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News
Latest news
Explore the latest news from the UK's forestry and wood sector
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Our story
Our story
Modern forestry and wood is the sustainable sector of the 21st century: producing a green material while improving the way we use our land. See how today's forests benefit the economy, the environment and our communities.
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Join Us
Join Us
There are numerous exclusive benefits to becoming a Confor member, browse this section to find out more
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Resources
Resources
Keep up to date with the latest event listings, see who's hiring or browse our library of publications
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About us
This is Confor
The voice of the forestry and wood sector - find out who we are, what we do and how to get in touch
Nursery
Trees are grown in sheltered nurseries before they're planted as part of a new, modern well-designed forest.
It typically takes between one and three years to prepare trees for planting.
Find out more about Confor's Nursery Producers Group.
Management
When trees are harvested in the UK these areas must be replanted (restocked) and managed back into mature forests.
People and businesses involved in the establishment and management of forests play an important role in maintaining rural communities, especially where there are few alternative sources of work.
Nurturing our woodland areas into productive forests takes decades of planning, dedication and hard work.
Harvesting
Technology is making the process of harvesting our productive woodlands safer and more efficient.
The modern lumberjack sits in a protected cabin and uses a hi-tech control panel to manoeuvre the blades that cut the wood. Communication with the sawmill is vital and tells the driver what kind of wood they should harvest from the forest, according to supply and demand.
Transport
Hauliers play a vital role in our modern forestry supply chain.
They move around 10m tonnes of logs from the forest to the timber processors, often over relatively remote and minor rural roads. A small proportion of timber is moved by boat and rail. Once processed it is transported, primarily by road haulage, to the suppliers for onward distribution.
The Timber Transport Forum supports forestry by ensuring that the timber industries can access forests and market timber in a sustainable way.
Processing
The processing of wood from our forests into sawn timber takes place at hi-tech sawmills.
The logs are scanned using 3D cat scanners and and automatically cut into the shapes required by the designer. Modern processing is extremely efficient and no part of the product is wasted.
Designers and wood users
The wood that we harvest from our forests is of exceptional quality.
It’s not only a beautiful material to work for designers, architects, construction engineers and furniture makers - it is also a reliable and sustainable one - using much less energy than other materials.
Wood for Good is the UK's wood promotion campaign and is partly owned by Confor.
Biomass and Woodfuel
Wood can also be burnt to release renewable energy.
Renewable energy from biomass boilers can power farms, homes and businesses. Woodfuel in the form of logs or woodchip pellets, can also be combusted in wood-burning stoves to warm up our homes and heat our water.
