wood and paper sourcing

WWF UK's - forest and trade network

Forests cover more than 30% of the earths land surface. They are among the most notable storehouses of biological diversity on the land. They house over two-thirds of known terrestrial species; they also harbour the largest share of threatened species. Yet each year around 13 million hectares of natural forest are lost. That's 25 hectares every minute, the equivalent of 36 football fields. Today only 10% of the worlds forests are found in protected areas, which is why the management and protection of forests outside these areas is a key conservation issue.   

The Co-operative are members of the WWF's UK - Forest and Trade Network.

Members of the WWF's-UK FTN commit themselves to tracing their timber and paper products back to the forest source.

The aim of the WWF's-UK FTN is to provide a framework for members to adopt a stepwise, monitored approach that enables them to identify and move away from materials coming from unknown or unacceptable sources, towards products from credibly certified forests. The certification scheme which currently satisfies all of the co-operatives requirements is FSC. As members of the WWF's-UK FTN The Co-operative have committed to meet the following general requirements,

• to work with WWF to trace all non credibly certified wood products back to forest source;
• to phase out all forest sources that are illegal, are the subject of unresolved social conflict
  or have high conservation value, unless credibly certified;
• to obtain substantial and increasing volumes of credibly certified wood and/or paper
  products; 
• to make publicly available a clear statement of timber/paper policy, which meets WWF's
  Global Forest & Trade Network requirements;
• to submit annually to the WWF's-UK FTN a report on forest product use, including an
  annual action plan with SMART targets for improvement and;
• to comply with the Membership Guidance, Requirements and Communication Code of
  Practice, and not make any misleading or unsubstantiated claims about the forest products they sell.

Click here to view The Co-operatives’ annual reporting for 2010

Click here to see The Co-operative's wood and paper sourcing policy