Author wins Changing Attitudes award at Confor dinner
The author of a book promoting the crucial role of timber in tackling climate change has won a leading industry award sponsored by Scottish Woodlands Ltd.
Paul Brannen was presented with the Changing Attitudes Awards at the Confor Awards Dinner, for Timber!. How wood can help save the world from climate breakdown.
Ian Robinson (right) presents the Changing Attitudes Award, sponsored by Scottish Woodlands Ltd, to Paul Brannen
He is the 5th winner of the award, for “an individual, business or organisation promoting the forestry and wood sector in a positive, impactful way - through personal engagement, campaigning, or communication”.
Ian Robinson, Managing Director of Scottish Woodlands Ltd, presented the award to Mr Brannen, a former Labour Member of the European Parliament, now Director of Public Affairs for European woodworking and sawmilling bodies CEI-Bois and EOS.
Judges said the book was “a well-researched, well-structured argument for the greater use of timber, and why this means far more wood-producing forests must be planted. It recognises the importance of communicating effectively with a range of interest groups; politicians, environmentalists, and the housing and construction sector. As a former MEP, Paul understands the need for political buy-in and is making progress in his efforts to get the new Government to recognise the significance of embodied carbon in the built environment.”
After receiving the award, Mr Brannen said: “This prize is your prize. It should go to all the people I spoke to in writing this book, the places I visited and the things I read. I just brought together that collective, very good story and put it in a format for the general reader.”
Ian Robinson said it was important that Mr Brannen’s book had reached out far beyond the industry and talked to different audiences in a meaningful way.
“Forestry and wood is a people industry and we have to deal with a wide range of consultants, clients, customers and contractors - and ensure that the message is clear,” he said.
Two of Scottish Woodlands’ rising stars were shortlisted for different awards at the awards dinner, attended by well over 200 people in the Surgeon’s Quarter, Edinburgh.
Julia Henriksson, Utilities Contract and Environmental Manager, based in Perth, was a finalist for the Future Leader Award, sponsored by James Jones & Sons. She was described as a "creative, talented and forward-thinking young leader", especially how she links forest management, utilities work and environmental considerations in a strategic, innovative way.
Julia Henrikkson of Scottish Woodlands Ltd (2nd right) with fellow finalists in the Future Leader category (L-R: Robbie MacDonald, Scotwood Macdonald; Bryony Hewetson Ward, Forestry and Land Scotland; Cora Pfarre, Maydencroft Ltd, the award winner. Also pictured (far right) is David Leslie, Joint Managing Director of James Jones & Sons Ltd, the award sponsor
In a strong shortlist, the award was presented to Cora Pfarre, Head Forester at Maydencroft Ltd.
Byron Braithwaite, Assistant Regional Manager in Scottish Woodlands’ Dumfries office, was shortlisted for a new award, for Building Industry Resilience - for his Nuffield Farming Scholarship work on Creating Forests That Thrive in a Changing Climate: Drought and Fire Resilience. Judges noted that his research, conducted outside his day job, is “extensive and crucial to the future resilience of the forestry and wood industry”.
Byron Braithwaite (2nd left) of Scottish Woodlands Ltd with fellow finalists in the Building Industry Resilience category. Also pictured are: fellow finalists Toby Parkes (left), of Rhizocore Technologies; Louise Simpson, Executive Director of the Institute of Chartered Foresters (winner for its Emerging Leader Programme); and Ben Goh and Andrew Henry of Maelor Forest Nurseries (either side of Louise). Also pictured are award presenters Richard Stanford, CEO, Forestry Commission, right, and Kevin Quinlan, CEO, Forestry & Land Scotland, 2nd right)
In another strong list of finalists, the award was presented to the Institute of Chartered Foresters’ Emerging Leader Programme.
Ian Robinson said: “Scottish Woodlands was delighted to sponsor the Changing Attitudes Award for the 5th time - and to see another really worthy winner. We’re also pleased to be part of a really successful event which is going from strength to strength and is a significant date on the forestry calendar.”
"I'm also personally delighted that two of our many rising stars, Julia and Byron, were shortlisted. Although they didn’t win on this occasion, they are doing great work and have brilliant careers ahead of them.”
Mairi Gougeon, Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, spoke at the dinner, and reaffirmed the Scottish Government’s strong support for the industry, including the vital importance of productive planting to support both the economy and climate change ambitions.