Focus and the Environment

TIMBER SOURCES

Some of the timber traded around the world comes from illegal or poorly managed sources. Despite the efforts of many countries to conserve their forests, illegal and irresponsible practices continue to affect natural biodiversity, loss of wildlife habitats and, in some areas, wholesale deforestation.

FOCUS recognises that this is a serious situation. Therefore, as a retailer selling a wide range of timber products, we aim to use materials that only come from legal and well-managed sources.

• FOCUS recognises the need to conserve the world’s forests
• Our customers can rest assured that FOCUS makes every effort to source wood products from environmentally responsible and legal sources
• It is our policy to investigate all wood products before they are allowed into our stores

WWF-UK Forest and Trade Network

In 1991, 20 UK businesses joined forces with the WWF 95+ Group to promote responsible management of the world’s forests. Since then, the renamed WWF-UK Forest and Trade Network (WWF-UK FTN) has become widely recognised as a highly successful partnership between a non-governmental organisation and business.

The WWF-UK Forest and Trade Network actively promotes and facilitates trade in independently, credibly certified forest products and encourages good forest management worldwide.




Network Members have committed to working with WWF-UK to increase the proportion of forest products that they trade in or consume from well-managed forests that have been credibly, independently certified.

As a Member of the WWF-UK FTN, FOCUS has committed to implementing a responsible purchasing policy for forest products.

Forest Stewardship Council

The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is an international not-for-profit non-governmental organisation dedicated to protecting the world’s forests.

The FSC operates a forest certification and product labelling scheme which shows that the timber used has come from a forest managed in accordance with strict social and environmental standards.

FOCUS supports the FSC and believes that their product labelling scheme is currently the most independent, credible and globally recognised way of ensuring that timber sources are legal and well-managed.

• Forest Stewardship Council wood comes from a legal and well-managed source
• FSC certified forests are managed to internationally agreed social and environmental standards
• FSC is supported by Greenpeace and WWF