Edinburgh City Council is the first Scottish local authority to make the World Wildlife Fund’s Gold Pledge on forest products procurement.
The pledge, announced earlier this week, commits all council departments to buying wood-derived products such as paper, timber, furniture, stationery and other wood products, from recycled, certified or sustainable and legal sources. The Council has also committed to setting up a recording and monitoring system to ensure that requirements are met.
Nineteen local authorities in Scotland have already pledged to improve their timber purchasing at either the bronze or silver level, but Edinburgh is the first to have made it to gold.
Councillor Robert Aldridge, the city’s environment leader, said: “By adopting the WWF’s gold pledge, Edinburgh will be leading the way in Scotland, to safeguard sustainable forestry and combat illegal logging, and so protecting our environment.”
“We are proud to be the first local authority in Scotland to commit to this pledge and would like to urge others to go for gold too with WWF’s “What Wood You Choose?” campaign.
“By adopting the minimum buying standards we will be helping to protect the sustainability of the rainforests, the biodiversity that depends on it and the livelihood of people who live in forests.”
The WWF campaign is a response to research revealing that local authorities do not always know the source of timber they buy and could inadvertently be supporting the unsustainable and illegal timber trade.
Illegal and unsustainable logging in places such as Indonesia and the Congo Basin threatens the livelihood and wellbeing of communities who rely on the rainforests, and destroys the habitats of animals, such as orangutans.
In Scotland, WWF has been working with the Sustainable Scotland Network to encourage local authorities to get involved.
Dr Richard Dixon, Director of WWF Scotland said:
“We’re delighted that Edinburgh is making a Gold Pledge on sustainable timber procurement. This is an important commitment to ensuring that the wood and paper being used in Edinburgh is helping to support responsible forest management in rainforest countries like Indonesia, where communities depend on forests for their livelihoods. We hope that Edinburgh's example inspires other councils to take this important step and help protect forests too.”