UN for ME.
Forest Products
From air pollution to invasive pests, UN agreements quietly safeguard Maine’s forests and the forest-products economy, an industry that supported 13-thousand Maine jobs in 2024.
Under the UN’s Convention on Long-range Transboundary Air Pollution, countries cut sulfur and nitrogen emissions that drove the Northeast’s acid rain crisis—reductions credited with improving forest and lake health across our region. The UN’s International Plant Protection Convention sets the global standard for treating wood-packaging (pallets, crates, dunnage) so it doesn’t spread destructive insects like spruce budworm or emerald ash borer into Maine mills and woodlands. Together, these UN frameworks reduce cross-border damage that Maine landowners can’t control on their own.
UN compacts also help keep markets fair for Maine’s wood and paper. The UN Forum on Forests’ Strategic Plan for Forests 2017–2030 rallies countries and industry around sustainable forest management and resilient forest economies. Meanwhile, the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) curbs illegal timber in global supply chains—reducing unfair competition for lawful producers here at home. And because forest crime still fuels billions in illicit trade, the UN Environment Programme continues to spotlight the scale of illegal logging to drive more decisive action—another lever that protects Maine mills and jobs.
