header: An emerging network of Buyers' Groups
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Many responses to the threats to the world's forests have been largely ineffectual. Governments continue to offer financial incentives which encourage unsustainable forestry practices. In many cases industry has simply spent the money on PR campaigns to convince their customers that all is well. Environmentalists have focused on drawing attention to the problem and, increasingly, on seeking solutions.

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WWF has been at the forefront of an NGO movement which is taking a different approach. In 1991 WWF-UK formed the first so called 'Buyers' Group'. The WWF 1995+ Group is a partnership between WWF and 75 UK companies committed to purchasing forest products that originate solely from well-managed forests. These companies establish internal databases to monitor the sources of their forest products and are committed to using independent certification and the framework provided by the Forest Stewardship Council to prove that their sources are well-managed.

The formation of the WWF 1995+ Group was paralleled by the work of Friends of the Earth in Holland who formed their Hart voor Hout (Heart for Wood) project which has a similar partnership idea, seeking to reduce the Dutch consumption of tropical timber to a level which will be supplied only from sustainable sources. WWF in Belgium has formed the Club 1997 and WWF in Austria, the Group '98. All of these projects share the common characteristics of partnership between environmental groups and industry, with industry committed to buying products from well-managed forests.

Similar projects are under development in Australia, Denmark, Germany, Ireland, Japan, North America and Switzerland. The job of setting up a group can be very time consuming, requiring numerous visits to companies to convince them of the value of the work and then to negotiate the terms of an agreement which suits local conditions. It is hoped that three more groups will be formed by early 1997.

Buyers' Groups are now beginning to have a huge impact on the debate on certification and forest management. They are operating in areas of high forest product demand and company members are sending out the message to thousands of suppliers in tens of different countries that they care about the source of their forest products.

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