Highlights and images for 28 October 2025

The second day of the 61st session of the International Tropical Timber Council (ITTC-61) was Trade and Markets Day and featured a variety of voices from civil society and the private sector. Speakers discussed efforts to advance sustainable tropical forest management, as well as the challenges and opportunities in improving the sustainability of the timber industry. 

In the morning, the Civil Society Advisory Group (CSAG) held a panel on integrating biodiversity conservation and livelihoods under the International Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA) and the Global Biodiversity Framework.  

Fernanda Rodrigues, UN Forum on Forests (UNFF) Women's Major Group, highlighted opportunities to unify national indicators across biodiversity and forest management frameworks and underscored the importance of broad stakeholder inclusion.  

Karen Noboa, TRAFFIC, described implementation successes related to: improved certification and traceability tools; investment in community-based forest management models and benefit sharing; and remote sensing technology.  

Rose Pélagie Masso, African Women’s Network for Community Forest Management (REFACOF), described forest restoration impacts from International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) partnerships in Togo and Benin, as well as work in Cameroon, based on approaches that strengthen women’s land tenure, livelihood security, access to finance and decision-making powers.  

Christine Wulandari, Indonesian Communication Forum on Community Forestry (FKKM), discussed her country’s model of community-based landscape approaches to biodiversity and livelihoods. She highlighted the importance of forest management in ensuring sustainable production, strengthening local institutions, and supporting adaptation and climate mitigation. Ramón Chiari, Ministry of Environment, Panama, described the country’s legal framework that allows Indigenous communities to manage their own forest resources sustainably and to conserve and improve their livelihoods.  

In the afternoon, the Annual Market Discussion took place on the theme “The Timber Industry Reimagined: Lessons from Market Struggles and Sustainability Efforts,” moderated by Ashley Amidon and Ivan Tomaselli, Co-Chairs of the Trade Advisory Group (TAG).  

Emily Fripp, Efeca, UK, outlined trends and challenges faced by the forest industry, such as the constantly changing geopolitical context and the global need for traceability and transparency. She highlighted the EU Regulation on Deforestation-free Products (EUDR) as an example of why the market will need to adapt.  

João Baldasso, Centro das Indústrias Produtoras e Exportadoras de Madeira do Estado de Mato Grosso (CIPEM), Brazil, highlighted that the country’s Forest Code requires private landowners in the Amazon region to maintain 80% of their property as a “Legal Reserve” of native vegetation, totaling 160 million hectares that cannot be exploited.   

Jaime Sotela Montero, Cámara Forestal Madera e Industria de Costa Rica, highlighted that the country is developing a national civil code for wood construction and a climate change code for the construction sector to improve the industry’s sustainability.  

Ngo Sy Hoai, Vietnam Timber and Forest Products Association, described his country’s journey from severe deforestation to becoming a leading exporter of wood products. He highlighted lessons learned including simultaneous reforms of the forestry sector and wood industry, and the development of a timber certification scheme to help penetrate high-end markets.  

Providing a case study of the African tropical forest industry, Tullia Baldassarri, Interholco, described the dynamics of managing a concession in the Republic of the Congo to produce high quality and high value timber. She stressed commitments to workers’ rights and approaches to build trust and confidence with communities. 

Throughout the day, the Committees on Reforestation and Forest Management (CRF), on Economics, Statistics and Markets (CEM), and on Forest Industry (CRF) continued their policy work in a Joint Session. They considered updates from the Secretariat on various areas of the ITTO’s work, such as dissemination of the ITTO Guidelines for Forest Landscape Restoration in the Tropics. Regarding the Revision of the ITTO Guidelines on Fire Management in Tropical Forests, the Secretariat presented a prototype of the ITTO Tropical Integrated Fire Management Toolkit, which is under development and is expected to be released in the second quarter of 2026.