FSC certification and tree traceability
What FSC means
FSC stands for the Forest Stewardship Council who are a non-profit organisation promoting the responsible management of the world’s forests. They look to improve forest management by promoting sustainable use, conservation, restoration and respect for the people and wildlife for whom the forest is home. By only using wood that is FSC certified, one can ensure that the forests where the wood has been sourced are well managed.
Whilst one should always look for the FSC certification when purchasing wooden furniture, it has rather become a badge of honour that companies use when it is fare to say that it is now almost impossible to buy timber which isn’t FSC certified! Non certified timber is illegally harvested or harvested in a way that violates the environmentally, sustainable, conservational and social values listed above.
We don't just use FSC certified timber, we only source our Oak from English woodlands.
Where we buy our Oak
When the opportunity presents itself, we buy our Oak as locally as possible. You can read about the felling and drying of an Oak tree 17 miles from our workshop which is the most local we have managed to source our timber. The majority of the time we use a saw mill in our neighbouring county of Cambridgeshire who specialise in English Oak. Unlike some places, Whippletree saw mill focuses on harvesting trees at the optimum time to support natural regeneration of the forest. They also air dry the timber which prevents the need to kiln dry; a process requiring a lot of energy. At Whippletree every tree is tagged with a unique reference number meaning that each log can be traced back to the original tree it came from and the location of that tree. Whippletree are a unique saw mill in that they have not followed the trend to trade in European timbers but continue to specialise in well managed, traceable, English Oak.
By making the conscious decision to source our timber with not only the FSC certification but from properly managed English woodlands we feel we are able to offer a very special product.
Sawmills
If you would like to read more about the FSC certification or Whippletree saw mill further details can be found here: