CONFOR
What’s on the menu for 2022 Our business plan for 2022 is developed with, and signed off by, the Board. The following is a summary of the priorities and key work areas. Members engagement Members are at the heart of everything Confor does and in 2022 Confor will review how it communicates with and provides services to Members. This will support improved performance on Member retention and aid with recruitment. I hope the Confor team will have more meetings with Members, including face-to-face visits and events, and I’m really pleased that we now have Eliza Hibbins-Cline on board to support us with that and more.
Carbon As a low-carbon industry which plants trees that lock up carbon in wood products, the sector has a key role to play in helping governments meet ‘net zero’ targets. The opportunities and challenges that this throws up have been central to much of Confor’s work in recent years. In 2022, Confor will prepare an industry road map for net zero that will help to pull the ‘carbon’ strands together and inform activity in future years.
Political engagement Ambitious tree planting targets have become a must have accessory for every political party. On the positive side, this raises the profile of trees and forestry, but it doesn’t always translate to trees in the ground and there is always a danger that a narrow focus on planting can distract from wider issues of management, controlling pests and diseases, and wood supply. While Scotland is still taking the lead, Wales is showing signs of a determination to catch up and Northern Ireland is focusing primarily on the public estate. In England, money is being allocated and civil servants employed, but delivery still appears to ignore productive forestry.
Business plan 2022 priorities Led by the Board, Confor has identified the following priorities:
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Expand future wood fibre availability Promote positive attitudes towards sustainable productive forestry and wood-based products Aid the economic development of the industry Develop a low-carbon road map Grow and promote markets for timber Improve Member retention and in crease recruitment
There is a growing sense that biodiversity and access boxes will be ticked but decarbonising the economy and rural green jobs will be ignored. The much vaunted ‘levelling up’ agenda promoted by Boris Johnson doesn’t appear to be taking root in the mind of Lord Goldsmith, though that hasn’t stopped the Johnsons from vacationing in the peer’s Spanish villa. While we can’t offer sun, sand and sangria, our new policy and public affairs officer Maria Bellissimo will be working hard to widen and deepen our political contacts in Westminster and the devolved parliament/assemblies and press home the message that trees and timber can play a key role in a green recovery from Covid.
UK Forestry Standard The review of the UK Forestry Standard in 2022 will be a potentially important process. The UKFS has helped position the forestry and wood processing sector as a sustainable and responsible industry, far ahead of most other sectors in the UK in defining sustainability and measur-
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ing it ‘on the ground’. Unfortunately, some organisations don’t appear to understand what the purpose of the UKFS is and what management against the UKFS already delivers. It’s important that any proposed changes are evidence based, relevant and start from a solid understanding of what UKFs already delivers in terms of economic, environmental and social benefits.
Changing Attitudes campaign I expect media interest in the sector to remain high in 2022 and perhaps even increase, meaning that more than ever we need to ‘get our message out there’. We’re finalising our latest ‘changing attitudes’ campaign and developing resources to support Members in local stakeholder engagement.
Industry development In 2022, Confor will seek to step up work alongside Members on industry development. Industry partnerships with government are developing in England and Wales, in addition to the existing group in Scotland, and this provides real opportunity to tackle issues such as skills and new recruits to the sector, as well as research and innovation. Confor has an internal group on statistics and as with our work on changing attitudes, we’ll be looking to resource its future work. This is only a taster of what the 2022 Business Plan contains. If you would like to know more, do please visit… Confor business plan To read the full document, use the QR code or visit this page www.confor.org.uk/about-us/ this-is-confor
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