The agreement sets out that any timber procured or used by members of the UKCG should be legally and sustainably sourced in accordance with the UK government’s standards defined in the Central Point of Expertise on Timber (CPET).

This all mean that any contractors working in construction who are members of the UKCG will have to ensure that the timber they use is certified under either the Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) scheme or the Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC) scheme.

PEFC’s head, Alun Watkins, said that the scheme is being widely welcomed and ensures the UK keeps up with the trends for such schemes in countries all over the world.

Sustainable forestry programmes all over the world will no-doubt welcome the news, as it will increase demand for well-managed timber. Firms like Greenwood Management grow sustainable timber on plantations in Brazil, which can be expired all over the world for use in construction.

Timber REITS, offered through providers such as Plum Creek Timber Company, is an industry that is growing all the time, according to the report. It claims that the asset class is a good one for investors who want to invest at a point where prices have a good opportunity to climb from their current position.

Although the housing market in the US is still slumped, many believe that demand will soar on its recovery, so now’s a great time to buy up those REITs, claim analysts.

Plum Creek’s CEO, Rick Holley, is just as positive, stating, “From an investor’s perspective, you should start to see improvement in the sector overall in 2012 and beyond.”

He added, “As we start to see housing improve, timber will be a good investment going forward. And specifically for Plum Creek, housing demand will equate to higher cash flows and earnings over time as the market recovers.”

Timber REITs are not by any means the only way to invest in timber. Indeed, investor may feel they would prefer to buy up a tangible asset during these volatile economic times. Buying a section of plantation land, through a firm like Greenwood Management in Brazil, can provide investors with a unique opportunity to put their cash into an asset that will physically grow and can be cashed in when the market is strong.

Much of the investment has been spent on turning many acres of farmland into forested land in order to help reduce the country’s carbon emissions. This move reflects the realisation that planting trees is one of the most cost-effective ways to reduce carbon emissions, as they effectively absorb CO2 emitted by transportation, powering homes and manufacturing, for example.

Some of the other investment made in China has been necessary to protect fragile environments from sandstorms and other natural threats. In 2005, only 18.2 per cent of China was given over to forest land and this has increased to 20.36 per cent within just five years to 2010.

The fact that global emissions are so closely monitored and sustainable forestry in developing countries is also subsidised by developed nations, has helped governments the world over to realise that trees can be worth as much standing as they are once felled.

Investing in sustainable forestry projects is also becoming popular, through projects such as those run by Greenwood Management in Canada and Brazil.

CLT is manufactured from boards of quick-growing timber species, which are then stacked on a right angle and glued in layers of three, five or seven over their entire surface.

This makes for a very reliable and strong material that is commonly used throughout Europe in the construction of homes, as they are easily slotted into place in situ.

One of the latest fans of CLT is the Borough of Hackney in London, which is using the material in the construction of high-rise buildings. The deputy mayor of Hackney, Karen Alcock, said, “Using CLT enabled the buildings’ carbon footprint to be reduced. The quicker construction time [12 weeks] over traditional methods was important because the HCA imposed time constraints as part of its funding provision.”

The popularity of CLT could also be great news for those invested in quick-growing timber species as demand means higher prices and greater returns on investment.

There are many ways in which investors can now put their cash into sustainable and fast-growing timber plantations, like through Greenwood Management’s schemes in Brazil and Canada.

Some 1.9 million people in Nepal are living in areas that are highly climate vulnerable and a further ten million are thought to be increasingly at risk. With this in mind, several international organizations, including WWF, the National Trust for Nature Conservation (NTNC) and Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE), have teamed up to launch the Hariyo Ban program.

The project – which means ‘green forests’ in Nepali – will invest in encouraging biodiversity and carbon sequestration by adding to the amount of forested regions in Nepal. It is expected to also help some of the poorest regions in the country by giving them a livelihood in forestry management

The project won the praise of Patricia Mahoney, of the US embassy in Nepal, who said, “This initiative promotes strategic efforts to build lasting resilience against climate impacts, reduce deforestation and land degradation, foster low-carbon growth, and promote sustainable societies, thus, meeting the adaptation and mitigation needs of developing countries like Nepal.”

Other reforestation schemes in countries like Brazil have been successful in helping to reduce the amount of illegal logging taking place. Schemes that encourage forestry investment from abroad, such as the plantations projects run by Greenwood Management, are useful in improving sustainable forestry practices in developing regions.

According to the report, exports from the two countries to China will reach values as high as $2.6 million, or double the value of the exports in 2010. This is, of course, all based on the export levels from the first seven months of 2011 continuing for the remainder of the year, but there is no reason why this shouldn’t be the case. Analysts seem to expect the growth rates in China, and therefore the demand for timber products, to remain strong.

The statistics will be welcomed by Canadian and American forest workers and managers, although the fact that so much of the processing work involved in turning raw logs into workable planks is still done in China remains a bitter pill to swallow. Not surprisingly, Canadian sawmill workers would like more measures to be brought in to protect their jobs in advance of the demand for raw logs increasing even further.

UN-based research from Australia last week also predicted a good future for Canadian forestry, stating that within two years, China will become Canada’s top market.

Firms that are moving into the Canadian forestry industry – such as Greenwood Management, the sponsor of this blog currently establishing itself in Canada through a collection of plantations in the British Columbia region – are likely to reap the benefits of their good timing.

The United National Development Programme is calling for donations to be made to the fund, which is intended to prevent the forests of Ecuador’s Yasuni National Park from being drilled for oil. There is thought to be around a billion barrels of oil under the forest floor. However, it is also an extremely valuable piece of the Amazon rain forest as it provides a habitat for many species of plant and animal.

The trust was previously only taking donations of over $100,000 from governments and corporations. Now, under the new strategy, donations as small as $25 can be made.

The forests at the Yasuni National Park was almost unaffected by the ice age, thanks to its proximity to the equator. As a result, the UN says the area is thick with “unparalleled levels of amphibian, bird, mammal, insect, and plant life, in addition to indigenous tribes living in voluntary seclusion”.

The UN is also keen to protect the region as it could contain plants with all manner of medical and scientific significance.

Greenwood Management is in the process of growing vast plantations of sustainably managed, non-native forests in Brazil. The projects have been made possible through direct investment from investors in the UK, Europe and elsewhere.

As part of its involvement in the 2011 International Year of the Forests, the APEC region is holding the event on 6-8 September, according to a report from the State Forestry Administration of China.

The ministers from 21 APEC countries will attend the meeting in an attempt to strengthen moves towards sustainable forestry management and foreign investment in forestry within emerging economies. Examples of successful projects include Greenwood Management’s plantations in Brazil, which provide an alternative source of timber to native trees, thus helping to reduce deforestation.

Delegates from bodies such as the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization will also attend the event and all the attendees will be encouraged to swap experiences about how they are coping with global climate change with regards to the forestry industry.

The Beijing Forestry Declaration will be published in order to illustrate that all parties are willing to move forward to create a greener forestry industry in the region.

On June 8^th Brazil announced that its first quarter GDP for 2010 had grown by 9%. This was greater than the 4.5% which most analysts expected. This is more growth than the country has seen in over two decades!

Unlike the world’s top economy, the US, Brazil’s manufacturing sector and its exports to China are growing. This has had a partially negative effect in the inflation department as the inflation rate reached 5.2%, which is higher than the government target of 4.5%.  However to prevent the economy from overheating Brazil’s central bank raised interest rates to 10.25%.

There is still a fear that the US could go into another contraction and the weak growth in Europe isn’t encouraging for most people looking to invest in Brazilian stocks. The United States is Brazil’s main importer of soy beans, coffee and iron ore and a fall in purchases from the US could slow down Brazilian growth. Despite this Brazil has been expanding their horizons with China and India becoming consistent trading partners.

In July Brazil added 181,000 jobs, which brought the total to 1.7 million jobs in the last seven months alone! That’s a lot of jobs if the fact that Brazil has a population of 190 million people is taken into account.

Clearly now is a great time for an investor to looking into buying Brazilian stocks.

Forestry Update is sponsored by Greenwood Management. For more information on investing in Brazil please click here.

“It has a growing population, it’s energy self-sufficient, it’s food self-sufficient,” said Zell, chairman of Equity International, about Brazil, the largest of the South American countries. “It’s growing and, at least for now, they’ve solved the problem of inflation.”

Born and bred in Chicago, Zell made his first fortune buying and selling real estate from distressed owners and ranks 237 on this year’s Forbes list of billionaires. Zell has also acknowledged that at least half of his company’s investments are in Brazil.

Even though elections are coming up in October where the Brazilians will elect a new leader, both of the main candidates have pledged to continue the policies of the current president, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

Compared to the US, which has a 70%, debt of GDP, Brazil only has an 8% debt and the nation has a AAA rating from several major credit rating institutions. Adding to Brazil’s status as an emerging world power are its successful bids to host both the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympic Games.

Forestry Update is sponsored by Greenwood Management. For more information on investing in Brazil please click here.