Sustainable Timber Action (STA) aims to increase public awareness in Europe about the human and environmental issues caused by deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (mainly Latin America and Africa), and about the impact of unsustainable consumption and production of forest products (such as timber) on climate change, biodiversity and people dependent on forests.

STA will address how public authorities, particularly local authorities in Europe, purchase and consume forest products for their cities or administrations.

Guide:

Public procurers by developing a toolkit on how to set up public procurement policies and purchasing practices for fair and sustainable forest products.
Producers and buyers on how to integrate fair trade and forest management certification to improve their management and trade practices in a fair and sustainable manner.

Mobilise:

Public support for fair and sustainable forest products through a series of awareness-raising and training sessions directed at public sector employees, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the timber sector and universities.

Engage:

Stakeholders in Europe and in timber producing countries through North/South twinning actions, organised dialogue between SMEs and local authority purchasers, and advocacy actions directed at European policy makers.

The project runs from April 2011 until September 2013.

STA is co-funded by the European Union Programme Non-State Actors and Local Authorities in Development, managed by EuropeAid and is formed on the basis of a partnership between eight European organisations. For further information on these organisations, visit Partners.