AHA addresses the technical constraints to verification of legal and deforestation-free status in situations where wood supply is from vast numbers of small private family forests. Typically, owners of these forests practise very low intensity management, which is not driven by commercial timber demand, often harvesting only once in a generation.

Hardwood forests managed in this way offer significant benefits including enhanced carbon sequestration, greater resilience to climate and environmental changes, increased biodiversity, improved soil and watershed protection, alongside promoting rural development. The diverse, high-quality hardwoods from these forests are particularly well-suited for use in durable, high-value and long-lasting products which have far more potential to contribute to carbon storage and climate mitigation than short-lived wood products.

Long-term sustainable forest management for high-value timber improves forest health and provides private family forest owners with strong incentives to preserve forests, rather than converting the land for agriculture or other uses.

And yet, in circumstances where non-industrial owners manage their forests at a low intensity, participation in formal certification systems remains extremely low. These systems often impose lengthy technical requirements on individual forest owners, making them impractical. Additionally, since individual harvests are very small and comprise a wide range species, grades, and sizes, the commercial consignments of U.S. hardwoods require aggregation and mixing of wood from many different harvest sites. This complicates compliance with legislation in major export markets, such as the EU Deforestation Regulation (EUDR), the UK Timber Regulation (UKTR), the Australian Illegal Logging Prohibition Act (ILPA), and the Lacey Act in the United States.

A new approach to assurance is needed – one that does not impose an excessive burden on small-scale private owners and is tailored to the mills they supply. AHA offers a low cost, yet robust solution, by combining the latest forest monitoring and wood provenance identification technology with jurisdictional risk assessment. In addition, AHA provides a straightforward proof of provenance procedure to deliver an assurance that can work at scale and ensure recognition of the legal and deforestation-free status of large areas of hardwood forest in increasingly demanding markets.