Community-based timber production (CTP) can provide income for rural people. But how do local producers break into the international timber market? Is certification the means by which community-based timber producers can gain entry to competitive timber markets in industrialised countries? A niche market, certified timber may offer price premiums and can be more willing than traditional markets to accept lesser-known species. Research by the South Pacific Community Eco-Forestry Project examines the problems Solomon Islanders face and suggests ways forward, given that certification is a key strategy for marketing timber overseas and likely to stay.