DNA testing of wood to help curb illegal logging

DoubleHelix pioneers testing that can pinpoint timber species and origin

In a recent report (see page 16), Interpol has estimated that the value of illegal logging is worth more than USD 30 billion a year, while the legitimate annual global trade is estimated to be worth in the region of USD 115 billion. Perhaps the biggest shock is a revelation by Interpol that the trade in illegal logs is worth almost as much as drug production. One possible solution to this global problem is through government legislation such as the USA's Lacey Act, the European Union Timber Regulation (EUTR), and the Australian Illegal Logging Prohibition Bill amongst others.

However, the true impact of these measures on illegal logging is still yet to be fully realized. The answer could perhaps then lie in the DNA testing pioneered by Double Helix Tracking Technologies (DoubleHelix). Timber Design & Technology talks to Jonathan Geach, Executive Director at DoubleHelix to learn more about DNA testing of wood.

According to Geach, DoubleHelix grew out of a timber product legality standard in Indonesia called CertiSource (www.certisource.co.uk). Established in June 2008, the company today is the leader in applied forest genetics and aims to bridge the gap between cutting edge genetics, forest management and timber supply chain issues. As such, the company is pioneering the use of applied genetics to verify claims associated with legality, origin, sustainability, whilst removing fraud from within the timber supply chain and preparing businesses for legislation in the USA and Europe. Registered in Singapore, the company is the first in the world to develop and commercialize DNA testing for wood. Geach confidently states that commercial services have been purchased by businesses keen to access markets secure in the knowledge that they are getting what they pay for since 2007.

Up until now, the fight against the trade in illegal timber has been waged with government regulations and preventive measures, which have not met with much success. As a result, there has been a shift towards using the criminal justice system and law enforcement techniques, which has forced companies around the world to undertake their own due diligence or pay the price of neglect. The DNA testing services offered by DoubleHelix is helping responsible companies ensure the legality of the timber they have procured whilst also fighting to ensure that common practices in the timber industry such as mislabeling, lying about origin or substituting one type of wood for another are a thing of the past.

Andrew Lowe, Chief Scientific Officer at DoubleHelix, is one of the world's top plant geneticists and was responsible for making the breakthrough in DNA testing of wood. At his laboratory at the University of Adelaide in South Australia, he perfected the method of extracting DNA taken from a log, a board, a table or even flooring, which paved the way for the commercialized testing of timber. Today, rapid advances in the field and plunging costs for DNA testing of timber now mean that it is commercially feasible for companies trying to meet new regulations in the United States and Europe against such practices. Geach is hopeful that the progress being made could result in small-scale laboratories around the globe carrying out cheap DNA timber tests for companies, customs agents and law enforcement agencies within the next two years.

As the cost of genetics research continues to fall, novel applications are becoming viable and affordable to meet a multitude of challenges faced by the forestry industry and beyond. As a result, the range of services offered by DoubleHelix is expanding across species and sectors and includes plantation forestry, timber certification and genetic inventory for carbon projects.

Geach goes on to state that the scope of the company's services is spreading significantly across a range of questions as they aim to find practical commercial applications at prices that work for their customers. This has happened due to a combination of the breadth of issues that DNA tests easily resolve and the company's ability to introduce more species and regions into play.

"We are seeing clients in Europe start to incorporate DNA testing into supplier contracts to verify country and species claims. Many clients are using the EU Timber Regulation as a spur to examine their supply chains, often with little real idea of the existing risk. We bring together our three strengths - an understanding of trade, expertise in legality and cutting edge science. In this way clients are able to get ahead of the curve and harness the EUTR as a marketing opportunity rather than a new risk in operating internationally," says Geach.

The company has also been involved in several civil and criminal actions. Geach recalls the case of a developer who was concerned that a decking supplier had provided mixed species instead of a single species included in the procurement contract. The developer wanted to use the company's services to prove the mix of species a few years later at a time when the product was falling to pieces. Furthermore, governments and investors interested in forest carbon schemes such as REDD are increasingly recognizing the value of DNA postcodes for trees to form a security system for their investment, all of which bodes well for DoubleHelix.

Aiming to explain the science behind it all, Geach highlights the fact that tree's are individuals and as such each tree has it's own unique DNA. When a tree is cut down and transformed into a product, its DNA is still present and can, with skill, be extracted. The idea is that by extracting the DNA and conducting a simple species test, DoubleHelix will be able to verify the species of wood and its origin. At present, this testing is done in only one of two very specialized laboratories, but the company is working towards developing this so that it can be easily and cheaply handled by licensed laboratories anywhere in the world. The aim is to license Lowe's DNA extraction technique within two years to accredited laboratories globally in a bid to firmly stamp out the illegal timber trade.

In principle, DNA testing is extremely accurate due to the unique DNA signature of each species. One could then be mistaken for thinking that the journey for DoubleHelix has been smooth sailing. The truth is that when the company launched in 2008, the concept of DNA testing was relatively unknown with clients unable to fully grasp the benefits of the service. However, with the Lacey Act in play in the US over the past few years and the proposed EUTR set to come into effect in 2013, the number of clients is growing. Geach states that the number of clients for the CertiSource chain-of-custody and legality verification scheme is numbered in the hundreds and this includes both big and small businesses in Australia, New Zealand and Europe.

Commenting on the company's customer base, Geach says: "Clients for new genetic services tend to be larger businesses up, mid and downstream. These lead clients are enabling us to ensure that the services we're developing are what the market really needs and that pricing and service structure serves purpose. This currently numbers less than 20 but we anticipate a sharp increase in the next six months, especially as we hope to see a major timber audit business and a well known international certification brand start piloting our technology."

The biggest challenge (and a common misconception as well) to DNA testing is the fact that clients think a DNA forest map is required for comparison purposes. Constructing such a map is crucial because DNA for each species changes subtly from one area to another, acting like a postcode that can be
used to determine a sample's origin. At the same time, the process of going into a forest to take DNA samples across a species' entire range is costly and time consuming. Geach counteracts by stating that this is only a slight challenge and it's more of a common misconception of the scale of the issue.

"At present, there are a number of very useful species identification services that do not require background databases. Maps exist for many species and more are being made as people increasingly realize their value. The data is generally in the public domain and will be of great use for far more than legality issues for hundreds of years to come," says Geach. "More recently, the International Timber Trade Organization has approved and funded a project that will create large scale 'genographic' maps of several commonly traded tree species in seven African countries and implement DNA based Chain-of-Custody (CoC) systems in these countries. This project will facilitate access to premium European and United States markets both of which have legislation requiring proof of legality, and therefore traceability."

Spurred on by the early success of the company, support for DoubleHelix has come from both the industry and from governments. According to Geach, many governments have helped not just with funding but also with support in championing the idea. The US, German, Australian, and Singaporean governments are a few who have actively supported the company. From an industry perspective, Geach believes that once a person grasps the simplicity of genetic solutions to timber supply chain issues, and the longer term view of global forestry, they quickly recognize it's inevitability. In the Middle East, Kevin Hill, the founder of DoubleHelix, is confident that DNA CoC will play an important part in reducing cost and providing more security when incorporating compliant timber products into LEED and other Green Building standard projects given the widespread prevalence of 'green building standards' in the construction sector.

"Our business is going through several cycles. We have gone through the proof of concept phase where we have shown that these services work, are affordable and people like them. We are now going through a wider commercialization phase and will finally get to a point where we own and license IP. This will allow third-party businesses to offer the technology solution whether they are a timber supply chain auditor, lab services company or otherwise involved in compliance issues, investment or forestry.

In short, people who adopt our technology now are benefiting by winning new business, accessing markets they're previously excluded from as well as reduce risk and cost of risk management/security," concludes Geach.

DNA TESTING IN PRACTICE: THE CASE OF THE SIMMONDS LUMBER GROUP

The Simmonds Lumber Group is one of Australia's leading wholesale timber importers with an annual turnover of over AUS$ 100 million. The company imports high quality tropical timber flooring, structural components and decking products from a number of countries including the USA, China and Indonesia.

Simmonds sought to safeguard their reputation as a responsible importer of tropical hardwood from Indonesia, a market tainted with high volumes of illegal timber and without adequate solutions at hand to secure their supply chain.

The CertiSource solution ensured:

• Due diligence analysis of Simmonds' existing supply chain to assess ability of suppliers to meet legality and traceability standards.

• Independent audit of forest sources and sawmill Chain-of-Custody systems against the CertiSource standard for Verified Legal Timber.

• Implementation of DNA testing on every batch of timber processed through the audited supply chain from forest to sawmill, providing scientific validation of unbroken Chain-of-Custody.

• Simmonds secured supply of CertiSource Verified Legal timber products from Indonesian sawmills. Every product can be traced back to a specific batch of logs from legally harvesting forest concessions.

Simmonds achieved four significant benefits from the solution:

• Access to new forest sources they were previously excluded from due to lack of traceability.

• Significant risk reduction in their tropical timber supply chain.

• Differentiation of their product offer and brand leadership position in Australia.

• Access to new buyers due to assurance of product legality.

These have led to two significant business wins for Simmonds; they have secured a contract to supply Masters Stores (a joint venture between Lowes of the United States and Woolworths of Australia) who are opening 158 outlets across Australia. Simmonds has also successfully penetrated the New Zealand market based on the supply of CertiSource Verified Legal timber.

"From a perspective of legality of our industry at the supply end through to the marketability of products to Australian consumers, this is the way of the future," said Paul Elsmore, CEO, Simmonds Lumber Australia 2007.

© Timber Design & Technology 2012