The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) was established in 1986 and is an international organisation dedicated to the promotion and sustainable management of tropical forests and the fair and sustainable trade in tropical timber. The ITTO was established under the auspices of the United Nations (UN) and by virtue of the International Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA). The Organisation is headquartered in Yokohama, Japan.
Members
The International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) currently has 33 members, including 27 tropical timber producing countries and 6 consuming countries. ITTO’s Members account for approximately 90% of the global tropical timber trade and over 80% of the world’s tropical forest areas.
The producing countries include Angola, Benin, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Congo, Ivory Coast, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Ghana, Liberia, Madagascar, Mali, Mozambique, Togo, Cambodia, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Guatemala, Guyana, Honduras, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela. The consuming countries include Albania, Australia, Canada, China, European Union, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, Republic of Korea, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States of America.
Mandate
The International Tropical Timber Organisation (ITTO) is an intergovernmental organisation that promotes the sustainable management and conservation of tropical forests and the expansion and diversification of international trade in tropical timber from forests. The ITTO:
– develops internationally agreed guidelines and standards to encourage sustainable forest management by coordinating the work of sustainable tropical timber industries and trade.
– assists the Organisation’s tropical Member States to adapt these guidelines and standards to local circumstances, implementing them on the field through projects and other activities.
– collects, analyses and disseminates data on tropical timber production and trade.
– promotes sustainable tropical timber supply chains.
– contributes to the development of production capacity in tropical forestry.
The ITTO is an organisation with an operational approach which can boast over 30 years of experience. It has financed and assisted the implementation of more than 1,200 projects and other activities that address the many aspects of sustainable forest management, such as forest restoration; wood utilisation efficiency; competitiveness of wood products; market information and transparency in tropical timber trade and tropical timber supply chains; law enforcement and forest governance; the fight against illegal logging; biodiversity conservation; climate change mitigation and adaptation; the contribution of non-timber forest products and environmental services to the livelihoods of forest-dependent communities.
Organizational structure
The ITTO has an organizational structure made up of the following bodies:
- The Council – It is the decision-making body composed of representatives of all members of the Organization. It meets regularly to define general policies, adopt decisions and work programmes, as well as examine and adopt the budget.
- The Committees – The Council is assisted by fourCcommittees: the Committee on Economy, Statistics and Markets, the Committee on Reforestation and Forestry Management, the Committee on Forestry Industry and the Committee on Finance and Administration. These Committees usually meet during Council sessions.
- The Secretariat – It is ITTO’s executive body responsible for the day-to-day management of the Organisation. The Secretariat coordinates activities; implements programs and decisions made by the Council; provides technical and administrative support to Members and plays a coordinating role in relations with other international organizations.