Treemetrics chief executive Enda Keane said the importance of the new directive “cannot be overstated”.
“We will need full traceability of all wood products in the EU, similar to what we already do with meat traceability,” he said. “Radio frequency identification will allow standing trees and round wood to be tagged. A code will be punched onto the wood which will be scanned at the sawmill, with a bar or QR code carried through to the retail process.”
The researchers hope the scheme will increase the number of EU forested areas under active management. The project also aims to reduce overall transportation costs and related greenhouse gas emissions by 5 per cent and increase the yield of high-value sawn wood products.