The Beacon Press and Polestar became the first print companies to join the WWF 95+ Group as the WWF global environmental network celebrated its tenth anniversary in London last week.

The WWF 95+ Group is a partnership between WWF and companies and organisations in the UK that produce, buy, sell or specify timber and paper products.

Michael Meacher, minister for the environment, made the keynote speech at the event.

The Group promotes trade in certifiable forest products and encourages good forest management practices. Members include AssiDomn and supermarket giant Sainsbury's.

The Beacon Press managing director Peter Horrocks said the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) label gave a "credible assurance" to the public about the environmental criteria of a paper. He said the 95+ Group fitted in well with the Uckfield firm's other environmental commitments.

Polestar Watmoughs prints BBC Wildlife magazine, which last year became the first consumer magazine to carry the FSC logo (PrintWeek, 21 January 2000).

"Being a member we agree to achieve certain objectives that will be monitored, such as a drive to increase the use of certifiable materials and an audit of our paper trail so we can trace the sources of our materials," said Polestar-Online operations director Edwin van Dijk.

Membership of the 95+ Group is voluntary. It is a communication forum for members committed to increasing the proportion of timber or paper products they purchase from independently certified sources.

The event also marked the UK becoming the only country where a state forest has achieved 100% certification to FSC standards.

The 800,000 hectares of Forest Enterprise's estate across parts of the UK are certified to FSC standards.

Story by Andy Scott