Thémis, which was launched in 2021 by Probos and IT specialist Graphius, was backed by the Programme for the Congo Basin Promotion of Certified Sustainable Forest Management (PPECF), Dutch-based IDH-The Sustainable Trade Initiative, and the Dutch ministry of agriculture, fisheries, food security and nature. It builds upon almost two decades of work of Probos with the Netherlands Timber Trade Association (NTTA) on a similar, but more basic tool.

Data was first reported on Thémis in 2021 by the Netherlands Timber Trade Association (NTTA), the Netherlands Woodworking Industries Association (NBVT), the French timber trade association Le Commerce du Bois (LCB), Belgian wood, furniture and textiles federation Fedustria, and the International Tropical Timber Technical Association (ATIBT). Last year the Danish Timber Trade Federation (DTTF) also came on board. A goal now is to further grow the user base of trade bodies.

The more countries and organisations committing to responsible sourcing and that embrace reporting via Thémis, the larger the impact on forests, states Probos. Enlarging the number of users also increases timber market transparency, which enables further analyses and target interventions to improve responsible sourcing. An aim, as part of this, is to develop the software system to make it align it with timber companies’ own administrative systems.

We want to better connect the outputs that traders get from their own admin software to facilitate its import into Thémis, said Eli Prins of Probos. This could be done with an API (application programming interface) connector between the two systems or by running a very easy upload method via csv or excel sheets into the Thémis system. This would also have potential to improve the quality of the overall data, making it harder to make mistakes in the upload process, and, in reducing the administrative time required by companies, it would lower the barrier for them to report.

Further possible developments for the longer term could include using the Thémis data collection tool to collate information on the destination of timber, to identify which markets are opting for certified sustainable and which are doing less so. The possibility is also being raised of developments to engage producers with Thémis. It would be of interest for producers if they could track to which main markets their timber is going and which request certified timber and which don’t, said Mr van Benthem. Another opportunity is there if a section on lesser-known tropical timber species is integrated in the tool.

Combined the members of the federations using Thémis reported on 8.7 million m3 of roundwood equivalent timber procured in 2023. That includes over 1 million m3 roundwood equivalents of tropical timber imported into Europe.