generations", 11 and 12 June, Berlin Opening the international conference “Forests for Future Generations – Public and Private Responsibility for Sustainability”, the German Federal Minister for Economic Development and Cooperation, Dirk Niebel, outlined the German position towards the preservation of tropical forests: „We have to make better use of synergies between public regulations and private standard initiatives for the preservation of tropical forests”.

The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) arranged the conference in cooperation with the Federal Ministry for Food, Agriculture and Consumer Protection (BMELV) and KfW, organized by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Interationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, on the occasion of the 300th anniversary of the concept of sustainability in forestry, the 20th anniversary of forest certification and a decade of the EU Action Plan against illegal logging and associated trade.

How can tropical forests both be used and effectively preserved? How can certified wood products be moved out of a niche into the mainstream market along global supply chains in order to boost sustainable forest management? More than 160 participants from national governments, civil society, scientific institutes and the private sector from 37 countries pointed out that especially the dialogue between regulatory
approaches and private standard initiatives was to be intensified. Synergies between trade-related regulatory processes and private standard initiatives increased the transparency of global supply chains and set incentives to further develop global supply chains from verifiable legal towards verifiable sustainable.

Intensive debates in two high-level panel discussions and several working groups made clear that all efforts to establish sustainable forest management in the tropics are in vain if there is no demand for tropical timber from certified sources and sustainable managed forests.  Potentially strong market levers like the EU timber regulation and public procurement rules are to be effectively implemented and close cooperation between the public and private sector along global supply chains should be fostered.