WWF‘s 95+Group will be relaunched with a new name, WWF-UK Forest and Trade Network, to help people better understand what it is trying to achieve.

The change, effective from April, comes with tougher new commitments for members of the group, which brings together companies in the timber and wood product supply chain that have pledged to source from well-managed forests.

Group manager Rachel Hembery said: “The new name describes the group better. The old name was increasingly a barrier to people understanding what the group was trying to achieve.”

She said the new name also better reflected the fact that the group was part of a WWF Global Forest and Trade Network of companies working towards a responsible timber trade.

The name change is the final stage of the relaunch. The group has been asking all members, including Homebase, Jewson and Travis Perkins, to re-commit to phasing out illegal timber and introduce action plans showing how this will be done.

&#8220The new name describes the group better. The old name was increasingly a barrier to people understanding what the group was trying to achieve”

WWF-UK Forest and Trade manager Rachel Hembery

Members are also being asked to increase their offering of credibly certified timber and wood products.

It follows an independent review which recommended the group’s membership commitments be strengthened and clarified, plus its services improved in order to increase credibility. The review also said the group has succeeded in increasing awareness of certification within industry.

Ms Hembery said: “The network’s new tougher commitments will take it forward and recognise the efforts that many member companies are already making.”

The group’s establishment in 1992 led to the development of Forest and Trade Networks in 19 different countries. More than 500 companies are now included, including US timber giants The Home Depot and Lowes.