WWF survey on local authorities’ policies on responsible purchasing of timber and paper products

WWF ‘s recent report ‘Barking up the right tree’ shows that more than half of local authorities still do not have a legal and sustainable timber procurement policy and only 16 are implementing the policy effectively.

WWF contacted all 433 UK authorities to find out their policies and actions on the environmentally responsible purchasing of timber and paper products. Based on their responses, a five-tier system rated them from red to green. In total, 336 red ratings were given to authorities that did not have a policy, did not know if they had a policy, or did not respond.

Local authorities in Durham, Newcastle and Brighton were amongst those that took steps to improve their rating and scored towards the higher end of the ratings system. In total 16 were given the highest green rating. Key barriers to having a legal and sustainable timber product procurement policy included not enough time, a lack of resources, the issue not being a priority, and a lack of information. Only two local authorities claimed not to purchase any timber products.

Please click here for details: http://www.wwf.org.uk/what_we_do/press_centre/?5855/Local-authorities-timber-trade-off