Satellite imaging and artificial intelligence are now being used to verify the legal origin of U.S. hardwoods across more than 1,400 local counties — giving manufacturers, specifiers, and designers a science-backed compliance tool covering timber sourced from millions of privately owned forests across 37 states.
The new system, American Hardwood Assured (AHA), generates a statement at consignment-level that confirms a negligible risk of illegal harvesting or deforestation at source, which can be shared alongside customs documentation or accessed via QR code at any point of the supply chain.
Launched by the American Hardwood Export Council (AHEC) — the leading international hardwood trade association for North America, representing thousands of businesses from small family-run sawmills to major flooring manufacturers — AHA offers a practical compliance solution for businesses importing and specifying sought-after species including red oak, white oak, black walnut, cherry, hard maple and tulipwood in markets where the EU Deforestation Regulation, the U.S. Lacey Act and even the Australian Illegal Logging Prohibition Act all impose due diligence obligations.
“American Hardwood Assured is a unique and creative solution that meets the challenge of today’s exacting procurement policies,” Rod Wiles, Regional Director for AHEC in Africa, the Middle East, India and Oceania, said. “It provides reassurance to buyers and users worldwide that choosing American hardwood does not lead to deforestation and contributes to long-term sustainability.”
Built for millions of forest owners
According to Wiles, the same characteristics that make American hardwoods so distinctive are also what make AHA’s technology genuinely innovative — timber sourced from millions of small, privately owned forests across a non-contiguous landscape of states, counties and family holdings that no single-tree tracking system could ever map at scale. AHA runs a county-level deforestation risk assessment using satellite data and AI analysis, alongside a state-level legality assessment covering all 37 hardwood-producing states, then combines both datasets into an online tool exporters use to generate due diligence statements and geolocation files for each consignment on demand.
Wood Central can reveal the new technology has been in development for several years, with AHEC commissioning third-party risk assessments across the main hardwood-producing states specifically to satisfy EUDR requirements. “We will also be able to drill down to the individual counties in individual states,” Wiles told Wood Central in a February interview last year, adding that the system would verify that wood came from one of 1,400 individual counties across the U.S.
“Less than one per cent of the American hardwoods that enter global supply chains are illegal,” Wiles told Wood Central in the same interview — a figure he attributed to the near-absence of organised timber trafficking across the U.S. hardwood estate. “There is no organised timber trafficking in America,” he said.
Provenance from a handheld device
Today, Wood Central spoke with an expert with knowledge of forest certification, who said that the technology underpinning the system is an important step toward helping importers of hardwoods close the compliance gap. “This can be extremely helpful in meeting requirements where certification is not available, especially in forests that have low-intensity harvesting practices with a low rate of organised crime,” the expert said.
With an eye to the future, AHEC is now also developing a “Proof of Provenance” system that uses emerging plant chemistry and isotope testing technologies to trace timber back to its precise region of origin, with the programme working towards eventual verification via simple lab testing or handheld scanning devices. In effect, this would allow downstream users — from architects to joinery manufacturers — to confirm the provenance on-site at the point of specification, without relying on paper-based documentation.
- To learn more about the American Hardwood Assured compliance system — and how satellite imagery and artificial intelligence are being used to verify the legality of timber down to the county level — visit hardwood.us, the dedicated platform set up by AHEC for exporters, specifiers and importers of U.S. hardwood products worldwide. And to learn why American Hardwoods are growing in popularity, click here for Wood Central’s exclusive interview with Rod Wiles last year.
