Asked to name a South American country with joined-up government, commercial innovation and conservation, few would come up with Bolivia. But the beleaguered land-locked nation is spearheading the region’s drive towards sustainable forestry.

For once, both environmentalists and business representatives agree why: certification. Working closely with the US Agency for International Development, Bolivia’s forestry administration began introducing basic certification techniques to both private and public sector operators in the mid-1990s.

Now more than five million acres – over a quarter of the country’s forest coverage – is certified according to basic environmental and social standards.

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