THE UK is facing a future construction crisis because of a failure to plant trees to produce wood, a trade body has warned.
Confor chiefs believe urgent action is needed to reduce the country's reliance on timber imports and provide a stable supply of wood for future generations.
Currently only 20 per cent of the UK's wood requirement is homegrown while it remains the second-largest net importer of timber in the world, bringing in around £7.5 billion annually.
Coming at a time of fresh incentives from the UK government for landowners to grow more trees, the trade body says these don't go far enough and fail to promote the benefits of planting them to boost timber supplies.
“Not only are we facing a carbon crisis now, but we will also be facing a future construction crisis because of a failure to plant trees to produce wood," said Stuart Goodall, chief executive of Confor. "For decades we have not taken responsibility for investing in our domestic wood supply, leaving us exposed to fluctuating prices and fighting for future supplies of wood as global demand rises and our own supplies fall."
The UK has ideal conditions for growing wood to build low-carbon homes and is a global leader in certifying that its forests are sustainably managed, Confor say. While around three quarters of Scottish homes are built from Scottish timber, the use of home-grown wood in England is only around 25 per cent.
The causes of the UK’s current position are complex and range from outdated perceptions of productive forestry to the decimation of trees from grey squirrels. It also encompasses significant hesitation on behalf of farmers and other landowners to invest in longer term planting projects.
While productive tree planting can deliver real financial benefits to rural economies and contribute to the UK’s net zero strategy, the focus of government support continues to be on food production and the rewilding and planting of native woodland solely for biodiversity.
The recently launched Woodland Creation Offer, which pledges farmers and landowners £10,000 for each hectare planted, failed to mention timber production, albeit the Forestry Commission's Richard Stanford has since spoken of the importance of it.
Stuart added: "While food production and biodiversity health are clearly of critical importance, we need our land to also provide secure supplies of wood for construction, manufacturing and to contribute to net zero.
“While the UK government has stated its ambition for more tree planting, there has been little action on the ground. Confor is now calling for much greater impetus behind those aspirations to ensure we have enough wood to meet increasing demand.”
1. It can be learned from Paragraph 1 that UK need to ____.
2. According to Confor, UK government fresh incentives ____.
3. The UK exposure to fluctuating wood prices is the result of ____.
4. Which of following causes the shortage of wood supply?
5. What does Goodall think US government should do?
