Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification

Caring for our forests globally and locally

Newsletter July 2019 • Issue 53

Forests for Fashion

IN MAY, many of the UK’s leading high street retailers attended our Other highlights
first event for the fashion sector in London. The event was sponsored included Liesl
by AB Packaging Group, a leading supplier of environmentally friendly Truscott from the
shopping/carrier bags to the global retail sector. Textile Exchange
who explained
During the event, industry specialists discussed new technologies organic cotton’s
which use wood fibres to produce yarn for recyclable, renewable and transformation
biodegradable textiles. Keynote speaker, Leonie Meier, from UNECE journey and Susanna Garment made from PEFC-Certified
material, by Spanish Designer
FAO’s Forestry & Timber Section, illustrated how the fashion industry Koelbin from Eastman Maria Lafuente

could improve its social and environmental performance by aligning
with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. Tamsin Lejeune, Founder
and CEO of the Ethical Fashion Forum (EFF) and Common Objective
(CO), moderated the event. She advised that CO’s research showed
that fashion promoted as sustainable and ethical, currently amounts
to less than 1% of the current UK retail offering. If fashion were a
country it would be the world’s fourth largest CO2 emitter.
Naia, who illustrated the route
from responsibly-sourced wood to sustainable cellulosic yarn. The role
that sustainable forestry can play in providing tools for responsible
producers, fashion brands, retailers and consumers to make us all better
dressed is huge. At present, only 7% of textiles are produced from wood
fibres but this is expected to grow by 30% by 2023. Further information
on this event can be found at: https://bit.ly/2RvzqyY

PEFC Treehouse Stars at Chelsea

A LUXURY treehouse made from PEFC-
certified timber was one of the star attractions
at London’s famous RHS Chelsea Flower
Show. It was designed to illustrate the show’s
theme of ‘Back to Nature’. Award winning
treehouse designer and manufacturer Blue
Forest, constructed the building using 500m
of PEFC-certified Western Red Cedar cladding
in five individual sections. Each section was
transported from the factory to the Royal
Hospital showground, where it took nine days
to assemble and build the interior deck. The
garden in which the treehouse was located
was a high-profile space, co-designed by
HRH The Duchess of Cambridge, who chose
an informal planting design to encourage
children and families to spend quality time
outdoors and reconnect with nature. After the
show closed, the treehouse was dismantled
and moved to its permanent home – The
Chewton Hotel in Hampshire – where it is sure
to prove popular with visitors of all ages.

 Click on the link:  www.pefc.co.uk  info@.pefc.co.uk  PEFCUK  @PEFC_UK  pefcinternational

2019 Annual Stakeholder Meeting
OUR Annual Stakeholder Meeting will be held
in London on Thursday 3rd October. The theme
of this year’s event will be how forests can
provide new solutions to current challenges.
The keynote speaker will be Kai Lintunen,
Head of International Communications at
the Finnish Forest Association. Kai will be
talking about the forest bio economy and new
solutions such as bio diesel from pine oil as a
replacement for fossil fuels and a co-product
of pulp production that might well provide an
alternative to antibiotics in the future.
One of the most pressing environmental
problems facing the world today is the
tons of plastic waste floating in our oceans,
lakes, and rivers and piling up in landfill
sites. With the public increasingly rejecting
single use plastics, alternative packaging
2019 Construction Field Trip
IN JUNE, the Crown Estate’s South Forest in
Windsor Great Park was the main location for
PEFC UK’s second field trip for the construction
sector. The visit aimed to demonstrate the
link between certified forests and sustainable
construction. Participants were able to learn
more about the importance of certification
and how the construction sector can support
responsible producers and ultimately the
world’s woodlands and forests, through their
procurement choices.
 Click on the link:  www.pefc.co.uk  info@.pefc.co.uk  PEFCUK  @PEFC_UK  pefcinternational
is in high demand. Tom Hallam from
Billerudkorsnäs will showcase some of the
latest environmentally friendly, paper-based,
packaging products designed to replace
single use plastics.
When it comes to growing the global certified
forest area, one of the most challenging
issues that certification faces is how to
make certification more affordable for small
forest owners, particularly in the developing
world. PEFC International’s Rémi Sournier,
will present some of the projects PEFC has
invested in to help find solutions that both
improve forest health and smallholder access
to certification.
Finally, as 2019 is the 20th Anniversary
of PEFC’s formation, Alun Watkins will be
Participants were able to witness timber
harvesting in action by observing pre-commercial
thinning. They were briefed by Crown Estate’s
Chief Forester John Deakin, on the steps taken
to ensure that the South Forest section of the
6,000-hectare Windsor Estate, is sustainably-
managed. He also explained how the forest met
PEFC’s sustainable forest management criteria on
land management, accessibility for recreational
users, wildlife and bio-diversity promotion and its
long-term tree replanting strategy.
Kai Lintunen
© Finnish Forest Association
assessing the organisation’s progress to date
and looking to the future to see where the
next 20 years might take us.
To register for this event visit:
https://bit.ly/2xCiqyb
The afternoon session was chaired by
PEFC Director Steve Cook. Soil Association
auditor, Robin Walter explained what
auditors were looking for when they
were conducting a sustainable forest
management audit. The construction
sector’s Charlie Law described the steps
being taken to drive growth in responsible
sourcing along the supply chain.
Participants were drawn from 20 of the
UK’s leading construction companies.
 COMPANY SPOTLIGHT
Forest Holidays
FOR A summer break with a difference, what
could be more relaxing than staying in an idyllic
location deep in the heart of Britain’s forests.
New PEFC certificate holder, Forest Holidays,
offer holiday accommodation which is situated
on 10 sites in beautiful corners of the UK’s
forests. These forests are managed by Forestry
England, Forestry and Land Scotland and
Natural Resources Wales (regional successors
to the Forestry Commission). They are certified
to the UK Woodland Assurance Standard,which
is recognised by PEFC.
A pioneering design is used to produce the
company’s modular timber cabins. These are
then carefully assembled between the trees
and raised on steel piles, placed vertically
into the ground. This design ensures that
the forest floor is protected and that nearby
trees are unaffected and soil movement is
2019 Annual
Report Published
THIS YEAR’S Annual Report has now been
published. It can be downloaded from the
website at:https://bit.ly/2WUQ78k.
Printed copies can be requested by e-mailing:
info@pefc.co.uk.
 Click on the link:  www.pefc.co.uk  info@.pefc.co.uk  PEFCUK  @PEFC_UK  pefcinternational
minimised. It also enables rainwater to run
off naturally into the forest floor.
In the 45 years since Forest Holidays’ first
cabins were created, the company has
constantly sought innovative ways to
further improve their design features and
how they are integrated to work with the
surrounding natural environment. Its most
recent development in Beddgelert, North
Wales, has been built to BREEAM Excellent
standards. The new generation of cabins
are constructed from PEFC certified timber,
have appropriate insulation and glazing,
and incorporate a variety of eco-friendly
features such as a rainwater harvesting, and
low energy appliances and light bulbs.
For more information visit:
www.forestholidays.co.uk
PEFC ANNUAL
REPORT 2019
PEFC/16-01-01
National
Construction
Expo 2019
IN MAY, PEFC’s construction consultant
Charlie Law, delivered PEFC’s Responsible
Timber CPD at the National Construction
Expo which was held at the Milton
Keynes Arena. Charlie, has worked in the
construction sector for over 30 years,
and has extensive industry knowledge.
The conference brought together over
2,000 delegates from a broad range of
sectors including architects, developers
and contractors. The event aimed to
stimulate debate, enrich knowledge
and connect stakeholders involved
in the finance, design, construction
and management of UK buildings,
infrastructure and industrial projects.
The Responsible Timber CPD has been
developed to help architects, building
designers and others specifying timber
for their projects, learn more about
responsible timber procurement and
Chain of Custody certification. It is
accredited by the CPD Accreditation
Service.
If you would like to find out more about
this free CPD, please e-mail:
hilary.khawam@pefc.co.uk
Myanmar Becomes PEFC’s 51st Member
LAST MONTH, the PEFC family were delighted
to welcome the Myanmar Forest Certification
Committee (MFCC) as our 51st national member.
PEFC is collaborating with MFCC on a three-year
project as Myanmar transitions towards the
sustainable management of its forests. Forest
resources have an enormous value for the people
in Myanmar. With the majority of the population
living below the poverty line, they are heavily
dependent on forests to meet their basic needs.
The project is co-funded by the Prince Albert II
of Monaco Foundation. MFCC aims to establish
a national forest certification system in line with
PEFC requirements in the coming years. The
organisation launched Myanmar’s third-party
timber certification system in August 2018 as
Lockerbie Field Trip
IN MAY, James Jones & Sons and Scottish
Woodlands once again hosted our annual field
trip to the Scottish borders. This year, the meeting
aimed to give participants a better understanding
of the UK Sustainable Forest Management/Chain
of Custody dual certification process. It was also
designed to explore how the supply chain could
be simplified and made more flexible, in terms of
paperwork, claims and volume control, in order
ALUN WATKINS
PEFC UK Executive Director
 awatkins@pefc.co.uk /  0114 307 2334
Please call Alun for all general enquiries and queries about Chain of Custody and use of the PEFC logo.
 Click on the link:  www.pefc.co.uk  info@.pefc.co.uk  PEFCUK  @PEFC_UK  pefcinternational
phase one of the Myanmar Timber Legality
Assurance System (MTLAS). Forest certification
and sustainable forest management are of
particular importance in Myanmar. In the last
thirty years, forest cover has fallen from 60%
to 40%. This is largely as a result of military
rule, when forests were managed for a short-
term economic return, rather than long-term
sustainability. More and more countries in Asia
are recognising the value of becoming part of
PEFC’s global alliance. In June, Vietnam also
joined PEFC as a member while in the same
month, Thailand’s national forest certification
system was endorsed by PEFC. For more
information about PEFC’s work in Asia visit:
https://www.pefc.org/news
Meet PEFC UK
Annual Stakeholder Meeting
3 October 2019
NCVO Offices,
London
info@pefc.co.uk
to improve business resilience. Delegates, drawn
from the UK forestry and primary processing
sectors, also contributed to a lively discussion on
Forest and Chain of Custody Certification and the
challenges, benefits and business opportunities
dual certification presents. James Jones, one of
Britain’s leading sawmills, announced that from
1st January 2020, they would aim to offer all their
products with dual PEFC-FSC certification.
HILARY KHAWAM
PEFC UK Communications & Marketing Director
 hilary.khawam@pefc.co.uk /  01689 819902