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News Release from: Chartered Institute of Building [CIOB] | Subject: Sustainable timber campaign
Edited by the Buildingtalk Editorial
Team on 01 December 2004
Greenpeace and CIOB find common ground
A new campaign to promote the use of timber certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council has been launched by Greenpeace, coinciding with publication by CIOB of a construction industry guide.
in ?legal and sustainable timber campaign 30 November 2004 A new campaign to promote the use of timber certified by the Forestry Stewardship Council has been launched by Greenpeace, coinciding with publication by CIOB of a construction industry guide to the procurement of legal and sustainable timber Both the CIOB document and the Greenpeace CD-ROM provide a step by step guide to ensure that timber used on construction sites is drawn from reclaimed or recycled sources, or from forest lands managed in accordance with practice recommended by accredited timber certification bodies
This article was originally published on Buildingtalk on 12 Mar 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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Only two certification schemes have been listed by the U.K.
Governments Central Point of Expertise on Timber as identifying legal and sustainable sources.
They are Canadian Standards Association and the FSC which has recently submitted new controlled wood standards to a number of European Union governments including the United Kingdom.
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But at present there is no statutory requirement on the construction industry in Britain to procure its timber from legal and sustainable sources.
Michael Brown, CIOBs Deputy Chief Executive, commented: "The U.K.
is currently the largest importer of illegal tropical timber in Europe, with approximately 60 per cent of all U.K.
tropical timber coming from illicit logging operations in some of the worlds most important rainforests.
This is not just an issue for the construction industry but also for the government and its legislative policies.
We hope that this guide will provide direction for a procurement policy ensuring that the industrys timber - about 70 per cent of all timber sold nationally - is obtained from sustainable and well managed sources." The CIOB guide on legal and sustainable timber is the work of Philip Miller, currently Skanska UKs environment adviser.
Its preparation, including a guide to sustainable timber procurement and a 21-page table on legally available species of timber, was funded through a Happold Scholarship awarded by the Worshipful Company of Constructors.
Approved by the RIBA, the Greenpeace CD is being distributed to some 30,000 architectural practices, construction companies and local authorities in the United Kingdom.
This is accompanied by a Good Wood Guide which uses a green, amber and red colour code for well-known timbers, highlighting links to illegality, social conflict or ancient forest destruction.
Because the state of the forests is a global concern, Greenpeace intends later to broaden its ?Good Wood drive and make it an international campaign.
Ancient forests at crisis point Nathan Argent, Greenpeace forests campaigner, says that the Earths original and ancient forests are today at crisis point, claiming that 80 per cent of them have been destroyed or degraded.
"Illegal and unsustainable logging by multi-national logging companies is a major cause of ancient forest loss.
In many countries illegal logging exceeds legal production.
In Indonesia nearly 90 per cent of logging is estimated to be illegal, with the wood produced by timber barons notorious for environmental destruction, corruption and human rights abuses." This campaigning stance has already been visited on the U.K construction industry, notably in exposure of the use of African rainforest wood in the doors and windows of the Cabinet Office refurbishment in Whitehall (2002); illegally logged plywood from Indonesia at the site of the new Home Office buildings in Marsham Street (2003); and endangered merbau timber in the flooring of Glasgows Kelvingrove Art Museum (2004), where work was halted until suitable alternatives were found.
In the CIOB timber guide, Philip Miller comments that the relationship of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as Greenpeace to the construction industry has sometimes been antagonistic.
"This has been seen in London in recent years, with highly visible public demonstrations on construction sites.
These activities have a significant detrimental on the companies involved, including clients, architects and principal contractors, but do raise the profile of global deforestation.
"Many within the construction industry consider all timber used to be environmentally friendly and sustainable; it is a natural product, a renewable resource, easily replaced by replanting.
However this is not the case; it is estimated that some 13 million hectares of tropical forest are destroyed annually." The Governments Sustainable Development website says that forests represent the single most important stabilising feature of the worlds land surface.
They absorb carbon dioxide, regulate the hydrological cycle, stabilise and conserve the soil, recycle nutrients and provide valuable habitats for living species.
Their clearance for pasture and timber typically results first in flooding and soil erosion and then a drop in rainfall.
As to Government policy, a Ministerial recommendation, since made mandatory, has been given that when purchasing timber for government use, the buyer is to specify that suppliers should provide documentary evidence that the timber has been lawfully obtained and has come from forests and plantations which are managed to sustain their biodiversity, productivity and vitality.
Each Government department is required to report annually on its purchases of timber and the process is monitored by an inter-departmental timber buyers group.
Construction industry not solely to blame Philip Miller maintains that where the timber being used on construction sites does not originate from a sustainable or legal source, the blame cannot be placed solely on the industry.
He accepts that procuring timber from sustainable sources is not always easy and can be expensive and recognises that architects are often under pressure to deliver projects as cheaply as possible, contractors are working on tight margins, and on top of this is the general perception that all timber is environmentally acceptable.
Senior management commitment is essential for the successful implementation of a sustainable timber policy, he says, with the aim that all timber procured by the company should be sustainable.
The implications of such procurement have to be considered before construction commences, and the requisite clauses must be added to trade contract documents in order for them to be legally binding.
The Procuring Legal and Sustainable Timber guide is available via the CIOB website at www.constructionbooksdirect.com .
The Greenpeace CD, How to Specify Good Wood, compiled in association with the independent timber trader Timbmet, explains why only timber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council is recognised internationally as sustainable.
It also gives practical guidance on how sustainable timber should be specified and purchased, and identifies FSC certified alternatives.
This and a copy of the Good Wood Guide may be ordered from: www.greenpeace.org.uk.
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