As consumer nations like the European Union ramp up legislation to help stanch the flow of illegally logged wood products, certain entrepreneurs are coming forward with services to help companies verify the legality of supply chains.
According to forest management.
The practice of tracking wood using DNA has existed for some years now; however, it appears that DHTT, which hopes to license its technology to companies and labs worldwide, is the first company to make the service commercially available. One of the company's 14 clients is Kingfisher, Europe's largest home improvement retailer. Kingfisher has been using DHTT's technology "on an ad-hoc basis to unmask cases of possible timber fraud in their supply chains," according to Reuters. DHTT is already testing desktop-sized genetic testing equipment, which it hopes to popularize over the next two years.
One hurdle in DHTT's way is the lack of a global map of tree genetics, which is crucial since DNA for a particular species changes subtly from one area to another, "acting like a postcard that can be used to determine a sample's origin," Reuters wrote. Currently, there exists such a database for about 20 species, mostly valuable exotics. Expanding the database for teak alone would cost $1 million.
