Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether her Department distinguishes between sustainably managed commercial forestry and deforestation-linked timber imports.

The Global Environmental Impacts of Consumption indicator, funded by Defra, estimates that UK consumption of wood products is linked to circa 8,000 hectares of deforestation in 2023, associated with circa 0.4m tonnes of CO2 emissions.

The UK has a robust framework in place to ensure that timber placed on the UK market is legally harvested. Under the UK Timber Regulations, it is prohibited to place illegally harvested timber on the market, and businesses must carry out due diligence to demonstrate legality.

This approach distinguishes between legal and illegal timber and helps tackle deforestation linked to illegal logging, while supporting the supply and use of timber from legal and sustainable sources.