Wood Procurement Policy
It is Weyerhaeuser's policy to work to ensure we and our sources comply with the law and do not cause or encourage destruction of forest areas at risk of loss from unsustainable practices. These areas are identified in guidelines issued under this policy, and include remaining natural forest in biodiversity hotspots and major tropical wilderness areas.1
Within the regions in which we and our sources operate, Weyerhaeuser works with governments, environmental nongovernmental organizations, indigenous peoples and communities to identify and help protect forest areas that are priorities for conservation. In the United States and Canada, Weyerhaeuser also operates in conformance with the Sustainable Forestry Initiative® standard. When operations using the SFI standard are procuring externally sourced logs and chips for use in Weyerhaeuser manufacturing and chipping facilities or by Weyerhaeuser log customers, Weyerhaeuser will operate in compliance with SFI's procurement principles and objectives.
This policy applies to all Weyerhaeuser employees accountable for harvesting or purchasing wood-based raw materials for resale or for use in Weyerhaeuser mills, including logs, chips, pulp and veneer, and for purchasing products for distribution. The SFI procurement provisions apply to employees accountable for purchasing logs and chips in operations covered by the SFI standard.
Weyerhaeuser will not knowingly purchase wood, wood fiber, or products for distribution that originate from illegal logging.2 Weyerhaeuser will also not harvest or purchase wood, wood fiber, or products for distribution from forest areas at risk of loss as described in guidelines issued under this standard, unless the sources have been independently certified or verified as well managed. Weyerhaeuser will exercise due care to ensure that its sources meet this standard, including the use of third-party certification and other credible and transparent safeguards in countries lacking effective laws against illegal logging. Weyerhaeuser may, at its discretion, continue to work with sources that demonstrate their ability to come into compliance with this standard within an agreed-upon period of time.
Where they apply, compliance with SFI's procurement provisions may be accomplished in a variety of ways. Regional differences and differences among logs, whole log chips, and manufacturing by-products such as residual chips require different approaches. Weyerhaeuser wood and wood fiber procurement operations will operate within guidelines established under this policy, while developing specific regional or wood fiber-type approaches.
Leaders who are accountable for the management function of harvesting or purchasing wood-based raw materials and products for distribution are responsible for:
- Ensuring compliance with this policy.
- Ensuring that employees have sufficient training and resources to carry out their responsibilities, as called for by this policy and any guidelines issued under it.
- The Vice President, Sustainable Forest and Products is accountable for ensuring that the company's guidelines are kept current and appropriate advice and guidance are made available to unit managers and others involved in ensuring compliance with this policy.
Employees involved in the harvesting or purchasing of wood-based raw materials and products for distribution:
- Must thoroughly understand the company's position concerning procurement.
- Ensure that any actions they take are in compliance with this policy.
- Seek guidance from their supervisors or Timberlands Sustainable Forest and Products if they are uncertain about the applicability of this policy to their work.
WOOD PROCUREMENT GUIDELINES
Implementation Guidelines for Worldwide Wood Procurement
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE OF GUIDELINES
Weyerhaeuser has committed, through our international land management and procurement activities, to "promote the conservation of natural forests in areas identified as biodiversity hotspots and major tropical wilderness areas . . . [and] to work with governments, conservation organizations and others to ensure that [our] procurement practices strengthen efforts to thwart illegal logging."
This commitment extends to procurement of all wood-based raw materials for all of our mills worldwide, and to the purchase of products for resale. This commitment is reflected in Weyerhaeuser's Wood Procurement Policy.
These guidelines help the affected Weyerhaeuser businesses implement the Wood Procurement Policy and avoid sourcing raw materials or products from forest areas identified at the global level as being at risk of loss, or as not controlling illegal logging. The areas described in these guidelines may change from time to time, as additional areas at risk are identified. This may be for biological reasons, i.e., a forest type that cannot or is not being managed sustainably, or for governance reasons, i.e., a region's political, social, or legal institutions are inadequate to support sustainable forestry. We support the development of, and use information produced by, environmental nongovernmental organizations, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, national governments, and scientific organizations to understand the risks to different areas of the world, and to help determine forest areas to include in these guidelines.
REGIONAL AND LOCAL CONSERVATION EFFORTS
At the regional and local level, we work with governments, environmental nongovernmental organizations, indigenous peoples, and communities to identify and help protect forest areas that are priorities for conservation. For publicly owned lands, we support and participate in land use planning through government processes. For privately owned lands, we support protection efforts by conservation organizations as well as government, including land exchanges, sales, conservation easements, and other initiatives.
In addition, we address forest conservation through our Sustainable Forestry Policy and other parts of our environmental management systems, and our commitment to certification of our forest management and procurement systems.
BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS AND MAJOR TROPICAL WILDERNESS AREAS
Weyerhaeuser will not harvest or buy wood, wood fiber, or products for distribution from natural forests in biodiversity hotspots or major tropical wilderness areas. The only exception is sources independently certified or verified as having come from well managed forests.
Biodiversity hotspots and major tropical wilderness areas are areas outside North America defined and mapped by Conservation International as of July 1, 2002. See: www.conservation.org/xp/CIWEB/regions/priorityareas and www.conservation.org/xp/CIWEB/strategies.
OLD-GROWTH FORESTS IN THE UNITED STATES
Weyerhaeuser will not harvest or buy wood from old-growth forests on public or private land in the United States. The only exceptions are forests harvested with active support from environmental groups due to a net environmental benefit (e.g., the Sierra Club Checkerboard Project); respect for the autonomy of indigenous peoples (e.g., the Warm Springs Indian Tribe); and support for public land managers' efforts to improve forest health. We do not have control over old-growth content of fiber supplies or products made by third-parties, and therefore will not represent them as free of old-growth in the Pacific Northwest.
For Weyerhaeuser's operations, old-growth forests in the United States are found in the Pacific Northwest and are 200-250 years of age or older.
ILLEGAL LOGGING
Weyerhaeuser will not knowingly purchase or use wood, wood fiber, or products for distribution that originate from illegal logging. Weyerhaeuser will also exercise due care to ensure that its wood, wood fiber, and products for distribution either originate in countries with effective laws against illegal logging, or are independently certified or verified under other credible and transparent safeguards. These safeguards may include environmental management systems certified to the ISO 14001 standard if the risk of illegal logging is identified and addressed as a significant aspect.
Illegal logging is defined as harvesting activities that result in theft of timber or logs, or cutting in parks, reserves, or other similar areas where harvesting activities are otherwise precluded by law.
TRANSITION
Weyerhaeuser may, at its discretion, continue to work with sources that demonstrate their ability to come into compliance with this standard within an agreed-upon period of time.
