In a meeting billed as the first of its kind, representatives from the timber and wood product industries have sat down with conservationists to discuss global deforestation.
Global giants Weyerhaeuser, the Home Depot and Ikea met with traditional adversaries the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) and Greenpeace at the Forest Leadership Forum in Atlanta to discuss the protection and sustainable use of the world’s forests.
The three-day forum covered illegal logging, responsible management of production forests and corporate purchasing policies.
Recent WWF research shows forest destruction is driven by poor forestry management and over-exploitation, not by wood consumption.
The conservation group also announced a three-year partnership with IKEA to promote responsible forestry in priority regions and the development of global toolkits on forestry issues.
