Timber as a forest-risk commodity: embodied socio-ecological impacts in the Brazilian supply chain

Abstract: The continued loss and degradation of forest resources is one of the largest sustainability challenges of our time. The past decades rise in global demand for agricultural and forest commodities have created unparalleled pressure on the natural resources, leading to forest destruction and associated loss in carbon stocks, invaluable biodiversity, ecosystems services, livelihoods. Timber and related wood products have long featured among top forest-risk commodities, yet we still lack elementary understanding of this supply chain and how it links consumers across the world to tropical timber extraction and associated socio-ecological impacts. The overarching goal of this research is to advance the understanding of the socio-ecological impacts embodied in the production to consumption of timber originating from Brazilian native forests. It contributes to answering two foundational questions: To what extent can we connect localities of production to consumption? How are the embodied illegality risks of the supply chain distributed? Paper I provides answers to the latter. By adapting environmentally extended input–output modelling to timber originating from Brazilian native forests, we show how distinct illegality risks can be mapped and quantified at species-level across the supply chain to overcome traceability limitations. We focus on high-value ipê hardwood from the Amazon state of Pará, a leading timber producer and contested forest frontier. We found less than quarter of all ipê entering supply chains between 2009 and 2019 is risk-free, provide insights on the geographical diversification of potential laundering strategies and show how we can use this approach to overcome the lack of traceability. Paper II expands on Paper I in further compiling data on logging permits and timber flows from state- and federal-level transport licenses substantiated by these, and assessing to what extent we can connect forest exploitation to timber flows. We find about 22% of the exploited forests can be associated to authorized areas, whereas the remaining falls within the complex land tenure patchwork of this forest frontier. Next steps include getting closer to answering: How is the embodied forest degradation risk of the supply chain distributed? This thesis may offer important insights toward this end.