Timber is the unique structural material, fully renewable, lightweight, and potentially very efficient. It possesses many environmentally positive attributes, the maximisation of which involves the entire forestry and timber utilisation chain. Further improvements in the use of timber as a renewable resource present a considerable challenge. However, this is a rewarding task, vital to the economies of all the northern European countries, including the UK's. A research and innovation strategy is now firmly established, and this entails collaboration, involving industry, Government, and other partnerships such as those formed within the European
Commission Framework Programmes.
C.J. Mettem and S.B. Tietz