Grown in Britain Week (7th-13th October) offers a chance to bring together individuals and organisations who all have one thing in common – a passion for British woods and forests, and the extraordinary benefits they offer.
There are activities planned nationwide and here at Forest & Maker, we’re encouraging our staff, customers, suppliers and friends to find ways to get involved.
For those of you who don’t know much about Grown in Britain (GIB) and its work, here’s a bit of background. The Grown in Britain Certification Scheme gives woodland owners, suppliers, retailers, the construction industry and consumers assurance their timber, or timber products, comes from Britain. GIB is now a staple feature in the assurance of supply chains: a staggering 1 million tonnes of UK timber is certified under the GIB mark; and over 300,000 hectares of trees woods and forests are within the scheme.
GIB is a staple feature in the assurance of supply chains
Of course, for us – thinking about how and where we source our timber is not just something we do for one week a year. It’s what we do every single day. Which is why this initiative from our friends at GIB is so important: it presents an opportunity for us to remind you about how we go about sustainable sourcing of our timber.
We take the view that leadership in this area is essential. We only buy timber from suppliers and forests that are licensed or certified by Grown in Britain, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC).
We also believe in giving back more than we take. This is a sentiment echoed by the team at Grown in Britain – much of their work is about ensuring our British woodlands are well managed and maintained as rich habitats for wildlife. Let’s face it, woodlands play a vital role in carbon storage – and are even proven to support health and wellbeing.
With this in mind, what you might not know is that we sponsor GIB’s own ethical tree-planting project. We hope that our support for this scheme will help to restore degraded woodlands and create productive, healthy and well-managed forests for the future.
An active tree-planting programme – and a commitment to improving British woodlands – offers major benefits to water quality, carbon reduction, wildlife habitats, biodiversity, flood management and our general health and wellbeing.
So, join us in our celebration of Grown in Britain Week. And, don’t forget, if next time you’re specifying timber furniture; just ask a few questions about where that timber came from. It’s a question we’re always happy (and able) to answer.
Read more about our thoughts on sustainability and ethical timber sourcing.
