Retailer buys only responsibly sourced wood
- 16th February 2011
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Following a 20-year campaign to promote the use of responsibly sourced timber, the UK’s largest home improvement retailer B&Q has become the first major chain in the UK to buy timber products only from proven responsible sources. The retailer has been heavily involved with the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) since its formation in 1993 and has been working towards this goal for some years.
With the knowledge that they can trace all of their timber products back to a responsible source, B&Q has set a new level in sustainable timber, and pressure will no doubt fall on other retailers to now follow suit. The move also shows the growing demand among the public to buy products they know have originated from sustainable and certified responsible sources. In a survey, 92 per cent of respondents said they would choose sustainably sourced wood if they were assured that there was no extra cost involved.
The retailer, like many others, also actively supports numerous projects and initiatives to help safeguard the future of forests and to make sure that growing demand for timber and wood products does not lead to irreparable damage to the world’s forests. B&Q specifically are involved in the Forest Friendly scheme, which relies on credible forest certification schemes to set strict limits to ensure trees are only taken from a forest at a rate a which they can be replenished. In the case of B&Q’s tropical plywood, just six trees from an area the size of three football pitches are felled. This area is then left alone to regenerate naturally for 20 years.
The principles of this kind of scheme are echoed in Emerald Knight’s own timber investments – not only does all timber produced come from a certified source, by investing you are also helping to cut back the trade in illegal timber which threatens some very important wildlife habitats. For more details on our projects, click here.
