NGOs must adhere to standards they expect of others

It’s all rather depressing.

Not the market, tough as that is. And this is not 2008/9 and with hard work and determination we can all make it to the light at the end of the tunnel. No, it’s WWF bringing me down.

Don’t get me wrong; WWF does good work around the world. We work closely with the organisation and we share the desire to halt illegal logging and ensure no illegal wood enters the UK supply chain. Frankly, the UK timber industry could not have done more to work out ways this can be done effectively, and WWF has helped on the political front, achieving our aims of a strong illegal timber regulation from the EU.

Yet this week we see the WWF in the press using self-generated reports about poor consumer knowledge of illegal logging issues to suggest that illegal wood is still a problem in the UK. They continue to quote their discredited report from five years ago that 25% of the wood in the UK is illegal. Not true. We know 83% of wood is certified as sustainable. We also have the latest Chatham House report that gives a figure for illegal wood of less than 5%.

I have worked with various NGOs across many sectors of the economy, some good some bad, but I have to say that if business and business organisations behaved as NGOs sometimes do they would rightly be hauled across the coals. Corporate responsibility cuts both ways and NGOs must live up to the standards they expect of others. I have also learnt that NGOs and industry working together can make a real positive difference to the agendas of both.

More positively, the industry is gradually getting its act together. The TTF is about to publish it five-year strategy (which faces towards the customer end of the supply chain), Wood for Good is soon to come back out to the industry with its plans to drive wood use, and TRADA has taken a new direction that resonates absolutely with TTF and Wood for Good ambitions.

If we work together we know we can achieve a lot – witness the excellent work the industry is doing with Proskills. With industry support we have perhaps the opportunity of a generation to grow the market share of wood and wood products on the back of the sustainable construction agenda and the innovation we can deliver.