Researchers Determine Origin of Trees Within 200 km Radius

Living Planet | 05.06.2008 | 04:30

Researchers Determine Origin of Trees Within 200 km Radius

Großansicht des Bildes mit der Bildunterschrift: Do you know where the wood comes from that your chairs are made of?

Every year, virgin forest three times the size of Switzerland is lost. Illegal logging is a major problem. With a new method, it has become possible to pinpoint where a tree has its origins.

In many European households, tables and chairs made from tropical wood are not an uncommon sight. But how do you make sure that you don’t indirectly contribute to the loss of forest in tropical areas with the products you buy?

WWF Germany together with the German Federal Environmental Foundation and a laboratory in Juelich has developed a method to determine where a piece of wood comes from. The researchers say by looking at some of the chemical components in the wood they can pinpoint the location of a tree within a radius of 200 kilometers.

Living Planet met WWF’s forest expert Johannes Zahnen at a conference and asked him first how the method works.

Interview: Nina Haase