About

Make It Wood - Do Your World Some Good aims to encourage the increased use of responsibly sourced wood as a building material. When sourced responsibly, wood can play a big part in helping tackle climate change. This is because wood is a low carbon option for building - when used in long-lived applications it stores carbon for the long-term, it is renewable and it has a lower embodied energy than many other building materials such as concrete, steel or plastics.

Wood is unique among building materials because it is a natural carbon store - up to 50% of its dry weight is carbon. Responsibly sourced wood products store the carbon that the growing trees have removed from the air.

According to research "substituting wood products from well managed forests and plantations for more greenhouse gas (GHG) intensive building products in cladding, wall, roof and floor framing could reduce the GHG emissions of a typical house by up to 18 tonnes over its life."

(Reference: An FWPA factsheet based on an RMIT study: Understanding the carbon footprint of material choice in Australian housing using lifecycle assessment.)

Make It Wood launches during the International Year of Forests, a global platform to celebrate people's action to sustainably manage the world's forests.

The objectives of Make It Wood are to:

  • Raise public awareness of the carbon cycle and that carbon remains stored in the wood long after the tree is harvested.
  • Raise awareness that responsibly sourced wood is a low environmental impact option for building as it stores carbon, it has a lower embodied energy than most other building materials and it is renewable.
  • Raise awareness of certification and responsibly sourced wood and contribute to improving the integrity and criteria of wood product labelling schemes in Australia.

Make It Wood is proudly brought to you by Planet Ark in partnership with Forest and Wood Products Australia.

Planet Ark believes that what remains of our high conservation forests must be protected and treasured. As such, Planet Ark opposes the logging of high conservation value forest for wood products and clearance for plantations, as this will have negative impacts on biodiversity.

Position Statements

This page details Planet Ark's positions on the use of responsibly sourced wood as a building material.

Sponsors and Partners

The program is resourced by FWPA, the industry services organisation, and supported by a wide range of business and other organisations.