Snaizeholme, where the research will take place, is a unique and complex habitat restoration and nature recovery project 20 miles north of Settle, close to the iconic Ribblehead Viaduct in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The Woodland Trust hold FSC forest management certification, ensuring their forests are manged in accordance with FSC’s Principles and Criteria for Responsible Forest Management. With plans to include the Snaizeholme site under this certificate in future, it will additionally be audited against FSC’s Ecosystem Services Procedure, which provides forest managers and owners with a framework for protecting and measuring the vital, natural services provided by forests. Verified ecosystem services impacts from FSC also facilitate organisations, such as Essity, to finance responsible forestry projects, that make a real difference in the fight against climate change, biodiversity loss, and other global challenges. At Snaizeholme, Essity’s donation will help to fund verification and research costs, as well as some of the planned activities on the site.
The Snaizeholme site is a flagship woodland creation project for the White Rose Forest, the Community Forest for North and West Yorkshire and the Northern Forest. Through investment, research and verification, it is hoped that the positive impacts of activities including woodland creation and peatland restoration, will help to evidence and secure trees and woods at the heart of nature recovery initiatives.
"Essity are pleased to be able to collaborate with the Woodland Trust and FSC UK on this important initiative. Improving and protecting our wider ecosystems is critical and the ability to quantify the ecosystem impacts of investments will only increase the understanding of how this can best be achieved. The wider learnings will be invaluable in how we, and others, can act together with impact now and in the future."
-Jo Pybus, Sustainability Reporting Manager for Essity UK
"We are delighted to be working with Essity on this exciting project. It is only due to the direct support from Essity that we can explore the new opportunities that the FSC’s Ecosystem Services Procedure offer. We will be on a steep learning curve but are firmly committed to the process and this collaboration with Essity and FSC UK represents the first project of its kind for the Woodland Trust. We’re hoping it will be the first of many similar projects across the UK where we’d like to engage with FSC’s impact verification in parallel with our long-established FSC forest management certification."
-Gordon Pfetscher, Head of Estate at the Woodland Trust
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FSC® (Forest Stewardship Council®) is an international, non-governmental organisation dedicated to promoting responsible management of the world’s forests. Since its foundation in 1994, FSC has grown to become the world’s most respected and widespread forest certification system. FSC's pioneering certification system, which covers more than 160 million hectares of forest, enables businesses and consumers to choose wood, paper and other forest products made with materials that support responsible forestry. For more information on FSC Verified Impact including the Ecosystem Services Procedure see https://uk.fsc.org/forest-management-certification/ecosystem-services-verification.
Essity is a leading global hygiene and health company dedicated to improving well-being through their products and services. Sales are conducted in approximately 150 countries under the leading global brands TENA and Tork, and other strong brands, such as Actimove, JOBST, Knix, Leukoplast, Libero, Libresse, Lotus, Modibodi, Nosotras, Saba, Tempo, TOM Organic, Vinda and Zewa. In the UK, Essity’s leading brands include Cushelle, Velvet, Plenty, Bodyform, and Issviva. Essity breaks barriers to well-being and contributes to a healthy, sustainable and circular society. Essity have held FSC Chain of Custody Certification since 2006 (FSC®C003255).
The Woodland Trust are the UK's largest woodland conservation charity and have a vision of a world where woods and trees thrive for people and nature. The Woodland Trust is a charity registered in England and Wales (No. 294344) and in Scotland (No. SC038885). They have held FSC Forest Management Certification (FSC®C009406) since 1998, their certificate covers more than 25,000 hectares of UK forests.