Summary
¦ Illegal and unsustainable logging has an impact on climate change.
¦ The UK is the world’s fourth largest importer of timber products.
¦ The EU’s Illegal Timber Regulation will come into force in 2013.
¦ Research shows that long tree rotation times are essential for carbon storage.
Forests act as carbon sinks. They take carbon out of the air, store it in their roots and trunks and convert CO2 to oxygen. However, the level of CO2 in the atmosphere is rising and the world’s plants and trees are finding it difficult to cope. Deforestation is not helping – up to 20% of annual global CO2 emissions is due to the fact that the trees which would have been able to process these additional emissions have now been felled.
Climate change isn’t the only result of unsustainable logging. It also causes damage to the environment and ecosystems, as well as the lives and homes of indigenous people in areas where illegal harvesting takes place. As the world’s fourth largest importer of timber products, the UK can’t afford to ignore the long-term effects of irresponsible timber procurement.
The industry has been taking steps to tackle these issues for some time. The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) was founded in response to concerns over global deforestation in 1993 and, since 2000, the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification Schemes (PEFC) has promoted Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) through third-party certification from independent sources. Both these groups have worked across the supply chain to drive sustainable procurement in a way that maintains high environmental, social and ethical standards. Evidence that timber meets sustainability standards can also be obtained through chain of custody documents from forest certification schemes by the supplier.
The EU’s Forest Law Enforcement, Governance & Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan included a review of the options for passing more stringent legislation in the future, which has resulted in the EU Illegal Timber Regulation (ITR), due to be implemented in early 2013.
This legislation will support these existing schemes. It will require all initial placers of timber products to carry out a due diligence process. All other links through the supply chain will then need to meet specific requirements to ensure that timber can be traced to its original supplier. This is a welcome move but I believe more can still be done to promote sustainable timber procurement globally. The UK is a big buyer of timber products and wood is a key building material and, as a result, the construction sector has a huge influence on procurement. As industry professionals, we have a duty to do all we can to drive demand for sustainably-sourced wood at every level of the supply chain, from the source to the end user.
As a leading timber supplier, International Timber and parent company Saint-Gobain are fully committed to continually improving their environmental credentials. International Timber was one of the first companies to sign up to the WWF Global Forest Trade Network, which commits members to tracing their timber and paper products back to the forest origin. It has FSC Controlled Wood chain of custody and buys the majority of its timber from certified sources and actively markets “Legal and Sustainable” timber products to its customers. Last year, 82% (volume) of the forest products procured by us came from certified sources; the remaining 18% consisted of verifiably legally-sourced timber. We are working to drive this figure up with a supply chain in place to maximise the availability of raw materials and finished products.
Carbon research
Recent research from the Environmental Sciences Research Center at St Francis Xavier University, Canada, has shown that the impact of forest harvesting may be worse and much longer lasting than originally thought. The university studied carbon and nitrogen storage in the soil at a red spruce plant in Nova Scotia, Canada. It studied soil at a depth of 50cm at different sites across the forest, from areas of planted trees to areas with ancient trees up to 125 years of age. The university discovered that storage of carbon in the soil reached a minimum level 32 years after harvesting and did not reach pre-cut levels until around 100 years later.
So, what does this mean for sustainable construction in the UK? The research suggests that long rotation times of 80-100 years are essential for sustainable forest management and for restoring the balance between carbon in the atmosphere and carbon stored in the soil.
But, while it would be impractical to put the use of timber in construction on hold until the global tree population has reached maturity – and timber is still the sustainable choice for building, combining excellent thermal efficiency with carbon sink properties which mean that using one cubic metre of wood in place of other building materials saves an average of 0.8 tonnes of CO2 – it is clear that we need to start taking a longer-term view and working towards a future where these [longer rotations] can eventually be achieved.
Although this will be a gradual process, which won’t happen in our lifetime, we can’t afford to avoid the issue. ITR, which will make it a criminal offence to place illegal timber on the EU market, is a good starting point, which will help to protect and promote the reputation of timber as a sustainable material, but it will only be effective on a global scale if we engage the rest of the world. From managing forests and logging to meet future demands and protect our natural environment, to educating organisations down the supply chain about the importance of sustainably-sourced timber, it is essential that we join together to create a greener future.
