A framework for tracing timber following the Ukraine invasion
Researchers revolutionise the fight against illegal timber trade with innovative scientific methods.
Forest preservation has become a global priority. However, deforestation and illegal timber trade remain persistent issues threatening these ecosystems. Researchers have developed innovative scientific methods to identify timber origins and combat these harmful practices, a study that has just been published in the prestigious journal Nature Plants.
Following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, the legality status of timber from Russia and Belarus was changed, highlighting the urgent need for reliable methods to verify timber origin claims. With this goal in mind, an international team of researchers has developed sophisticated methods, combining techniques such as Stable Isotope Ratio Analysis (SIRA) and Trace Element Analysis (TEA), to establish robust models for verifying and determining timber origin.
The study was a collaboration between World Forest ID, Ghent University, Preferred by Nature, Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Agroisolab GmbH and the University of Gothenburg.
Read the press release.
Read the full study on nature.com.
Photo by Marina Reich on Unsplash