Labelling local wood: On the valorization of regionality and sustainability in timber trade

Abstract

In the face of climate change and a common call for environmental protection, regionality and sustainability turn out to be as symbolic as monetary values in economic contexts. In order to highlight and certificate these ethical ambitions, an international programme of forest certification has established a label that aims at distinguishing wood as logged and processed within a specific ‘regional’ area. The article scrutinizes the implementation of this label in the timber trades and deconstructs how the actors involved establish a link between ethical and economic concerns. By describing their everyday perspectives on the micro level, the article reveals shared aims (evoking credibility) and ideals (establishing sustainable action within regional markets) but also contradictions (efficiency and range). It shows that the label borrows from established designation procedures (such as Cultural Heritage, Geopark, Geographical Indications), and yet has its own logics linked to the properties of the material wood and spatial relations that constitute and confine the label’s actors network.