To catch a thief! Or how to prevent an upsurge in forest crime
By Ken Hickson for Focus on Forests
“Wildlife and forestry crime is the world’s fourth largest illegal trade – a lucrative illegal business with far-reaching and devastating consequences not just for the environment but also for society, public health and global economics,” said Jürgen Stock, INTERPOL Secretary General.
“Wildlife and forestry crime often occurs hand in hand with tax evasion, corruption, money laundering and even murder, with organized crime groups using the same routes to smuggle protected wildlife as they do people, weapons, drugs and other illegal products,” added Secretary General Stock.
Those comments were made earlier this week (9 November) after a month-long police and customs cross border operation (14 September - 11 October 2020) resulted in large seizures of protected wildlife and forest products, triggering arrests and investigations worldwide.
Catching the perpetrators of wildlife and forest crime is what Interpol and authorities the world over focus on, but how do you stop it from happening in the first place? And how can companies be sure they are not on the receiving end of illegal gains?
Singapore-based Double Helix Tracking Technologies exists to do just that. It pioneered the use of scientific tests, like DNA and isotopes, as verification tools to determine whether document-based claims of the species and origin of wood are genuine.
These methods have been applied to international timber supply chains to help control illegal logging and trade in valuable timber species.
DoubleHelix, along with the University of Adelaide in Australia, have been instrumental in building a DNA library for timber that allows the species and origin of timber from forests in Southeast Asia – and all over the world - to be verified.
Take two high value timber species, like Meranti and Merbau, which are found in abundance in Indonesia. Merbau, also known as Malacca Teak is described as a beautiful timber used in premium joinery such as windows, solid panel doors, as well as for decking and outdoor furniture in international markets. Meranti is a wood of world-wide commercial importance, used for veneers and plywood panelling.
DoubleHelix CEO Darren Thomas says “DNA studies and other scientific tests can be applied to these and other in-demand timbers, as a means to monitor and protect global supply chains from becoming laundering routes for illegal timber.”
These methods also form a critical part of international guidelines to verify timber supply chains produced by the United Nation’s Office of Drugs and Crime, World Bank, CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) and the Global Timber Tracking Network.
The mega-diverse forests of Southeast Asia harbour a high diversity of species, the timber of which can look very similar once felled and processed.
Under these conditions it is easy to mis-label species and either substitute lower value species for higher value ones or include threatened species in harvest volumes as undifferentiated tropical forest products.
Professor Andrew Lowe of the University of Adelaide, who acts as Chief Scientific Advisor to Double Helix, has introduced this scientific approach, which provides unrivalled assurance of product claims and demonstrates best-practice due diligence. It has been used extensively to both solve and prevent forest crime.
Besides DNA analysis, DoubleHelix also applies isotope testing to determine the geographic origin of timber and wood anatomy to determine tree species or genus identification.
Applied correctly, these tests can determine, for example, where valued woods like Merbau and Meranti were harvested, and whether those locations are associated with sustainable management forest areas, or controversial palm oil conversion or conflict zones.
DoubleHelix has also applied these scientific methods to support local timber certification systems, including Indonesia’s SVLK - Sistem Verificasi Legalitas Kayu - Indonesia’s national timber legality assurance system, as well as for the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).
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About Double Helix Tracking Technologies:
At DoubleHelix, we love forests and the amazing materials that come from forests. We understand that replacing environmentally damaging materials with wood-based products is key to meeting Sustainable Development Goals, so long as they come from legal, responsibly managed forests. We want people to care as much as we do about where their wood products come from.
Established in 2008 and headquartered in Singapore we work with suppliers, buyers and retailers in over 20 countries worldwide across the Americas, Africa, Europe and Asia. Our partners include governments, foundations, scientific centres of excellence and major international brands. www.doublehelixtracking.com
