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SustainableEngineering@Edinburgh Group 17: Sustainable Timber By: Jun Huang (0569937); Shaun Devaney (s0788619); Christopher Mckeand (s0562731); Adam Stephenson (s0679579) IMS3 Sustainability Module, March 2008 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. 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. 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 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. 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)