Environment policy

At DLH we have an obligation and a vested interest in conserving forest resources. The continuation and expansion of our business directly depend on the condition of the world’s forests. We are aware that without forests, there would be no DLH.

DLH is committed to conduct its business responsibly and in a manner that is consistent with our corporate social responsibility. Therefore, we have developed several policy instruments, which are regularly updated.

We have developed this Environment Policy in order to specifically manage the environmental effects and aspects of our business and operations.

Environmental Statement

We are committed to demonstrate responsible environmental management. We undertake to practice sustainable forestry, source from environmentally responsible suppliers and strive to minimize potential negative environmental impacts resulting from our activities. At the same time we will encourage and promote the use of wood as an environmentally friendly material. We will monitor progress and review the results at least annually. Based on our findings we will review our programme to ensure that we maintain a process of continuous improvement.

Our own forests

Where DLH owns forests, or manages public forest areas under long-term licenses, we make an effort to implement the highest environmental standards achievable. As a minimum we ensure that all our operations show compliance to relevant national legislation.

We believe that globally recognised certification schemes, which are based on internationally accepted principles, guarantee environmentally appropriate, socially beneficial and economically viable forest management. The FSC (Forest Stewardship Council) is our preferred certification system in tropical regions and consequently, since we presently only manage forests in tropical regions, we strive to obtain and maintain FSC certification for all our forest operations.

Our own production

We shall consider the environmental impact of all our current and future operations, which would in turn guide us to implement best practices and to minimize any possible negative environmental impacts.

Our aim is to reduce pollution and waste whilst optimizing our usage of raw materials. We undertake to educate and train our employees in environmental issues and the potential environmental consequences of their activities.

Our suppliers

We will implement and maintain responsible purchasing practices, which are consistent with our Environment Policy. In areas where there is a potential risk of inconsistency with this policy, we will implement our Good Supplier Program (GSP).

In addition, we shall work with suppliers to raise awareness and encourage participation in independent certification / legal verification schemes. We acknowledge that acquiring credible certification is a lengthy and a step-wise process, but ultimately our goal is to source only certified timber products.

Our products

Wood is by definition an environmentally superior material, especially when compared to alternatives like concrete, steel and aluminium. Life cycle assessments have shown that wood used in construction uses less energy and releases less greenhouse gas emissions in the atmosphere.

DLH will raise the awareness of the unique environmental qualities of wood and encourage its usage.

We also acknowledge that sustainable forest certification is the best way to guarantee the sustainable status of timber and that independent third party legal verification is the best way to guarantee the legal status of wood products and the first step towards sustainable forestry.

Our clients

We shall maintain a close dialogue with our clients and through training and inspiration, promote and increase the market demand for responsibly produced timber products. We will also promote the use of lesser used species among our clients in order to utilise the forest resources as efficient as possible.

Stakeholders

We shall maintain a close dialogue with stakeholders who care about environmental issues, including NGOs and governmental institutions.

An active dialogue ensures that we are made aware and are informed about expectations regarding our environmental performance. Any information about our own or suppliers’ wrongdoing is treated seriously and appropriate action will be taken.

As a group, DLH will actively seek to participate in discussions in international forums about environmental issues related to our business and share our knowledge and experience on certification and legal verification with our stakeholders.

Caring about the climate

Sustainably produced timber products are climate friendly due to the unique ability of wood to both reduce CO2 emissions and to remove and store CO2 from the atmosphere. Production and use of wood therefore play a crucial role in mitigating climate change.

Deforestation is recognised as a significant contributor to the release of carbon in the atmosphere causing negative climate effects. On the other hand, activities aimed at retaining forests could be the single biggest contributor to slowing down the current release of carbon into the atmosphere.

As a result, we will aim to maintain all our own forests as carbon sinks by applying long term sustainable forest management principles including Reduced Impact Logging (RIL), which has the added advantage of preserving the natural biodiversity of forests and maintaining the important ecosystem services they provide.

We will also facilitate, promote and if possible participate in the establishment of carbon sequestration projects through the establishment of timber plantations on previously un-forested or degraded forest land.

We will work to convert waste wood and sawdust into a source of energy to replace fossil fuels at our production facilities.

Kent Arentoft
President & CEO