Builders take field trip into the forest

Held on 12 June, the visit was designed to show the link between certified forests and sustainable construction. A broad range of delegates from across the construction sector participated, including representatives from BAM, Grosvenor Britain & Ireland, Interserve and Crest Nicholson. Participants were able to learn more about the importance of certification and how the construction sector can support responsible producers through their procurement choices to protect the world’s woodlands and forests. 

The field trip was the latest event in PEFC’s global marketing campaign ‘Designing the Future with Sustainable Timber’, and aimed to demonstrate responsible forest management in practice. 

It also sought to explain why ‘chain of custody’ certification is so important and the value it adds to timber destined for construction use. The campaign aims to raise awareness of and demand for PEFC-certified timber within the global construction sector.

During the forest visit, participants were briefed by the Crown Estate’s chief forester John Deakin on the steps taken to ensure the South Forest section of the 6,000-hectare Windsor Estate is sustainably managed. He explained how the forest met PEFC’s sustainable forest management criteria.

Euroforest’s Ben Manterfield and his team were on hand to demonstrate timber harvesting as they carried out some pre-commercial thinning.

PEFC UK’s executive director Alun Watkins said: “The day provided an opportunity for contractors and developers to learn more about sustainable forest management, and the huge amount of work that is involved in keeping the forest healthy for this generation and the next. As the majority of both domestic and imported timber goes to the construction sector, it is vitally important that specifiers can be sure that only responsibly sourced timber is used on their sites. Certified timber from a timber certification scheme such as PEFC’s provides such assurances.”