EUDR Due Diligence for Indonesian Wood and Timber

Updated 2026-11-02 · 4 min read · By the akar.earth specialist team

EUDR due diligence for wood and timber from Indonesia: using SVLK, mapping harvest areas, testing for deforestation and degradation, and mixed-source products.

EUDR due diligence for Indonesian wood means tracing each product to the harvest areas of the trees used, showing that those areas were not deforested or degraded after 31 December 2020, and confirming legal harvest, usually through SVLK documents. The EU operator files the statement, but Indonesian mills and exporters must assemble harvest area geolocation that SVLK alone does not provide.

The three steps, applied to wood

Step 1: Classify products and sources

Start with products. Check each against Annex I (see wood derived products). Then map sources for each covered product:

• Natural forest concessions: which concession, which annual cutting block.
• Plantation forests: which concession and compartment, and when it was planted.
• Perhutani: which forest management unit and compartment.
• Community forests: which villages and woodlots, through which log traders.
• Other sources: timber from land clearing, imported timber, recycled material.

Step 2: Collect harvest area geolocation

The EUDR requires geolocation of the plots where trees were harvested. For wood, this generally means the harvest area for the timber in the product.

• Concessions hold block maps for annual work plans. Convert them to WGS84 polygons.
• Plantations hold compartment maps. Link harvested compartments to deliveries.
• Community forests need woodlot mapping, mostly small plots that a point can cover legally, though polygons are better.

See wood geolocation.

Step 3: Check deforestation and degradation

Wood faces two tests:

1. Deforestation: was forest converted to agricultural use after 2020? Relevant for timber from land clearing.
2. Forest degradation: was primary or naturally regenerating forest converted to plantation forest or other wooded land after 2020? Relevant for pulpwood and plantation timber.

For plantation timber, check when each harvested compartment was established. Plantations established on natural forest after 2020 fail. Plantations established earlier, or on non-forest land, pass.

For natural forest timber, legal selective logging that leaves natural forest is not degradation, but check that harvest blocks were not subsequently converted. See the forest definition and wood risk assessment.

Step 4: Use SVLK for legality

SVLK certificates and supplier declarations, together with timber administration documents, cover most legality points: harvest rights, royalties, transport and processing permits. Indonesia’s FLEGT licensing gives EU buyers additional assurance on legality. Check the Commission guidance on how licensed timber is treated under the EUDR. Then look for gaps: labour, community rights and FPIC where concessions overlap customary land. See the legality requirement.

Step 5: Handle mixed products

Plywood often combines face veneers from natural forest species with core veneers from plantation or community timber. Furniture combines solid wood, panels and imported components. Pulp blends fibre from several plantations.

Each wood input in an EU-bound product needs geolocation. Practical approaches:

• Keep EUDR-verified veneer and lumber in separate stock.
• Record which input lots went into each production batch.
• For pulp, link mill batches to compartment deliveries over defined periods, without mass balance.

Step 6: Mitigate and document

Where risk is not negligible, verify in the field, audit suppliers, exclude problem sources, and record decisions. Keep records for five years.

Common gaps

• Treating a FLEGT licence as full EUDR compliance.
• Lacking compartment establishment dates for plantation timber.
• Buying community forest logs without woodlot locations.
• Not tracing imported veneers or components.

Worked example: a Kalimantan plywood mill

Take a plywood mill in Kalimantan that sells to an EU importer. Its face veneers come from two natural forest concessions, its core veneers from a plantation concession and from community timber bought through traders. Due diligence for one EU order looks like this:

• Concession A: annual cutting block polygons from the work plan, checked against imagery. Selective logging, natural forest retained. Passes.
• Concession B: one block was converted to plantation in 2022. Veneer from that block is excluded from EU batches.
• Plantation concession: compartments established in the 2000s on previously logged land. Records and imagery confirm establishment before 2020. Passes.
• Community timber: traders could name villages but not woodlots. The mill keeps this timber out of EU batches until woodlots are registered.

The mill then presses EU orders only from verified veneer stock and records veneer lots per batch. The importer receives block and compartment polygons, screening results and SVLK documents for its statement.

Next steps

See wood and the EUDR for the sector overview and the EUDR hub for the full topic map. For harvest area mapping and screening, see our EUDR compliance services or message us on WhatsApp.