Gary Newman FICFor (Hon)

Gary is the Chief Executive of Woodknowledge Wales (a charitable Community Benefits Society with a vision for Wales as a high value forest nation) and co-founder and board member of the Alliance for Sustainable Building Products (a membership alliance that champions sustainable, healthy and circular construction products). Gary is a construction engineer by training and early career. After completing a wood technology masters, Gary spent a few formative years at the BioComposites Centre at Bangor University as a researcher, where he became inspired by the technical possibilities of biomaterials to replace high carbon alternatives. 

In 1995, Gary established a fully integrated crop to product hemp and flax processing plant and contracted the growing of industrial crops throughout England and Wales. Over the following 20 years, Gary manufactured a range of bio-products including horticultural and automotive nonwovens, hemp particleboard, and hemp fibre insulation. In recognition of Gary's work leading Woodknowledge Wales since 2016, in 2024 Gary was made an honorary fellow of the Institute of Chartered Foresters.