UK forest partnership for action

In preparation for the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD, Johannesburg 2002) the UK Government, the devolved administrations, the forestry industry and environmental groups in the UK worked in partnership to develop actions to promote sustainable development in the forestry sector, both at home and internationally.

Partners include the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), the Department for International Development (DFID), the Forest Industries Development Council, Forestry Commission, Kingfisher plc, National Assembly for Wales, Northern Ireland Forest Service, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds, Scottish Executive, Timber Trade Federation, The Woodland Trust and WWF-UK.

The partners have agreed the following priority areas for action:

Forest Certification
Efforts to promote greater uptake of the certification of forest management and the delivery of certified wood to the marketplace.

Forest Restoration and Protection
Developing an international partnership on forest restoration, building on the UK’s experience of nearly 100 years of restoring forests. The global initiative aims to integrate biological diversity conservation and sustainable use, contributing tot eh implementation of programmes of the UN Forum on Forests, the Convention on Biological Diversity, and other international programmes.

Illegal Logging
To engage in the FLEGT and other international processes that look to combat the trade in illegal timber.

Timber Procurement
Actions at home to require government departments to seek to source timber products from sustainable and legal sources.

Other initiatives include the UK Forest Industries Sustainability Strategy (Naturally Wood) co-ordinated by the Forest industries Development Council (FIDC) and the UK’s National Forest Programme.

A summary document on the work of the partnership is attached. Full details of the Partnership and the recent conference on Responsible Timber Purchasing are available on the website www.ukforestpartnership.org.uk.

Contact Information

Address 5 Dublin Street Lane South, Edinburgh, EH1 3PX
Tel. 0131 538 7111
Fax. 0131 538 7222
Email Mail@UKForestPartnership.org.uk
www.ukforestpartnership.org.uk