Braecroft Timbers (a wholly owned subsidiary of CHEP South Africa) was recently named the 2024 Overall Winner of the Bushbuck Trophy as awarded by the Sappi FSC® Group Scheme. The award is in recognition of Braecroft Timber’s exemplary sustainable forestry management practises encompassing CHEP’s 18 pine-timber plantations in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Over the past 14 years that Braecroft Timbers has been a member of the scheme, it has been the recipient of multiple awards acknowledging the organisation’s commitment to responsible forestry management practices.
The Group Scheme is managed by Sappi, a leading global provider of everyday materials made from Woodfibre-based renewable resources and the owner of its own timber plantations. The Group Scheme functions as Sappi’s steward of forestlands, promoting forestry practices that ensure forests and plantations are expertly tended, harvested, and regenerated for healthy regrowth.
The Sappi FSC® Group scheme is part of the Forest Stewardship Council’s (FSC®) global network, which represents thousands of individual and member organisations committed to upholding forestry practices that safeguard and promote healthy, resilient forests worldwide. The scheme’s annual Member of the Year Award recipients are selected based on a yearly audit which measures compliance to FSC® standards, celebrating the growers excelling in the essential aspects of responsible forestry management.
In addition to this latest accolade from the Sappi FSC® Group Scheme, Braecroft Timbers first received the KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) Award in 2014 and claimed the Overall Winner of the Bushbuck Trophy the following year. The organisation won the KZN Award again in 2017, adding to its growing list of forestry management achievements.
“Winning this prestigious award from the Sappi Group Scheme reflects the effort our teams at Braecroft Timbers and CHEP put in to maintain the highest standards of forestry management,” says CHEP SSA’s spokesperson Gordon McKenzie, Senior Manager, Braecroft Forestry. “This award demonstrates our commitment to help transform the timber supply chain in all markets we operate in by driving demand for sustainably sourced timber and responsible, regenerative forest management.”
Forest certification compliance serves as an integral part of the CHEP’s forest management procedures, as proven by Braecroft Timbers’ unique accomplishment of dual certification by both the FSC® and Programme for Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). These certifications confirm that CHEP plantations are maintained in a way that prioritises forest regeneration, conserves biodiversity, and respects the rights of forestry workers and surrounding communities. FSC® and PEFC certification also guarantee that CHEP has not contributed to deforestation since achieving 100% certified sustainable timber sourcing in 2020.
Furthermore, CHEP’s s intrinsically sustainable circular business model enables it to go beyond zero impact. As the backbone of global supply chains, the pallet pooling company is perfectly positioned to drive the creation of regenerative supply chains that transform waste into resources instead of consuming resources and generating waste.
This winning recognition from the credible and well-respected Sappi FSC® Group Scheme confirms CHEP’s holistic approach to sustainable forestry management and affirms the company’s active strides towards attaining its’ 2025 Sustainability Targets and the achievement of a nature-positive supply chain.
