PEFC re-endorses four national schemes

Forest certification systems in Finland, Italy, Luxembourg and the Slovak Republic have been successfully re-endorsed by PEFC International.

“The value that PEFC brings to the forest cannot be underestimated, not only in terms of sustainability benefits, but also as a mechanism requiring ongoing dialogue among all actors,” said Antonio Brunori, secretary-general of PEFC Italy.

The Slovak Republic’s PEFC national secretary Hubert Palus said PEFC’s requirement for standards to be locally adopted forced stakeholders to carefully consider what best delivers sustainable forestry within their specific national context.

Meanwhile, PEFC International has started the assessment of forest management criteria and indicators to cover plantations in Malaysia.

The draft standard was field tested in Sabah and in Sarawak, as well as in peninsular Malaysia in June-July 2008 and was adopted as the standard for the certification of forest plantations under the Malaysian Timber Certification Scheme last year.