• Sustainable timber means that the tree harvested will be replaced by another tree, whether naturally grown or planted. Extraction is compensated for, unlike in the case of most other materials.
• ‘Sustainability’ is not only about quantity, but also about the ecological quality of the resource base - the forest. ‘Sustainable timber’ means that regardless of the extraction of individual trees, the forest maintains its ecological function as for biodiversity, climate and water cycles.
• ‘Sustainable’ is also about people. ‘Sustainable timber’ implies that local people are involved in the benefits from the forest. Thereby the forest means value and long-term income in particular to local people.

Read more in this section – for instance in Industry Commitments or Responsible Timber Purchasing how using timber can assist development and forest protection.