Current Measures to Aid Sustainability European Union:

1. SustainableEngineering@Edinburgh Group 17: Sustainable TimberBy: Jun Huang (0569937); Shaun Devaney (s0788619); Christopher Mckeand (s0562731); Adam Stephenson (s0679579)IMS3 Sustainability Module, March 2008 What is Sustainability? A characteristic of a process of state that can be maintained at a certain level indefinitely. What is Sustainable Forest Management? The use of forests in a way, and at a rate, that maintains their biodiversity, productivity, regeneration capacity and their potential to fulfil relevant ecological, economic and social functions. • Introduction • Forests are a vital part of the worlds’ ecosystems. • Forests are also an international economic resource. • Forests covered 48% of land on the planet. • Reduced to 29% (2004-05) • Forest products worth about $270 billion worldwide. • £2.9 billion in the UK. • Problems… • Main problem is Illegal logging • Logging - The process in which trees are cut down for forest management and/or wood harvested for construction, paper and many other products. • Illegal timber worth about $15 billion per year. • Lack of adequate data on illegal logging. • The Industry • The timber industry in the United Kingdom is huge • The volume of timber and panels traded in the United Kingdom in 2005 was approximately 17.1 million cubic metres • The UK imports a wide selection of different timber and panel products • UK exports have grown over the last few years and are approaching the one million cubic metres level • However the industry is still affected by illegal logging • In a recent WWF report the UK was the third largest importer of illegal timber in the world, spending around £712 million a year on illegal wood Current Measures to Aid Sustainability European Union: Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) plan. National: Central Point of Expertise on Timber (CPET) Government Legislation TTF Schemes: TTF code of conduct for members. TTF code of practice for hardwood, softwood, and environmental. Worldwide: Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification schemes WWF Forest Trade Network: Category 1 Unknown or unwanted material or source. Category 2 Known source. Category 3 Licensed Source. Category 4 Progressing towards credible certification. Category Ri Recycled pre-consumer waste. Category Rii Recycled post-consumer waste. • The Future of Sustainable Timber • One of the major challenges facing the timber industry is sourcing 100% of the timber that it uses from sustainable forests • To achieve this there are the current measures to aid sustainability • The industry needs to raise public awareness of sustainable timber and proper certification • As builders strive to construct more environmentally friendly buildings sustainable timber looks set to play an important role in the process • UK plans to aid developing countries in the management of sustainable timber • Legislation will gradually grow to make the trade of illegal timber progressively harder • The problems with illegal timber will take decades to solve • References • House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee, 2004-05, Sustainable Timber, The Stationary Office • Henderson Howat, D. 2003. Scotland’s Forest Industries. Scottish Forest Industries Cluster. • Scottish Executive. 2006. Scottish Forestry Strategy. Forestry Commission Scotland, Scotland. • Timber Trade Federation Website. www.ttf.co.uk (As accessed on 31st January 2008)