The International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO) is an
intergovernmental organization
Globalization is social change
Social change is the alteration of the social order of a society which may include changes in social institutions, social behaviours or social relations.
Definition
Social change may not refer to the not ...
that promotes
conservation
Conservation is the preservation or efficient use of resources, or the conservation of various quantities under physical laws.
Conservation may also refer to:
Environment and natural resources
* Nature conservation, the protection and manageme ...
of
tropical forest
Tropical forests (a.k.a. jungle) are forested landscapes in tropical regions: ''i.e.'' land areas approximately bounded by the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds.
Some tropical fore ...
resources and their
sustainable management Sustainable management takes the concepts from sustainability and synthesizes them with the concepts of management. Sustainability has three branches: the environment, the needs of present and future generations, and the economy. Using these branc ...
, use and trade.
Organization
The organization was established under the
International Tropical Timber Agreement (ITTA), which was sponsored by the
United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) is an intergovernmental organization within the United Nations Secretariat that promotes the interests of developing countries in world trade. It was established in 1964 by the ...
and was ratified in 1985.
Its mandate was renewed by the
International Tropical Timber Agreement, 1994 and again by the
International Tropical Timber Agreement, 2006
International is an adjective (also used as a noun) meaning "between nations".
International may also refer to:
Music Albums
* International (Kevin Michael album), ''International'' (Kevin Michael album), 2011
* International (New Order album), ' ...
, which aims to promote sustainable management and legal harvesting of forests that produce tropical timber, and to promote expansion and diversification of international
timber trade from these forests.
The governing body is the International Tropical Timber Council (ITTC). Half the votes on the ITTC are assigned to producing countries and half to consumers. Within each block, votes are assigned based on market share.
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Mandate and activities
The ITTO was at first primarily a commodity
In economics, a commodity is an economic good, usually a resource, that has full or substantial fungibility: that is, the market treats instances of the good as equivalent or nearly so with no regard to who produced them.
The price of a co ...
organization, regulating the international trade in tropical timber. The original mandate mentioned conservation but did not give any details. In 1990 the ITTC proposed that by 2000 all exports of tropical timber would come from sustainably managed sources, and this goal was adopted.[
In 1987 the ITTO commissioned the ]Harvard Institute for International Development
The Harvard Institute for International Development (HIID) was a think-tank dedicated to helping nations join the global economy, operating between 1974 and 2000. It was a center within Harvard University, United States.
Foundation and leadershi ...
to prepare a review of current knowledge of multiple-use management of tropical forest
Tropical forests (a.k.a. jungle) are forested landscapes in tropical regions: ''i.e.'' land areas approximately bounded by the tropic of Cancer and Capricorn, but possibly affected by other factors such as prevailing winds.
Some tropical fore ...
s. Of interest was the potential for non-timber forest products and services that could assist in sustaining the forests. HIID completed the study in 1988 and issued updated versions in 1990 and 1992.
The ITTO publishes a quarterly newsletter, ''Tropical Forest Update'' (), available also online.[ITTO. ''Tropical Forest Update'' 22(1):2.]
See also
* List of forestry ministries
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
Sustainable forest management
International forestry organizations
Intergovernmental environmental organizations