Forest Products

Updated December 2008

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The DFID Forest Research Programme commissioned NRET to carry out a three-year research project looking at whether and in what ways ethical trade can benefit forest-dependent people. This project from 1998 to 2001 focused on three main areas

  • Whether ethical trade benefits forest-dependent people?
  • What policy, market and other background issues affect ethical trade?
  • How can organisations develop ethical trade for the benefit of forest-dependent people?

The main output from this project is a manual, 'Ethical Trade, People and Forests'' which aims to provide practical guidance on selecting appropriate ethical trade approaches, the kinds of business basics that need to be adhered to for financial viability, tackling social issues including equitability of benefit distribution and the highlighting the need for impact assessment.

We are currently exploring appropriate mechanisms to disseminate the manual to its target audience, particularly intermediary NGOs assisting producers to export to ethical markets, producer and community organisations interested in engaging in ethical trade, traders, donors, international development academics and foresters.

Please contact us for further information on the Manual and how you can get involved in testing and disseminating it, nret@gre.ac.uk

Other outputs from the project include:

  • Economic analysis of fair-trade and conventional trade in Peruvian brazil nuts (download the report)
  • The social impact of fair-trade and conventional trade in Peruvian brazil nuts (download the report)
  • Economic analysis of fair-trade and conventional trade in Ecuadorian cocoa (download the report)
  • The social impact of fair-trade and conventional trade in Ecuadorian cocoa (download the report)

Policy Watching Briefs, a series of four papers reviewing policy issues affecting ethical trade in the forest sector.

Approaches to Ethical Trade: Impact and Lessons Learned (download the report [pdf - 213Kb])

For more information contact NRET.