Two Indonesian logging companies have signed up to a US$400,000 timber tracking pilot project which uses bar codes to keep tabs on wood.
The project, organised by US-based environmental group the Nature Conservancy, has attracted funding from the US and UK governments, as well as the world’s largest DIY chain Home Depot.
Trees legally felled are given bar codes which stay with them, even when they are turned into timber products.
The Nature Conservancy says the Indonesian companies are involving themselves because their markets are demanding evidence that wood is from legal sources.
Swiss company SGS is overseeing the technical side of the project.
