A guide to help local authorities and landowning businesses achieve net zero Sustainably managed woodlands perform a vital role as carbon sinks and reservoirs by capturing CO2 from the atmosphere and storing it as a component of wood itself. Over time, the soil beneath them is enriched by adding carbon in the form of organic […]
The Foundational Economy and its impact on the timber construction sector in Wales
Gary Newman, Chief Executive of Woodknowledge Wales expores what the Foundational Economy is, why Welsh Government are interested in it and what it means for the Welsh timber sector. The Welsh first Minister, Mark Drakeford AM, is increasingly considering Welsh development policy through the lens of the Foundational Economy. I’m also drawn to the Foundational […]
HGH Project Updates May 2020
While the Covid-19 pandemic has brought large parts of the industry to a standstill, we’ve been working away as best we can to progress the Home-Grown Homes project further. Project governance update Acting on recommendations from the independent project review carried out in March, Powys County Council has strengthened governance by creating a steering committee […]
Future talent for a low-carbon society
Skills shortage and lack of programmes to teach our future workforce how to build more sustainably, which techniques to use when and how to make them mainstream, and most importantly how to advance existing solutions to make the good stuff even better. Two sides of the same coin, repeated many times over, a real road […]
Developing a Welsh Wooden Windows Specification for Social Housing
On 5 May 2020 in the midst of a national lockdown with most joinery businesses closed, 15 participants from across the joinery sector kicked off a Welsh Government funded two-year programme to develop a Welsh wooden window specification for social housing with an online workshop. Welsh joinery industry passionate to act Activities setting up the […]
Why can’t I get thermally-treated Welsh timber?
Timber can be modified by a variety of methods to enhance properties and change appearance. Modification using temperature is relatively simple and extensive trials using Welsh timber have been undertaken, but so far the process has not been developed commercially in Wales. Why can’t I get thermally-treated Welsh timber? This was a question raised by […]
Construction & Whole Life Carbon. An Overview.
The construction sector is a major contributor of carbon emissions. Pressure to respond to the climate emergency means that decarbonisation is a priority for everyone who has a stake in construction. But where to start? By James Moxey, Woodknowledge Wales, 6 May 2020 Organisations considering a decarbonisation strategy that aims for low carbon or even […]
On the path towards a high-value forest nation. Forestry, biodiversity and land use.
Probably the most intensely debated questions at our 2019 BIG Debate during WoodBUILD circled around forestry and land use, and how to move the agenda for a high value forest nation forward in the current system. As part of our series of follow-up interviews on the Big Debate, we invited Jon Travis, Welsh Government; Dominic […]
A very brief history of deforestation and forest management
Deforestation and the need for sustainable forest management techniques take their roots in earliest human development. Dainis Dauksta presents a brief history from axe and lightning to high-tech solutions bred in Silicon Valley. Observation of natural traumatic events such as lightning strikes causing forest fires taught early hominids[1] to use fire as their principal landscape […]
Creating value for communities through woodland expansion
At the start of 2020, most commentators held up climate change as the biggest threat to humanity, a title now sadly usurped by the coronavirus pandemic. Before this very imminent health threat stole the headlines, an unlikely coalition, from the UK Climate Change Commission (UKCCC) right to the US leading climate change denier and peddler […]
