Environmentalist group the WWF (Worldwide Fund for Nature) has renewed allegations about the UK’s record on importing forest products from ‘unsustainable’ sources.
In its latest statement, the group claims that nearly 10% of the UK’s total imports of timber, pulp and paper – amounting to around 4 million m3 a year – are from illegal sources .
And in a new report – The Timber Footprint of the G8 and China –WWF accuses the British government of buying one-fifth of this amount – around 750,000m3 a year – and claims it is guilty of not actively implementing its policy of only buying independently certified timber.
It is calling on the UK as the only G8 government with a green timber procurement policy in place to present an action plan for its implementation and take the lead in showing the world that overcoming illegal logging can be achieved.
A DEFRA spokesperson said: “The government is currently working with the Improvement Development Agency to explore how sustainable development can be pursued by local authorities.”
DEFRA could neither confirm or deny the figures quoted by WWF but said: “We do not accept as fact that almost one-fifth is purchased by the government – WWF appears to have reached its conclusions on the basis of estimates and general assumptions.”
On a global basis WWF estimates that 53 million m3 of timber, pulp and paper imported by the G8+ and China is, by its definition, likely to be illegal.
