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Above left: Sample collectors record the exact position of the sampled tree via GPS using the WFID app Above right: Extracting a sample core
The project is already well under way. WFID is undertaking geo-referenced sample collection in 21 countries. In conjunction, partner laboratories around the world are using such techniques as stable isotope ratio analysis, DART mass spectrometry and digital imaging to record the samples’ chemical and anatomical profiles, each unique to species and location.
In the latest development, WFID is partnering with the US Forest Service International Program (USFSIP), the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) and others with the goal of creating a sample collection and associated timber identification and traceability databases covering the entire US hardwood forest. This, it is felt, could become a model for equivalent national projects globally.
WFID was conceived following discussions between various organisations on the challenge of using latest material analysis technologies to monitor the timber trade. “The main obstacle was that, while wood sample collections existed, they weren’t geo-referenced. As a result, they could not be used with science-based analysis techniques to prove timber origin, which can be key in prosecuting illegal timber traffickers,” said Mr Guillery, previously supply chain integrity director at the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC). “However, within our group we decided we had the knowledge and resources to address this problem.”
Consequently a consortium came together to form WFID. This comprised the World Resources Institute, the FSC and the USFSIP (WFID’s main funder to date). Also on board are UK experts in stable isotope ratio analysis (SIRA) Agroisolab, and Kew Gardens in London. The latter is designated curator of the WFID wood sample collection, receiving
funding for the work from the UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office. WFID’s sample collection programme to date is already extensive, extending from north, central and south America, to Europe, West Africa, Asia (including China) and the Pacific.
Collectors include employees of consortium members and local partner organisations, plus individual researchers. They gather samples of sapwood, heartwood, cambium, bark and leaves. Via GPS, the WFID collectors’ app then registers the location of where the sample comes from to an accuracy of 8-16m. Subsequently the material – and WFID is also looking at forest-risk commodities such as soy, coffee and cocoa and biofuels – is dispatched to Kew. As well as undertaking some of the work itself, it then sends sections of the wood for analysis at Agroisolab and the USFSIP’s Wood Identification and Screening Centre. Besides SIRA and DART mass spectrometry, additional methods being used include digital imaging and DNA analysis. With SourceCertain in Australia, WFID is also investigating use of trace element analysis and, longer term, sees promise in using genetics.
The end result is a bank of irrefutable scientific data, effectively the wood samples’ chemical and structural ‘fingerprints’, identifying species and origin. Held at the University of Connecticut, this database can then be accessed by ISO-certified public and private testing laboratories worldwide for cross-referencing with analysis of traded timber to verify species and sustainable, legal provenance.
Phil Guillery says WFID’s sample collection and data will help authorities and the timber trade “overcome barriers to increasing mainstream use of scientific analysis ►
Above: A sample core
www.ttjonline.com | January/February 2022 | TTJ
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