The Selva Maya Tropical Timber Trade Mission

Mark van Benthem, Andries Polinder,  May 23th 2025

The Selva Maya Tropical Timber Trade Mission took place from Nov. 17-23, 2024. It was organized by the Rainforest Alliance and the Probos Foundation, together with local FSC offices in Guatemala and Mexico. The main purpose of the mission was to explore opportunities for conservation timber. 

The trade mission offered particularly European timber buyers a unique opportunity to meet potential suppliers of tropical timber from community forests, and learn more about sustainable community forest management, local wood processing, and the known and lesser-known tropical timber species available in the region. During the trade mission, initial contracts were signed with individual communities for the supply of conservation timber. This trade mission created initial opportunities to contribute directly to increasing and mainstreaming the trade and use of timber from sustainably managed community forests.