CPET activities

As the summer draws to a close we have a chance to reflect on the CPET activities of the last few months. The biggest news this summer is that the UK Government has commissioned an Impact Assessment Study of its timber procurement policy.  the work will be undertaken by Efeca and will assess to what extent the policy is delivering its aims and the importance of having CPET supporting the implementation of the policy.

We have had time to catch up and have updated the Category B Framework and Guidance documents to ensure that it is coherent with recent changes.  the Forestry Commission has also, in cooperation with CPET, finalised an Operations Note 022 - Enabling Woodlands to Comply with Government Timber Procurement Policy.  This note is linked to the English Woodland Grant Scheme and is a route for especially small wood fuel suppliers to take.  CPET will develop guidance linked specifically to the note over the coming weeks. 

The Category A review of the forest certification schemes is ongoing.  Questions identified from the stakeholder comments received and by CPET's Technical Panel meet again in late September to do the final scoring.

In July, CPET attended the Local Government Association conference in Bournemouth and hosted a stand where we were available to disseminate information about the Timber Procurement Policy and offer advice to Councils about how best they can implement a policy.  Additionally, in our continuing work with Local Authorities, we were invited to present at the East Midlands 'Changing Climate' week, on the role of forests and sustainable timber procurement in climate change.  Following the presentation there has been interest from a number of Local Authorities in developing timber procurement policies in line with UK Government policy.  Hopefully, in the next few months, we will be able to update you with progress in this area.

A number of very interesting reports have been published recently and we have decided to now list relevant publications on the CPET website.  In July, Chatham House released a landmark study, examining the efforts in the past decade to control illegal logging in nations that consume, produce and process wood and wood products.  The study concludes that illegal logging worldwide has decreased, but that there is still a long way to go.  the UK is referred to as one of the 'best performing' countries.  Thank you for all your hard work in implementing the government's timber procurement policy!  See the new page, 'Reports and Publications', for studies on how public procurement policies create incentives for sustainable forest management and how the certification schemes deliver in maintaining biodiversity. 

Thanks, as always, to all the people who attended the training workshop on July 14th at the Defra offices in London.  CPET will also be running a training workshop on September 22nd in London.  Further information about CPET workshops can be found here. 

We are currently looking for Government departments/agencies to host this winter's workshops in the regions.  Please let us know if you can help.