Technical and communications synergies for tropical timber

This is the first joint newsletter from the Sustainable Tropical Timber Coalition and the Fair&Precious marketing initiative from ATIBT (International Technical Association for Tropical Timber). It follows their agreement last year to cooperate and to reinforce their individual strengths and objectives. The two organisations see their roles and strategies as ‘deeply complementary’. Operating in tandem, they maintain, they can more effectively achieve their shared goal of growing the European market for verified sustainable tropical timber, which in turn will increase uptake of sustainable forest management in tropical countries. 

“This partnership is a logical progression. The STTC and Fair&Precious work in different ways, but ultimately we share the same goals. The STTC has undertaken a lot of research and technical work into the availability, supply, demand and performance of sustainable tropical timber, while F&P is highly effective in terms of broader communications, use of visuals and branding.  Combining these capabilities, provision of technical information and communication skills and tools, will create a powerful resource for verified sustainable tropical timber in the marketplace.”
Nienke Sleurink, Program Manager at STTC founder IDH, The Sustainable Trade Initiative.

“The ATIBT – with Fair&Precious brand- and STTC  have common aims; promoting FSC and PEFC-certified tropical timber and increasing its European market share. We now have a two-step approach to driving  synergies between us. We are starting with collaboration on quickly achievable aims and discussing stepping up our activities in 2020. We are working on a co-branded market data report, which FSC, PEFC, the European Timber Trade Federation and maybe NGOs can use as a stepping off point to help increase certified market share. Our joint newsletter will disseminate our tools and reports to a wider audience and we will use STTC’s data to support the Fair&Precious campaign. Together we are also stepping up use of social media.”
Benoît Jobbé-Duval, Managing Director Fair&Precious founder ATIBT.