Illegal deforestation is driven by big consumer demand for timber, agricultural commodities and other extractives. However most consumers are unaware of the environmental costs of their purchases as most supply chains are remarkably opaque.
World Forest ID has created a scientific standard for the verification of plant product origins, so that illegal and unsustainable deforestation for exports can be eradicated through transparent supply chains. To do this, they collect plant samples from forests and agricultural lands worldwide, to build a reference library of unique chemical, genetic, and anatomical signatures tied to species and location. Their clients—companies, regulators, and watchdogs—use this data to identify the origins of consumer products. World Forest ID provides guidance on what to measure and how, comparing client data against their library to find matches. They share these findings with clients to help hold bad actors accountable and clean up supply chains.
Jade Saunders has been the Executive Director of World Forest ID since 2022. An anthropologist by training, she comes to this problem with an understanding of the social components of law enforcement based on ~20 years of experience in forest governance, trade, and environmental crime. Previously, she served as a senior policy analyst at Forest Trends, as a strategy advisor for the UK’s ForestMind project, and had a long stint at Chatham House tackling deforestation through trade law and supply chain regulation.
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