Ruth Nogueron

Associate

Bio

Ruth Noguerón is an Associate with the World Resources Institute’s Forests Program. A researcher for both the Forest Legality Initiative and Global Forest Watch, Ruth focuses on forest private sector engagement and on Latin American forest issues.

At WRI, Ruth has conducted research on and managed projects and multi-stake holder partnerships in Canada, the U.S., Brazil, Mexico, Peru and Guatemala. Ruth’s Latin American work concentrates on promoting forest monitoring efforts and transparency in the forest sector, integrating forest monitoring data in land use and forest legality decision-making processes, and fostering multi-stakeholder dialogues and South to South collaborations around various forest legality related topics.

On the private sector side, Ruth leads the Forest Legality Initiative’s work documenting better practices to incorporate emerging technologies in corporate supply chains to reduce the risk of sourcing illegal forest products. She also leads the Sustainable Procurement Guide project, a partnership with the World Business Council for Sustainable Development, which provides guidance for corporate buyers as they develop and implement procurement policies for wood and paper-based products. Ruth also manages an emerging body of work to build small and medium size enterprises’ capacity to comply with global market legality requirements such as the U.S. Lacey Act and the European Union Timber Regulation.

Before joining WRI, Ruth worked in México City at the Tropical Action Forest Program (PROAFT). Also in México, Ruth worked with a private consulting firm in a national effort to evaluate the natural protected areas of México, a project sponsored by the World Bank and the Mexican government.

Ruth has a Bachelor’s degree in biology from the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana in México City, an Associate’s degree in applied geography from Montgomery College, Maryland, and a Masters’ degree in Environmental Sciences from Johns Hopkins University.

Blog Posts

Indigenous Communities Fend Off Invaders in the Peruvian Amazon
by Mikaela Weisse and Ruth Nogueron - September 07, 2017
Armed with satellite-generated maps, indigenous peoples are successfully fending off unwanted destruction of their traditional forests.
Brazilian Government Announces 29 Percent Rise in Deforestation in 2016
by Rachel Biderman and Ruth Nogueron - December 09, 2016
The Brazilian government announced an unforeseen increase in deforestation last week -- a 29 percent rise in 2016 compared to the previous year -- at a time when the nation has been seeking to eliminate deforestation in the Amazon as part of its plan to curb climate change, conserve biodiversity and protect indigenous rights.
5 Technologies Help Thwart Illegal Logging by Tracing Wood’s Origin
by Ruth Nogueron, Loretta Cheung and Emily Kaldjian - May 25, 2016
The illegal logging trade steals valuable natural resources and undercuts companies' profitability. That's why businesses and governments are turning to new technology applications to expose illicitly harvested lumber.
Peru’s Illegal “Ghost Trees”: What U.S. Buyers Need to Know
by Ruth Nogueron and Emily Kaldjian - November 13, 2015
A recent government audit found evidence of timber laundering, where exporters make illegally logged wood appear to be legitimately harvested by concocting “ghost trees” – trees that never existed, except on paper.
Monitoring Forest Change in Latin America with Terra-i
by Hayley Amelia Solak, Ruth Nogueron and Sarah Alix Mann - December 08, 2014
A new collaboration between WRI and the International Center for Tropical Agriculture lets users of Global Forest Watch visualize and analyze tree cover loss alerts for all of Latin America with a near-real time deforestation monitoring system called Terra-i.
4 Actions Companies Can Take to Source Legal Wood
by Loretta Cheung and Ruth Nogueron - March 27, 2014
Illegal logging drives deforestation in many countries, robbing national governments and local communities of valuable income and contributing to global biodiversity loss and climate change. Apart from its environmental and economic damage, illegal logging can fuel corruption, and is sometimes linked to organized crime and violent social conflict.

A new guide, Sourcing Legally Produced Wood: A Guide for Business, provides four actions companies can take to source legal wood. The guide aims to help companies avoid illicit logging in their supply chains—both for the good of the world’s forests and their own bottom lines.
Leveling the Playing Field for Legal Timber in Brazil
by Ruth Nogueron and Loretta Cheung - September 25, 2013
Brazil is one of the most biologically diverse countries in the world. What is less known is that the country is the fourth largest industrial roundwood (timber left as logs, not sawn into planks) and wood pulp producer and ninth largest paper producer in the world. Brazil’s forest sector contributed 5 percent to the national gross domestic product in 2012. Brazil’s forests are not only home to communities and a haven for biodiversity, they are also part of the country’s economic backbone.

Brazil’s government has made impressive progress towards balancing forest protection and production. In 2012, deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon dropped to its lowest rate in more than two decades. Brazil’s National Institute for Space Research has pioneered the use of satellite data to prevent illegal logging. And the forest sector uses the Forest Source Document system (Documento de Origem Florestal, DOF), a sophisticated electronic system to track the wood flow throughout the supply chain.

Despite these positive steps, illegal logging and associated trade in the Amazon continues. Beyond the negative social and environmental impacts, illegal logging poses a serious problem for businesses producing legal wood products. With a price difference of up to 40 percent, legal wood simply cannot compete with cheaper illegal wood.

To reduce illegal logging and support the legal actors in the forest sector, Brazil must strengthen its forest control systems and policies.
Walking the Talk: WRI Uses Fiber Analysis to Test Office Paper Products
by Ruth Nogueron and Amanda Stevens - May 17, 2013
Here at WRI, we are constantly working to understand and minimize the environmental impacts of our work. Using research and expertise from around the Institute to guide us, WRI is committed to limiting the resources we use and purchasing products that reflect our environmental and social mission.

Our guidelines at our Washington, D.C. office require paper products to be certified[^1] and have high recycled fiber content. However, we had not identified other requirements beyond product certification, nor had we effectively communicated these guidelines or any paper purchasing standards with our non-D.C. offices. We also found that we were not maintaining records on all our offices’ paper purchases.

Considering our ongoing work to help companies comply with U.S. Lacey Act requirements, we decided it was time to examine the paper products in our own offices. We wanted to better understand our supply chains and use fiber analysis to test the paper content.
5 Lessons for Sustaining Global Forests
by Ruth Nogueron - March 18, 2013
As the old adage suggests, it is important to see the forests for more than just the trees. While an estimated 500 million people depend directly on forests for their livelihoods, the entire world depends on them for food, water, clean air, and vital medicines. Forests also absorb carbon dioxide, making them critical to curbing climate change.

Despite some encouraging anti-deforestation efforts in places like Brazil, Indonesia, and Africa, globally, forests are under threat, particularly in the tropics. Between 2000 and 2010, nearly 13 million hectares of forests were lost every year. About 30 percent of the global forest cover has been completely cleared, and 20 percent has been degraded.

This dilemma begs the question: What is the outlook for forests in 2030? Are we missing the opportunity to preserve forests and ensure they continue to deliver the goods and services we need for a growing global population? How can we use forests to build a thriving global green economy?

Asking these questions is important. Finding answers to the challenges they raise is imperative.
Asia Pulp & Paper's Anti-Deforestation Pledge: Sign of a Changing Industry?
by Nigel Sizer, Ruth Nogueron and James Anderson - February 14, 2013
Asia Pulp & Paper (APP), one of the world’s largest paper companies, announced earlier this month that it will no longer cut down natural forests in Indonesia and will demand similar commitments from its suppliers. The announcement was received with guarded optimism by Greenpeace, Rainforest Action Network, World Wildlife Fund, and other NGOs who have waged a persistent campaign to change APP’s forest policies.

Indeed, APP’s new policy—which includes sourcing all material from plantation-grown trees, ceasing clearing of carbon-rich peatland, and engaging more with local communities—is significant, both for the business world and forest conservation. APP and its suppliers manage more than 2.5 million hectares of land in Indonesia and produce more than 15 million tons of pulp, paper, and packaging globally every year. Strong action by APP could indicate that the industry is heading for a more sustainable future.

The question is whether APP will follow this positive announcement with action. The company does not have a strong track record, having defaulted on past commitments to end deforestation.

But APP has something else going for it this time around. A rapidly evolving world of improving corporate practices and powerful technology could provide the right enabling environment for APP’s commitment—and others like it—to succeed.

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Ruth Nogueron

Indigenous Communities Fend Off Invaders in the Peruvian Amazon

Brazilian Government Announces 29 Percent Rise in Deforestation in 2016

5 Technologies Help Thwart Illegal Logging by Tracing Wood’s Origin

Peru’s Illegal “Ghost Trees”: What U.S. Buyers Need to Know

Monitoring Forest Change in Latin America with Terra-i

4 Actions Companies Can Take to Source Legal Wood

Leveling the Playing Field for Legal Timber in Brazil

Walking the Talk: WRI Uses Fiber Analysis to Test Office Paper Products

5 Lessons for Sustaining Global Forests

Asia Pulp & Paper's Anti-Deforestation Pledge: Sign of a Changing Industry?

Sustainable Procurement of Wood and Paper-based Products

Sourcing Legally Produced Wood: A Guide for Businesses

Untangling the Paper Chain

How Staples Is Managing Transparency with Suppliers

Tuning In

Tracking Wood from Honduran Forests to U.S. Guitars

Sustainable Procurement of Wood and Paper-Based Products: Version 3

Sustainable Procurement of Wood and Paper-Based Products: Version 2

Rattling Supply Chains

The Effect of Environmental Trends on Input Costs for the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods Industry

Mapping Undisturbed Landscapes in Alaska

Overview Report

Canada's Large Intact Forest Landscapes (2006 update)

Human Pressure on the Brazilian Amazon Forests

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How Staples Is Managing Transparency with Suppliers

Tracking Wood from Honduran Forests to U.S. Guitars

The Effect of Environmental Trends on Input Costs for the Fast-Moving Consumer Goods Industry

Overview Report

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