Cornwall Living
For the good of wood
Sustainability, carbon offsetting and ensuring a future for our planet’s green spaces, are all paramount to the business ethos for Post & Beam.
Did you know that Britain was once a wooded isle with over 98% of the land covered in trees, and that now, only 2% of that ancient wild wood survives? This startling statistic lies at the core of Plant One Cornwall, a registered Community Interest Company solely focused on putting trees in the ground for the benefit of us all. Working with private landowners and the community, as well as partnering with businesses such as Post & Beam, Plant One Cornwall aims to restore and revitalise the ever-shrinking temperate rainforest – a habitat found here in the UK that is thought, by many, to be more endangered than its tropical counterparts.
Also known as the ‘Celtic rainforest’, this truly special habitat is becoming increasingly rare, its importance lying not only in its ability to act as a ‘carbon sink’, but also in the fact that its lush conditions are home to rare plants, lichens and fungi, as well as an array of unusual animals.
Led by Carl Rowlinson and Rai Lewis, Plant One understands that management of new woodland is as, if not more, important than physically planting trees. This is something that the founders of handcrafted timber building company Post & Beam, Tim Simpson and Tom Jubb, know only too well. “Because of the high value of land in the UK, this becomes difficult to address with private landowners. If a woodland fails, then so does the carbon offset sold with it. Plant One can pinpoint the exact planting location of the trees we purchase,” says Tom, and when you consider that a typical Post & Beam client is indirectly planting approximately 10 to 20 trees via Plant One Cornwall, this partnership is a significant force for good, supporting the rewilding of our countryside and the revitalising of the Celtic rainforest which has, perhaps, never been more important.
Some 90% of the raw material used by Post & Beam is oak, sourced from the sustainably managed forests of northern France. “French commercial oak forests are so well managed and have been for more than 300 years,” says Tom. “In partnership with the forestry management in France, we replant the equivalent of all the trees that we use in our projects.” Timber is a fantastic building material as it stores C02 for the life of the building. However, says Tom: “We also feel that it is our responsibility to encourage and promote non-commercial rewilding and native woodland creation here in Cornwall. We do it because we recognise the long-lasting effects of re-wilding, and the importance of carbon offsetting in securing a stable, green environment for future generations.”
Post & Beam
