严重性的指标是什么？他们为什么重要？ 截至目前，绝大多数独立观察报告都没有提供有关特定观察在常见违法行为或与法律框架有关的违规行为方面严重程度的信息。特别是指定的独立观察机构为了保证报告的客观性，观察的结论往往不会详细阐述特定观察的严重性。此外，许多报告的语言过于专业化，这使得大多数读者很难理解特定观察的相对重要程度。比如，一个报告指出某个公司无证采伐。但实际上，一个公司在完全没有许可证的情况下采伐和在许可证正式批准两周前采伐是有很大区别的。 为了帮助OTP用户理解一个有关非法采伐或者森林管理问题观察的相对严重性，世界资源研究所和相关合作伙伴以及独立观察机构一起开发了衡量每个观察严重性的指标。这个指标针对每个观察有高中低三种严重程度。 高：没有许可证 中：在许可证有效期前后采伐 （提前或者延后一个月及以上） 低：在许可证有效期前后采伐 （提前或者延后一个月内） 一个观察的严重程度意味着什么？ 一个非法采伐或者森林管理问题观察的严重程度是相对的。比如，非法砍伐500棵树应该比非法砍伐10棵更严重。OTP严重性指标不会比较不同类型的非法活动。换句话说，不同的违法活动类型在严重程度指标中被给予一样的权重。例如，过度采伐和税款支付违约在严重程度上是一样的。 严重程度是如何决定的？ 严重程度通过三个基本步骤决定。 汇总各个国家和各个机构的独立观察报告 分析这些观察的严重性 在观察和相应的法律框架下定义严重程度 在输入观察结果时，用户可以从一个下拉菜单中选择合适的严重程度。这个菜单包含不同的严重程度信息（比如1到500棵树，501到1000棵树等）。这个严重程度并不是固定不变的，它会随着OTP用户的反馈而更新。这些用户反馈来自可以林业公司和政府部门，未来和独立观察机构的协商，OTP在地区扩张中的经验，以及木材生产国和需求国的政策发展。严重程度的的定义会在OTP网站上分享 严重性指标的局限是什么？ 定义严重程度指标不是一门科学，其过程并不是想要给某个观察的严重性下定义。这个系统主要帮助OTP用户解释观察的相关信息，然后鼓励用户根据自己的标准解读一个观察的具体严重程度。 目前用来定义严重程度的界限有可能低估或者高估观察的严重性。比如，严重过度砍伐的界限是500棵树。所以一个过度砍伐499棵树的观察会被列为中度的情况。因此，OTP用户不仅应该考虑严重程度指标的分类，还应该关注观察的具体细节来决定一个特定观察的严重程度。 严重程度指标都覆盖哪些地域？ OTP第一阶段的开发主要关注刚果盆地。因此，严重程度的指标也主要基于和刚果盆地的独立观察机构和他们的观察报告研究设计。我们的目标是开发出适用于全球性的严重程度指标，帮助用户比较不同木材生产国的相关信息。随着OTP在地理上的扩张，相关区域或者国家层面的严重程度的指标也会随之开发。
公开木材信息平台（OTP）整理了三种不同来源的木材生产者信息。这三种信息来源包括政府，私营部门，以及第三方机构（非政府组织和其他有资格的参与者）
从刚果共和国和刚果民主共和国开始，公开木材信息平台将在未来机会合适时扩展到其他主要的木材出口国。
The Risk Tool, hosted by WRI, provides an overview of relevant legislations and regulations as well as information about most commonly traded species, in order to help users ask informed questions about where their forest products come from and what issues a buyer might encounter. Users can find country-specific information about relevant laws and local contacts who might be able to help answer more questions.
SPOTT is a free online platform supporting sustainable production and trade. SPOTT scores tropical forestry and palm oil companies annually against over 130 environmental, social and governance (ESG) indicators to benchmark their progress over time. See also this article that talks about how SPOTT integrates data from the OTP: SPOTT and the Open Timber Portal partner to promote transparency in the tropical timber sector to tackle illegal logging
The online timber trade portal serves as a central point where visitors can find information on the industry and legislation of timber-producing countries, which are mainly located in tropical areas. The platform enables operators to make their own risk analysis and exercise due diligence, on a case-by-case basis, by presenting facts such as forestry sector data, legislative frameworks, VPA processes, etc.
1. Where does the data come from? The OTP compiles information about forest operations from three sources: government agencies, logging companies and third-party organizations. (1) Government agencies in producer countries provide details on forest concessions, such as geographic boundaries, forest concession names, initial year of exploitation, as well as the names of the registered logging companies that operate in forest concessions within their country. This is largely drawn from data compiled in the Forest Atlases. (2) All of the registered logging companies operating in producer countries are listed on the OTP website. These companies are then able to voluntarily register their profile and upload key documents to demonstrate compliance with the legal framework of the country that they operate in. (3) Third-party organizations include independent monitors (IMs), both mandated or nonmandated, as well as other civil society groups and nongovernment organizations at the local and international level. These organizations are able to upload observations of suspected noncompliance, provided that they are supported by evidence. In some cases, observations are validated by an official reading committee. See our section below on IMs to find out more about how they operate. (4) Data from Global Forest Watch on forest cover and tree cover loss over time as well as on protected areas. This data also includes weekly Global Land Analysis and Discover (GLAD) tree cover loss alerts. 2. How accurate is the data in the OTP? For the data submitted by companies, the OTP has put in place a two-step validation process, where an initial review of the submissions is conducted to ensure that the content is legible, of sufficient quality and categorized correctly. This is followed by a secondary review to verify the content and the quality of the information provided. Company documents are also reviewed by external experts periodically. For the data submitted by third-party organizations, there are two levels of quality control. First, WRI staff and local partners from IM organizations review the completion of the submission (forms must include evidence and correct legal references). This is followed by a secondary review, where the content of the submission is reviewed, and comments to improve the quality of the submission are sent back to the IM organization. WRI and its partners strive to keep the website up to date as much as possible, however we cannot guarantee that the data on the site is up to date at the time of access. WRI is not liable for any inaccuracies with the data available on the Open Timber Portal. To find out more, please take a look at our Terms of Service. 3. How is the transparency ranking calculated? To make data on the OTP easily accessible and understandable for users, companies are ranked on the basis of their level of voluntary disclosure. For each producer, a transparency score is calculated based on the percentage of documents shared on the OTP out of the total number of documents requested. 4. What’s an “IM” or independent monitor and what do they do? An independent monitor (“IM”) is a non-governmental organization that analyzes and reports on forest governance and management, as well as the harvest and transport of timber. The FLEGT VPA process creates an explicit role for IMs to oversee implementation of the agreement and verify compliance in the producer country. Usually, when mandated, the IM works under an agreement with the host country government. Its findings are in many countries validated by a reading committee that includes donors and other stakeholders, typically chaired by the national forest authority. Within the OTP, mandated IMs can enter instances of suspected noncompliance by companies and/or by government actors. These observations will need to be validated by the reading committee before they can be published on the OTP website. Nonmandated IMs can be NGOs and civil society organizations that work on forest protection and community rights but do not have an official agreement with the government of the country to conduct missions to monitor the implementation of the FLEGT VPAs. Observations from nonmandated IMs can be uploaded by these organizations directly onto the OTP website. These are then reviewed for validation by WRI staff and local partners. 5. How is the severity of observations/infractions calculated? To assist OTP users in understanding the relative importance or severity of an observation on illegal logging or a forest governance problem, WRI and its partners have developed severity parameters for each observation category in collaboration with IMs. Take a look at the Assessing severity of observations section, which will provide an in-depth explanation on how the severity parameters used were defined. 6. How often is the data updated? Companies and third-party organizations are regularly uploading new information on the OTP. 7. What are GLAD alerts? While the data from Global Forest Watch displays tree cover loss over time, GLAD alerts provide information on tree clearings as they happen. Alerts are updated weekly and allow for near-real time data on tree cover loss. For more information on the GLAD alerts, go to https://glad.geog.umd.edu/. 8. What is the difference between the OTP and other tools that support due diligence (SPOTT, Timber Trade Portal, NEPCON Sourcing Hub and BVRio)? In collaboration with the organizations that have created these tools, we have developed a joint flyer that provides a brief description of each of these tools and their geographical focus. You can also access these directly from our Tools and Resources section. 9. Will the OTP expand to other countries? The OTP will eventually be adaptable to and deployed in any country that manages natural forest areas through long-term forest management concessions. Currently, the OTP contains data about forest operations in the DRC, Congo and Cameroon. Data on forest operations in Gabon and CAR will be released on the OTP by the end of 2020. Observations of suspected infractions submitted by third-party organizations, however, are not limited to any specific country and users will be able to access data from around the globe. 10. Can I download the data from the OTP website? The OTP does not allow users to download company profiles or observations from third-party organizations, however, all documents published on the website can be individually accessed and downloaded.
1. Who can I contact for more information or questions about the website? If you have any questions about the information in the Open Timber Portal, please contact us at opentimberportal@wri.org 2. Where can I find out more about how to use the OTP? We have created an introduction video that walks you through the entire OTP website and explains all of the different functionalities. You can watch it here: - Skip to 2:52 for an introduction on the transparency ranking pages - Skip to 5:22 to learn more about how producer profiles work - Skip to 12:11 for a walk-through of the observations uploaded by third-party organizations 3. Do I need an account to use to OTP? The OTP is free to use, and users do not need to create an account in order to access the content. Only producers and third-party organizations who wish to contribute data will need to create an account. 4. How do I register as a producer in the OTP website and access my account? If you are producer operating in a country covered in the OTP and your company is not currently listed on the website, you will need to register as a producer on the site. Go to our New Producer page and follow the instructions to register as a producer. Once the company is listed on the OTP website, you will be able to create an account by going to the Sign up page. For more detailed information on how to set up an account, upload documents and any associated inquiries, please take a look at our Tutorial factsheet for producers. 5. I am a producer. How will I know which documents I will need to upload? For each country that the producer operates in, you will see a list of country-specific documents that can be uploaded onto the OTP website. In addition, producers will need to indicate the start date and expected expiration date of the document. 6. I’m a third-party organization that wants to upload information on the OTP website. How do I proceed? Any third-party organization that wants to contribute to the OTP will need to submit a registration request through the platform. Go to our Login page, select ‘Register’ and complete the form. Once the request has been approved by the OTP team, you will be able to log in on the same webpage with the username and password you selected in the registration form. For more detailed information on how to set up an account, creating observations and any associated inquiries, please take a look at our Tutorial factsheet for independent monitors. 7. I am producer and I have an issue with the content listed on my profile. All the content listed on your company will have been verified by OTP staff, however, if you have any additional issues with the content that is appearing on your company profile, please contact us at opentimberportal@wri.org.
This introductory video walks users through the entire Open Timber Portal and explains how to use all of the platform's functionalities.