Haringey council sets the gold standard for timber
Haringey Council has achieved its gold WWF pledge by undertaking a rigorous process to ensure timber products used by the council do not come from illegal sources.
They signed up to the gold pledge for wood procurement as part of the WWF ‘What Wood You Choose?’ campaign. To date, 95 local authorities have made a sustainable timber pledge.
The council, which is the first London Authority to receive the pledge, dedicated resources to establish systems and processes to ensure they only purchase legal and sustainable timber products across all departments.
Julia Young, WWF Global Forest and Trade Network manager, said: “It is great news that Haringey Council has completed the gold pledge. We really appreciate the time, effort and commitment they have shown. By working with WWF they are helping to make forest trade more responsible and are supporting those forest producers and suppliers of timber and timber products who are trying to make sustainability the norm.
“They have shown it is possible to take steps to make sure that all timber and paper products they buy won’t contribute to loss or degradation of forests, harming species and people in parts of the world where illegal logging and poor forest management is devastating the environment.”
Councillor Joe Goldberg, Haringey Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance and Carbon Reduction, added: “I’m really pleased that once again Haringey is leading the way in building a sustainable future and that our work has been recognised by the WWF.
“Whether it is our groundbreaking work to cut carbon emissions, our sustainable and responsible procurement, or our pioneering energy research partnership with Durham University, we’re committed to making Haringey a greener borough.”
Haringey completed their silver pledge in August 2012. This covered copier paper which was all secured as 100% PCW recycled. After taking the gold pledge they examined the timber procurement policies related to their construction projects and also extended this process to include stationery, furniture, additional paper purchases, timber for repairs or outdoor amenities.
Currently, the UK is the third highest importer of products made from illegal timber in Europe after Germany and Italy. This is the equivalent to fill just over 15 Royal Albert Halls. But from March last year, the EU Timber Regulation banned illegally harvested timber and timber products from the UK.
Despite the introduction of this legislation more than half of local authorities don't have a legal and sustainable timber procurement policy. WWF research shows that many local authorities don’t yet know where timber they use for items such as doors, flooring and even paper comes from. This risks supporting the market for illegal and unsustainable forest goods.
Illegally logged wood threatens not only rainforests but also communities and species, for instance the orang-utan and gorilla, in places such as Indonesia and the Congo Basin. People can help ensure that what they are buying comes from sustainable sources by looking for the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) logo. The FSC logo means it has been sourced from well-managed forests according to high environmental and social standards.
