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MAPPING THREE DECADES OF CHANGE IN

TROPICAL TIMBER

A new ITTO study charts how economic shocks, demographic trends, and the rise of plantations
have transformed the sector. By Frances Maplesden

n the past three decades, world production, consumption The report is an essential contribution to the creation
and trade in tropical wood products has undergone of transparency in timber markets. As such, it is a valuable
Isignificant change: the availability and quality of tropical resource for decisionmakers in both the public and private
timber from natural forests has become increasingly restricted; sectors as they seek to understand and shape a sector
and economic and demographic changes have shifted the that is central to the Sustainable Development Goals,
location and growth of tropical wood product industries— from ending of poverty to stemming the climate and

and the geographic location of demand—from developed to biodiversity crises.
developing countries. This article presents some of the report’s major findings,
A major new ITTO report charts in detail this long-term including how economic shocks have affected the sector,
transformation of the tropical wood products sector. Drawing and describes long-term trends in the production and trade
on information from the ITTO Statistics Database, Tropical of logs, sawnwood, veneer sheets and plywood, including
timber trends provides a comprehensive overview of tropical across value chains and for products such as furniture and
timber production, consumption and trade from 1990 to 2020. wood panels.

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