The importance of building with certified timber.
Written in collaboration with Greg Moore, Director – FenCert
28th April 2023
The onus on businesses using certified timber products has never been greater as more and more consumers recognise the correlation between healthy forests and the fight against climate change.
Millworks follow environmental standards to ensure that only certified timber is sourced and supplied. By adhering to these regulations, a guarantee is given that responsible forestry practices are being followed and full chain of custody can be provided from forest floor to final use.
Forests play a vital role in our environment, economy and population. FSC® and PEFC™ certification denotes a commitment at the beginning of a product’s life cycle to conservation principles, as well as social and economic considerations. Both organisations work to protect forests by promoting sustainable management through certification, which is also applied to businesses who supply and manufacture timber and other forest-based products.
Certified, sustainable management ensures forests and forest lands are used in a way, and at a rate, that maintains their biodiversity, productivity, regeneration capacity – now and in the future – and that no damage is caused to other ecosystems in the process. Whilst responsible forestry is a globally recognised concept, these schemes additionally work locally to support forest owners in how best to implement standards whilst understanding and upholding local traditions, cultural framework and improving long-term social and economic well-being of communities.
Southern Grandis | FSC® Certified | MW2 Profile | Uncoated to Weather
Thermowood | PEFC™ Certified | Custom Profile – Bead & Butt | Uncoated and Coated mix
Knowing where timber is coming from isn’t just important for customers and the planet, it’s important for the business that buys it. Governments around the world, including in the United Kingdom, have outlawed the use of illegally harvested forest products. Both FSC® & PEFC™ employ system-based weapons to minimise the risk of illegally harvested timber, including monitoring supply chains, using risk-based auditing and adoption of UK Timber Regulation which is not voluntary.
Just as support is given to the forest owners, these schemes provide training and resources to assist businesses in guaranteeing compliance with UK Timber Regulation. Annual training and auditing are carried out via accreditation consultants, such as FenCert, and approval with certification is only given when still complying to system standards. FSC® & PEFC™ certification is an important way that business can display their partaking in “due care” when buying forest products and demonstrate that due diligence has been thoroughly completed.
So timber certification matters, it not only demonstrates that wood used in construction is sourced sustainably, but that a positive choice has been made to design and build with a future for healthy forests in mind. Much like trees in the woodland, the only way is up for timber certification, especially at a time when there’s an undeniable drive globally to protect the world’s forests and, therefore, for consumers to make more informed decisions. The benefits of forests and the timber provided must not be lost.
At Millworks every care is taken to ensure that our products look good and do good. We continue to source from the world’s finest timber and work towards our environmental responsibility for minimal waste manufacturing.
