Forest products are renewable goods that store carbon and have in most cases a lower environmental footprint than non-wood products. Well-managed forests provide numerous ecosystem services and societal benefits. The production of forest products can, however, cause significant negative side effects if not conducted in a legal and sustainable basis.
The World Resources Institute and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development have partnered to provide reliable, impartial and technically "easy-to-understand" information to assist sustainability officers and business procurement managers, especially major purchasers of wood and paper-based products, in their purchasing decisions. It also has information on existing approaches to procurement from legal and sustainable sources.
This guide focuses on 10 key issues: origin, information accuracy, legality, sustainability, special places, climate change, environmental protection, recycled fiber, other resources, and local communities and indigenous peoples.
Version 1.1 includes a characterization of 34 tools and resources (13 more than in the original publication) that aid sustainable procurement of forest products. The update also includes a comprehensive list of publicly available private sector procurement policies and the issues they cover.