Heightened consumer awareness of our impact on the environment has translated into a growing demand for environmentally responsible products and services. Third party certification has proven to be one of the most effective strategies for assuring both manufacturers and consumers that natural resources like tropical wood products have been harvested using sound, sustainable practices.

A Resounding Call for Sustainable Forest Management Standards

Recognizing increased sensitivity across industries and consumers about deforestation and its negative effects on the environment, as well as increased government regulation of illegally sourced woods, the Tropical Forest Foundation (TFF) developed a verification program that provides standards for Reduced Impact Logging (RIL) and Legal Chain of Custody. TFF’s programs give timber harvesters and tropical governments the opportunity to take the first step towards full certification by providing on-site training and demonstration of RIL, as well as independent auditing to confirm to customers and the authorities that tropical wood products have been sustainably harvested through RIL and are legal for sale in countries around the globe.  There are two levels of verification:

The TFF Legal Verified Chain of Custody® (CoC) program provides a widely recognized standard to prove that manufacturers have performed due diligence and buyers can be assured that their products are legally sourced.

The TFF RIL Verified® Program is more rigorous than the TFF Legal Verified CoC® Program and asserts that the harvester has applied all of the forest harvesting elements that make up the TFF RIL standard. TFF has found that when these standards are implemented, sustainable forest management is highly achievable.