Greenwood Plants receive ‘Plant Healthy’ certification

Greenwood Plants is delighted to announce that it has been awarded ‘Plant Healthy’ certification as part of its ongoing commitment to biosecurity, following an audit of its six UK nursery sites.

The audit was conducted by non-profit organisation ‘Grown in Britain’, an approved certification body of Plant Healthy Ltd., which is the environmental charity that represents the interests of the Plant Health Alliance. Grown in Britain conducted an extensive audit of Greenwood’s six UK nursery sites in February, before officially certifying the UK plant grower on 29^th February 2024.

As one of the UK horticultural industry’s largest growers and importer of plants, biosecurity is a critical issue for Greenwood, and it considers achieving Plant Healthy certification an important milestone in demonstrating the highest standards of biosecurity across its operation.

“We are delighted to have been certified Plant Healthy, and actively demonstrate our commitment to protecting our environment“ says Managing Director, Melanie Asker.

“The UK horticulture industry is an important part of UK’s trading landscape, and ensuring we grow the sector responsibly and sustainability by proactively managing biosecurity, is essential to our future growth potential.

The Plant Healthy Certification Scheme was created by The Plant Health Alliance, which is a collective of British horticultural, forestry and land management organisations with a united goal of promoting and enhancing plant health and biosecurity measures in the UK and beyond. The scheme is aimed at protecting plants and trees from destructive notifiable pests and diseases. Horticultural businesses and organisations can be certified as ‘Plant Healthy’ by demonstrating their ability to operate to a set of requirements that minimises the risk of pest and disease spread. Businesses with ‘Plant Healthy’ certification can formally demonstrate their compliance with the Plant Health Management Standard.

The main objective of the scheme is to reduce the risk of introduction and spread of destructive plant pests through plant supply chains, thereby protecting the horticulture industry, other crop plants and natural habitats. In addition, the scheme aims to easily identify companies and organisations that handle plant material according to high standards of plant health and biosecurity.

Alistair Yeomans of the Plant Health Certification Scheme said “It’s fantastic having an industry leader such as Greenwood on board with the Plant Healthy initiative. We are continually evaluating what we can do to improve biosecurity, and having key operators in the industry such as Greenwood actively adhering to these standards will help ensure we protect the British landscape as effectively as possible” 

If you’d like to find out more about Greenwood’s Biosecurity policy, visit https://greenwoodplants.co.uk/biosecurity-policy/