Politics
Regulation (EU) No 995/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 October 2010 laying down the obligations of operators who place timber and timber products on the market – also known as the (Illegal) Timber Regulation counters the trade in illegally harvested timber and timber products through three key obligations: * It prohibits the placing on the EU market for the first time of illegally harvested timber and products derived from such timber; * It requires EU traders who place timber products on the EU market for the first time to exercise 'due diligence'; * Keep records of their suppliers and customers.
Existent of FLEGT ( Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade. )or CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora)licenses limited range of timber product.

The Commission adopted Commission delegated Regulation of 23.2.2012 on the procedural rules for the recognition and withdrawal of recognition of monitoring organisations as provided for in Regulation (EU) No 995/2010 of the European Parliament and of the Council laying down the obligations of operators who place timber and timber products on the market.

3 March 2013 – The EU Timber Regulation and UK Timber and Timber Products (Placing on the Market) Regulations 2013 come into force, prohibiting the placing of illegal timber on the EU market and requiring suppliers to ensure they do not sell illegally harvested timber. * http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eutr2013/index_en.htm\

Economic * The Forestry Commission's net expenditure on public forests totalled £56 million in 2011-12, and a further £134 million were spent by the Commission on other activities, including grants, administration and research. * The UK was the third largest net importer (imports less exports) of forest products in 2010, behind China and Japan. http://www.forestry.gov.uk/website/forstats2012.nsf/LUContents/65213ADB933DFD5F8025735C0031A21C in 2010, GVA in primary wood processing (sawmilling, panels and pulp & paper) was reported to be £1.35 billion and GVA in forestry £0.33 billion.
The forest industries supported 2.5 per cent of the UK economy in 2005 through their direct and indirect operations.
The development of the British timber industry, using wood from Britain's forests, has been a major success story. As a result of major investments in processing capacity during the last 20 years, the industry has been independently estimated to provide over £7 billion annually to UK GDP,

Social
The social, community and environmental benefits of forest and woodland include: improved physical and mental health; education; social inclusion; open access