Renowned architectural commentator & TV presenter Kevin McCloud backs Greenpeace Guide
On Monday (29th November) Greenpeace will launch a unique multimedia CD-ROM, 'How to Specify Good Wood.' Aimed at UK architects, specifiers and contractors the RIBA approved CD-ROM provides a step by step guide to ensuring that wood used on construction projects comes from legal and sustainable sources. It will be distributed to 30,000 architectural practices, construction companies and local authorities around the UK.
Ancient forests have evolved over thousands of years and are home to tens of thousands of plant and animal species. Today they are at crisis point, with a staggering 80 percent of the world's original ancient forests having been destroyed or degraded. An additional area the size of a football pitch is disappearing every two seconds.
Illegal and unsustainable logging by multinational logging companies is a major cause of ancient forest loss. In many countries illegal logging is of similar size to, or exceeds, legal production. In Indonesia, for example, nearly 90% of logging is estimated to be illegal, with the wood procured by timber barons notorious for environmental destruction, corruption and human rights abuses. By contrast, responsible forestry provides an income and future for local communities as well as tax revenue for national governments.
On Monday (29th November) Greenpeace will launch a unique multimedia CD-ROM, 'How to Specify Good Wood.' Aimed at UK architects, specifiers and contractors the RIBA approved CD-ROM provides a step by step guide to ensuring that wood used on construction projects comes from legal and sustainable sources. It will be distributed to 30,000 architectural practices, construction companies and local authorities around the UK. Ancient forests have evolved over thousands of years and are home to tens of thousands of plant and animal species. Today they are at crisis point, with a staggering 80% of the world's original ancient forests having been destroyed or degraded. An additional area the size of a football pitch is disappearing every two seconds.
The UK is a major importer within the EU of illegal wood from tropical forests. The construction sector uses up to 70 percent of all the timber consumed in the UK and regularly uses timber sourced from ancient forest areas. These include Meranti from Indonesian rainforests, which is used for interior construction and panelling, Sapele from African rainforests, which is often used to make doors and window frames and Indonesian rainforest plywood, which is regularly used for building site hoardings and formwork then thrown away.
Greenpeace forests campaigner Nathan Argent explained, "Contractors, architects and specifiers have a key role to play in ensuring that the timber used on building projects comes from legal and sustainable sources. This CD provides them with the tools to ensure they get the right timber for the project without fuelling the destruction of the world's last remaining ancient forests."
Kevin McCloud, renowned architecture commentator and presenter of the Bafta nominated TV programme 'Grand Designs,' stated in his support of the newly launched Greenpeace CD: "Trees are the lungs of this planet, our allies in the fight against carbon overloading. They are also living giants, vast natural edifices which we can admire for their longevity, poise, scale and beauty. Who doesn't recoil at the terrifying fact that simply vast areas of forest are being removed from the planet every year?"
